Alex Coville

(1920-2013)

Alex Colville is one of the few Canadian artists to have achieved international status. The German art critic, Heinz Ohff, described him as perhaps “the most prominent, indeed the most important realist painter in the Western world.” Colville studied painting under Stanley Royale at Mount Allison University, and following graduation, served in the Canadian Army, being appointed an official War Artist in 1944. Following a year spent at the Free University in Berlin in 1960, Colville was “discovered” by Dr. Ludwig who was assembling the largest collection of contemporary painting in Europe. Dr. Emil Ludwig introduced Colville’s work to the Marlborough Galleries in London, who then sold his work to a number of major collections around the world. Alex Colville is represented every major collection in Canada.