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xi the frederick horsman varley art gallery of markham 31 may 1997 the legend bohemian chronicler visionary rascal frederick varley was a canadian icon his work remains as the legacy of his genius bolic color theory influenced by buddhist spiritual values the years that followed 1936t944 were riddled with depression and illness as varley drifted between ottawa and montreal before returning to toronto to continue his bohemian existence in 1952 varley met kathleen gormley mckay and her husband donald for the next 17 years a close relationship formed between them resulting in their moving into kathleens historic unionville home the present site of the kathleen gormley mckay art centre varley died there in 1969 at the age of 88 accolades came to varley late in life finally in the mid50s the artist achieved celebrity status through respect from critics and public admiration a nationallytouring retrospective exhibition and other awards of merit at last brought varleys work to the attention of widespread audiences and estab lished him as one of canadas most important living artists varley a celebration opens as the first exhibition at the frederick horsman varley art gallery of varley in the studio doon summer school of fine arts 1949 arley was a mystic he was a roisterer and a bohemian he was a different sort he marched to a different drummer william withrow former director of the art gallery of ontario and current member gallery advisory board frederick varley is often referred to as canadas greatest portrait artist and one of our most lyrically expressive landscape painters fascinated with the human form he had the unique ability to capture the inner human experience whether in a portrait a facial study or a figure in the landscape an origi nal member of one of canadas most important artistic influences the group of seven varley devel oped his own personal interpretation of the cana dian landscape a bohemian at heart varley led a restless life his travels to various parts of the country reflected his constant quest for personal fulfillment born in sheffield england in 1881 the artist received his for mal education at the sheffield school of art and at antwerps academie royale des beauxarts after graduation he worked in london as a magazine and newspaper illustrator prior to emigrating to canada in 1912 a move inspired by the enthusiasm of his childhood friend arthur lismer in toronto varley was employed as a commercial illustrator first at grip ltd with jeh macdonald arthur lismer and tom thomson and later at rous mann ltd until 1918 during this time the artists work immortalized landscapes that were to become synonymous with the group of seven the pre- cambrian shield country of algonquin park and windswept coast of georgian bay on lake huron commissioned as an honourary captain with the londonbased canadian war records in 1918 var ley was deeply affected by the carnage and destruc tion of world war i his moving canvases remain liv ing testaments to the human suffering he witnessed and the futility of war following the war varley abandoned his career as a commercial artist in 1920 he exhibited his work for the first time at the art gallery of toronto now the art gallery of ontario with the newlyformed group of seven following a fulltime appointment at the ontario college of art varley took his inspi ration from the mountainscapes of vancouver where he both taught and painted between 1926 and 1936 during a highly prolific period in british columbia varley formulated and applied his sym- markham this trib ute to the creative spirit of the artist bearing the gallerys name extols the tal ents of a hero of canadian culture llpii ptslss ssbsss varley is bigger now than he was i when he left the group of seven he is of today and not yesterday and no local opportunity to see his work has hrhhhh selfportrait days of 1943 detail ever given the public such an adequate notion of the mans sizcit would be silly to waste space on varley as part of the past history of the canadian art movement he is making more important history now pearl mccarthy the globe and mail 4 november 1944 varley a celebration 6