Gerald Leopold Squires

Gerry Squires was known for his dramatic Newfoundland landscapes in oil and acrylic, and for his portraits and surrealistic paintings. He was also a noted printmaker and sculptor. During his life had more than 300 solo and group exhibitions, including Gerald Squires: Journey, a major retrospective of four decades of his work, which the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador (now The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery) organized in September 1998. He was also an artist in residence and teacher for Memorial University of Newfoundland.Squires received many honours for his work. In 1984, he received the Ted Drover award for Achievement in the Visual Arts from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council, and in 1992, he was awarded an honourary doctorate from Memorial University. In 1999, he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and appointed to the Order of Canada. In 2003, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Award, and in 2007, he received the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council’s Hall of Honour Award. His work was also the subject of the 1995 publication, Gerald Squires: Newfoundland Artist.His work can be found in many private and public collections, including those of The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery’s Permanent Collection, the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Catholic Conference of Bishops, York University, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Several of his works have been deemed ‘national treasures’ and collected through the Certified Canadian Cultural Properties Act.Squires died on October 3, 2015 at the age of 77.