A Newfoundland artist who became one of the most famous and celebrated Canadian painters and printmakers in modern time has passed away.
Christopher Pratt was 86.
He was born in St. John’s in 1935 and, while attending Mount St. Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, he discovered his love of fine arts. Encouraged to pursue painting by Group of Seven member Lawren Harris and Nova Scotia painter Alex Colville, he studied at the Glasgow School of Art in the 1950s.
While still studying in school, he worked summers at the Argentia Naval Base, a period that inspired many of his early works. For decades he was married to fellow artist Mary Pratt, with whom he raised four children.
A fiercely proud Newfoundlander, he designed the provincial flag in 1981. He was named a Companion to the Order of Canada in 1983, and was awarded the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2018.
Christopher Pratt. Trongate Abstract, Art School Fire (2018). Via The Rooms on Facebook
His paintings and prints were sparse and haunting, depicting a variety of places and people he encountered throughout his life.
Pratt moved his family to the Salmonier area of St. Mary’s Bay in the 1960s, where he maintained his home and studio throughout the remainder of his life. He also established an art gallery in the old cable station in his mother’s hometown of Bay Roberts.
Among those mourning his loss are his four children and a large circle of family, friends, and admirers.
