Susanna Blunt
 |
Susanna Blunt | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1941 |
| Known for | Artist |
Susanna Blunt(b. 1941) is a Canadian portraitartistwho designed the most former portrait ofQueen Elizabeth IIon the formerCanadian coinage,first issued in 2003. She was the second Canadian woman to design a portrait of a monarch the first beingDora de Pedery Hunt.
Early life and education
[edit]She was born inHarbin,China,the daughter of anEnglishbanker. Blunt started her studies at theBanff School of Fine Artsas a young teenager. After finishing high school atQueen Margaret's Schoolshe had a year of private lessons inVictoria, British Columbia.She moved toLondon,Englandand did four years of art school at the Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting in Kensington, then won a scholarship to theRoyal Academyfor another four years, during which she won several awards and a silver medal.[1]The year before graduating she held her first one-woman show at the now-defunct Canadian Art Gallery inCalgary,Albertain 1966,[2]and then returned toEnglandto complete the work for herdiploma.She returned to Canada and settled in Vancouver in 1970.[3]
Teaching career
[edit]The following year she worked withYoko Ono,[4]assisting her with various art projects. She then moved toCaliforniaand started a teaching career, living in theSan Francisco Bayarea for three years before returning toVancouver,where she continued teaching in both private and public institutions, including three years on the faculty of the Fine Arts Department at theUniversity of British Columbia.
Artwork
[edit]She became known for hertrompe-l'œilpaintings and designed theoptical illusionroom for theScience Worldmuseum in Vancouver in 1988. Between 1991 and 1992, while living inFranceshe took part in five shows, group and solo, winning an award in an international competition.[citation needed]
Among the people she has painted areToni Onley,painter, Vancouver;George Woodcock,author, Vancouver;Stanley Donen,film producer, Los Angeles; andSteven Isserlis,Cellist,London.[citation needed]
She was chosen in a nationwide competition byGerda Hnatyshyn,wife ofGovernor-General of CanadaRamon Hnatyshyn,to paint her portrait forRideau HallinOttawa,Ontario. In 1997, she painted and delivered toBuckingham Palacea portrait ofPrince Edward.[1]
Blunt was invited by theRoyal Canadian Mintto join eight other artists in a nationwide competition for a new portrait of QueenElizabeth IIto be used on Canadian coins. The Mint knew of her work, particularly the Hnatyshyn portrait mentioned above.[citation needed]Blunt created the image from a photograph of the Queen. She won the competition and her portrait of the Queen has been used on coins and currency in Canada from 2003 to 2023.[5][6]
References
[edit]- ^abLindsay Kines, "An Eye for Art Saves Painting". Vancouver Sun Oct 17, 2000
- ^Linda Curtis, "Canadian artist home from Italy". Albertan, Feb 5, 1966
- ^"Wide range to her canvases". Vancouver Province, Dec. 4, 1970
- ^Taber, Jane (3 June 2003)."A matronly monarch, with her crown left off".The Globe and Mail.Retrieved28 December2022.
- ^"Who is Susanna Blunt?".Capitol Mint.Retrieved5 June2022.
- ^IQ, CoinWeek (13 June 2015)."CoinWeek Coin Designer's Profile: Susanna Blunt".CoinWeek.Retrieved5 June2022.