Biography of HENRY GEORGE GLYDE
GLYDE, Henry George RCA, ASA, CSGA, FCA, PDCC (1906-1998). Born in Luton, England, Glyde studied at the Brassey Institute of Arts and Sciences, Hastings (1920-26); and at the Royal College of Art, London (1926-30). He received a classical art education influenced by Italian 15th C drawing and English Medieval painting. He travelled and painted frequently in England (1949, 1967-68, 1973, 1981), Scotland (c.1950-52), France (1949, 1958-59), Italy, Belgium and the Yukon (1943). He was a friend of A. Y. Jackson with whom he travelled and painted in western Canada. Working in oil, tempera, ink, chalk, pencil and watercolour, he is best known for his landscapes and murals, inspired by classical myths and Biblical subjects while placing his figures in an Alberta setting. Many of his scenes of urban and rural prairie life are influenced by Social Realism. He also painted portraits, nudes, landscapes in Sussex (1982), farm scenes near Edmonton, and later coastal scenes in the Gulf Islands and on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Glyde also produced drawings and prints. Until 1960 he specialized in mixed mediums, alternating layers of tempera with oil, ink, casein and transparent glazes. He taught art at a variety of art schools in England (1929-35) before coming to Calgary, Alberta to be Head of the Art Department at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (1935-46). He later became Head, Fine Arts Department, University of Alberta, Edmonton (1946-66). He also taught at the Banff School of Fine Arts (1936-66). He was President of the ASA (1936-47) and President of the FCA (1954-56). He received a Canada Council award in 1958, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Alberta, Edmonton in 1982. Upon his retirement in 1966 Glyde moved to Pender Island, British Columbia and then moved to Victoria, British Columbia in 1985. He exhibited with the RA (n.d.), RCA between 1940-1958, AAM in 1942 and 1947, EAG in 1975 and in a retrospective at the GM in 1987. His work is represented in the collections of the AGO, GM, NGC and VAG.
Biography courtesy of The Collector's Dictionary of Canadian Artists at Auction: Volume II: G-L
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