| ARTIST BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: |
Hard-edge abstractionist, George Mihalcheon was born November 29, 1924, in Boian, Alberta, a Romanian farming community approximately 80 kilometers North-East of Edmonton. During most of WWII, Mihalcheon was exempt from military service because the Federal Government proclaimed that agricultural labour was an essential part of the war effort. Mihalcheon worked on the family farm until 1944, when he became a prison camp guard and airborne trainee. WWII ended just as he finished his training, and instead of going home to the farm, he opted to take a four-year diploma course at the Alberta Institute of Technology and Art (today Alberta College of Art and Design). Throughout his artistic career, Mihalcheon studied with Illingworth Kerr, Stanford Perrott, Luke Lindoe, and Stan Blodgett; however, it was Lindoe’s painting technique that primarily influenced Mihalcheon. After graduation, Mihalcheon became a graphic artist with an advertising agency, and eventually became an art director. Mihalcheon, and his wife, Jean LaPointe, a well-known ceramicist, raised four children. Mihalcheon started teaching at the Alberta College of Art and Design in 1960. He remained at the Alberta College of Art for 27 years, working first as an instructor and eventually moving into management positions. Mihalcheon was a founding member of the Alberta College of Art and Design, which involved separating from the Alberta Institute of Technology, and the creation of a new building. Mihalcheon’s work ranges from realism, semi-abstract to hard-edge abstractionism. His 1980s series, entitled City Park Series captured the parks of Calgary in a semi-abstract fashion, and gained him public attention. Mihalcheon’s paintings can be found in corporate, public, and private collections across the nation and internationally. Mihalcheon passed away March 17, 2011, after a brief illness.
|