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Wes Irwin was born in 1897 in Los Angeles, California, and in 1900, moved at the age of two with his family to a homestead near Lacombe, Alberta. After graduation from Normal School in 1915 and a period teaching in a number of country schools, he served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in France during World War I, earning the Military Medal for gallantry in action. After the war, he moved to Calgary and taught for many years in Calgary schools, mostly as an art instructor. He took classes in 1928-29 at the Chicago Art Institute and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alberta, later earning a Master's of Arts degree from Columbia University in New York, majoring in art. He was a charter member of the Alberta Society of Artists and was very involved with the art community in Calgary in his role as an art teacher. He was also very active as builder of sets for theatrical productions and enjoyed drawing humorous cartoons.
Although Wes Irwin's works did not achieve a lot of attention outside of his home province of Alberta, he was very accomplished as a creator of cubist-inspired paintings and graphic works. He was a keen and enthusiastic judge of contemporary art and absorbed much from the artworks that he saw in museums in Chicago, New York and other major cities that he visited. He passed this passion on to his students.
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