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Toni Onley (1928 - 2004) Born in 1928 in Douglas, Isle of Man. Toni began his art education in 1942, under a local landscape water colourist, John Nicholson, as well as at the Douglas School of Fine Arts. Two years later Toni relocated to Canada, finding his new home in Brantford, Ontario. There he continued his art education by attending the Doon School of Fine Art in 1951 under the teachings of Carl Schaefer. During this time Onley was greatly influenced by Britsh landscape artists, John Cotman, and Peter DeWint. Onley soon married Brantford art critic Mary Burrows and had two children. At which time he worked a variety of jobs in order to support his new family. Onley exhibited at the Western Ontario Annual Show of artists under 27, and won an award in 1955.Onley was also exhibiting at this time with the Royal Canadian Academy, and the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colours. Following the death of his wife Mary, Onley moved with his children to Penticton, B.C., where his parents had retired. In 1957 he won a scholarship offered by the Institute Allende, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he took his two daughters. During this period he studied mural painting, fresco, and vinylite mediums. Onley was very much influenced by his American (Yugoslavian born) teacher, James Pinto whose abstract impressionistic paintings set Onley in a new direction of non-objective work. Onley stayed in Mexico just three years then returned to Canada to hold exhibitions at the Coste House (Calgary, 1958), Vancouver Art Gallery (1958), and the New Design Gallery (Vancouver 1959). By then he was experimenting with collage paintings usually of irregularly shaped pieces of painted paper or canvas pasted to a backing or canvas. Three of his collages were reproduced in Abraham Rogatnick's article on him for Canadian Art (Mar./Apr. 1962). In his collage work he did a Polar series numbered from one to beyond forty. These works on large canvases in cool colours of blue, black, grey, green, etc., drew favourable comments from critics and his Polar #1, won the $2,000 Royal Canadian Academy Zacks Award; given to the winning artist at the society's annual exhibition. With this award Onley went to London, England. The award-winning painting was presented to the Tate Gallery having been selected by Sir John Rothenstein (Director of the Tate) as the painting he would like to have for his gallery from the 1963 RCA showing. During this period he studied etching and began to produce work in this medium as an extension of his painting. |
