FREDERICK ALEXANDER FRASER February 07 2019
Wall Fiction is pleased to announce a new partnership with the estate of artist Frederick Alexander Fraser. Check back soon for available art works for sale.
Frederick Alexander Fraser (Canadian, 1897-1975) was known for his watercolours and exhibited with the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour. These Toronto-based factory pieces painted during World War II show Fraser’s technical ability.
Details of untitled watercolours by Frederick A. Fraser. Private Collection, Toronto.
Fraser’s oils are clearly influenced by the Group of Seven. His strong colour palette and sensitive brush capture the essence of the day.
“Autumn Wind” Oil on Canvas, 28 x 38 inches. Private Collection, Toronto.
Untitled Winter Landscape, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 inches. Private Collection, Toronto.
Fraser had his own printing press in his basement where he sometimes produced his own Christmas cards and prints using elaborate negative woodcut blocks or engraved linoleum.
Detail of “Wood engraving – Tobermory” by Frederick A. Fraser. Private Collection, Toronto.
Detail of untitled wood engraving by Frederick A. Fraser. Private Collection, Toronto.
Born and raised in downtown Toronto, Frederick Alexander Fraser (Canadian, 1897-1975) attended night classes at the Ontario College of Art from 1918 to 1929 and received a teaching certificate from the Ontario College for Technical Teachers established in 1925 in Hamilton.
One of his first jobs was in the commercial printing industry where he polished stones used in the printing process. He quickly moved on to typesetting and then into the art department.
Fraser moved to Toronto's Bloor West Village when he became an art instructor at Western Technical-Commercial School where he taught from 1931 to 1963. One of Fraser's most well know students was Harold Barling Town, a founding member of the Canadian Painters Eleven group of abstract artists. Fraser was known to say that he was always very proud of Town’s accomplishments as an artist.
