Bawdy Bodies in Canadian Artwork
In addition to the historical work on Canadian visual culture, I have also published on the modern interdisciplinary artist, Francoise Sullivan, and more recently published a major article and a chapter on the relatively unknown painter, John Wentworth Russell. I am drawn into this kind of work as they both represent significant artistic production that is either under-estimated or unknown today. The Russell oeuvre is quite compelling as he was a very popular and well-known figure in 1920s Canada, yet virtually unknown today. My work draws attention to how Russell’s personality and subject matter influenced the critical and popular reception of work, and thus, his legacy. His portrayal of nudes intentionally broke with aesthetic tradition, and caused vociferous and wide-ranging public debate about morals, aesthetics and propriety. This research thread is part of a larger project on the representation of “Bawdy Bodies,” largely artwork that pushes boundaries of contemporaneous expectation.
