Harold Town is one of Canada's great artists. He gained fame and notoriety in the 1950's in Toronto as a founding member of the 'Painters 11' abstract expressionist art group who took their cue from American artists such as Jackson Pollock and deKooning.
Town was a theatrical, heroic and charismatic personality who worked in many mediums, jumping from one to another without hesitation, which completely confused the art establishment in Canada. "He was a paradox in a culture that despises paradox," wrote Canadian Art Magazine.

Town was a master of line and print and caused many a scandal with his serpent-like tongue and wit. Legend has it that Town once got into a fistfight with one of his teachers at the Ontario College of Art. "I make up a set of rules and play within those rules until I win," he was quoted as saying.

Town always pushed the boundaries, expecting only the exceptional in his work and in that of others. He was prolific in all the mediums he chose to execute and had an absolute commitment to his work, which helped give a fresh breath of life to the Canadian art world.

"Art has no middle ground.
Either it works or it doesn't.
Bad art is not the enemy,
mediocre art is the enemy.
Ironically, the impetus for great art
seems to grow from the chasm
between failure and aspiration..."

"In art, unlike war, you are
meant to die many times;
it is a way of living."

(Harold Town, 1987)