Cawthra Mulock

Cawthra Mulock (1915-1998)

Cawthra Mulock was the son of Cawthra Mulock Sr., Toronto businessman, philanthropist, and entrepreneur who was responsible for the construction of the historical Royal Alexandra Theatre. Mulock (Jr.) studied in Munich and later taught at the Art Gallery of Toronto (known today as the Art Gallery of Ontario) with Arthur Lismer. He worked mainly in print, including linocuts and woodcuts, as well as watercolour, but also executed skillful drawings and did impressive mural work. Mulock’s work shows influences from abstraction, surrealism, and ethnographic art. In the 1930s, Mulock exhibited with the Canadian Society of Graphic Art and in 1939, due to his innovative and progressive style, Mulock was chosen to exhibit his work in the Canadian Pavilion at the World’s Fair in New York. Working as an illustrator, Mulock produced a series of books in which he wrote the text and also did the engraved illustrations. In the 1940s, Mulock moved to England, where he started a family. In London, he continued to produce illustrations for publications. Mulock had a group exhibition with fellow modern artists James Gleeson, Robert Klippel, John Pemberton, and Lucian Freud at the Redfern Gallery in London in 1948. He did not return to Canada until around 1970, at which time he returned to the Toronto area.