Collection: Ronald York Wilson
Ronald York Wilson (1907-1984) RCA
Ronald York Wilson was a Canadian painter known for his murals and abstract works. Although Wilson was largely self-taught, he initially studied at the Central Technical School in Toronto. Soon after Wilson began working as a commercial artist and illustrator, landing a job at Brigden’s engraving house in Toronto in 1926. There, he met and was influenced by fellow artists Charles Comfort and Will Ogilvie. Wilson found another job with Sampson-Matthews Limited and enrolled in night classes at the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD). Wilson later moved to Detroit, where he continued working in illustration and lettering with American firms while studying at the Detroit Institute of Arts. However, once the Great Depression struck, Wilson lost his job and had to move back to Canada.
Wilson’s work from the 1930s through to 1950s was largely representational, often incorporating themes of social realism. A 6-month trip to Mexico in 1949 marked a turning point in Wilson’s oeuvre; in San Miguel de Allende, Wilson met David Alfaro Siqueiros and Rico Lebrun, who stimulated an interest in mural painting and abstraction. In 1955 Wilson returned to Mexico. Wilson created a number of murals for various Toronto buildings and institutions, including the O’Keefe Centre (Meridian Hall), the Salvation Army Headquarters, the Imperial Oil Building, and the Bell Telephone Building. Wilson died in 1984 in Toronto.
