Ron Bloore

Ronald Langley Bloore was born in Brampton, Ontario in 1925. He is well known for his austere white-on-white textured paintings and for being a member of the Regina Five. The Regina Five was a group of five artists, that also included Doug Morton, Arthur McKay, Ted Godwin and Ron Bloore, who explored abstraction in the 1960's and were leaders in the modern art world at the time.

Bloore studied art and archaeology at the University of Toronto and the Institute of Fine Arts in New York from 1949 to 1951. He continued his studies in St. Louis, Missouri to pursue a Masters degree in art and archaeology at Washington University. Upon completing his Masters Bloore received a scholarship from the Belgium-American Educational Foundation to travel to Europe, from 1955 to 1957, and study in Brussels, Antwerp and London. While abroad Bloore taught at Brixton Day College, London.

Upon returning to Canada Bloore taught art and archaeology at the University of Toronto, Ontario before accepting a teaching position with the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus in 1958. While in Regina he was appointed as the director of the Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery by Ken Lochhead.

Bloore was based in Regina for only a brief time, from 1958 to 1966, but while there he made a deep lasting impression. As director, he was noted for his energy and determination in bringing the art world to the prairies. He sponsored and contributed to the infamous and controversial "Win Hedore" exhibit, along with fellow Regina Five artists Ted Godwin and Ken Lochhead.

Bloore who constantly painted while studying and teaching as an art historian finally painted fully non-representational work soon after arriving in Saskatchewan. In Regina he produced such works as "White Sun- Green Rim" (1960), "Double Sun" (1960), "Byzantium" (1961) and the "White Line Series" from 1963 to 1965. With a few notable exceptions, these works marked the beginning of Bloore's entry into the white-on-white paintings.

In 1961, in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Canadian Museums Association, Bloore mounted a show of local contemporary art simply title "The May Show." Included in the show were Bloore, Ken Lochhead, Ted Godwin, Douglas Morton, Art McKay and architect Clifford Wiens. The National Gallery of Canada remounted the exhibit in Ottawa without Clifford Wiens and renamed "Five Painters from Regina." The show was subsequently toured across Canada and the group became a household name widely referred to as Regina Five.

Bloore left Regina in 1966 to teach visual art and art history at York University in Toronto, where he remained until his retirement in 1990.

Ron Bloore died on September 4th, 2009 at the age of 84.

Last reviewed: 2011-Dec-15