Nichols, Jack, 1921-2009 : Jack Nichols was born in Montreal in 1921. Left orphaned while still a child, by the age of fourteen, Nichols had worked at a variety of jobs. Although he received no formal art training, he was initially influenced by Louis Muhlstock with whom he would sketch at the local Turkish bath. From 1931 to 1939, the artist lived in Ottawa where he received instruction from a variety of artists such as Goodridge Roberts, George Pepper, and Fred Varley who came to Ottawa in 1936 and taught classes at the Ottawa Art Associaion until 1939. During the summers, Nichols worked as a deck hand on ships plying the Great Lakes, always continuing with his drawing during off hours. His earliest subjects were frequently portrayals of the victims of the depression. By 1940, he had attracted the notice of Douglas Duncan of the Picture Loan Society. Duncan offered the young artist a one-man show in 1941. The following year, Hart House in Toronto also held a solo show of Nichols work. In 1943, the National Gallery of Canada commissioned the artist to execute paintings of the Canadian Merchant Navy. Together with Canadian artist Michael Forster, who was also on assignment, he sailed from Halifax to the Caribbean. By 1944, Nichols had joined the Royal Canadian Navy as an Official War Artist. He was present for the Normandy landings. Many of Nichols' war paintings are in the collection of the Canadian War Museum and underline more the pathos and the suffering encountered by the men than their heroism. Upon completion of his war service, he settled in Toronto. Nichols married Lina Polly Drutz in 1945.
In 1947, Nichols was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for creative painting. The grant enabled him to study printmaking in the United States and mural techniques in Mexico City. By 1948, he was back in Canada. Nichols taught at the Vancouver School of Art from 1949-1950. The PIcture Loan Society offered him a second solo exhibition in 1950, focussing on Nichols' lithographic prints. He also executed a mural for the Salvation Army headquarters building. Critical to his development as a printmaker, Nichols received a Canadian Government Overseas Fellowship to study lithography in France where he lived from 1956-1957. Shortly before he left for Paris, his marriage ended in divorce. This was a particularly intense period of development for the young artist, working with one of the most accomplished print studios in Europe. Additional fellowships in 1957 and 1960-1961 allowed him to continue his European studies.
Between 1941-1968, Nichols had nineteen one-person shows. He also participated in many group exhibitions, both national and international. In 1960, he was commissioned to create costume and set designs for the National Ballet of Canada's production entitled "The Remarkable Rocket". After a long absence from painting, the artist returned to this media in 1980 when he began a series of small diminutive works, frequently focussing on the circus for subject matter. In 1982-1983, a retrospective of his work was organized by the Sarnia Public Library and Art Gallery.
Nichols' artwork is held in many public collections such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Gallery of Windsor, Edmonton Art Gallery, Robert McLaughliin Gallery and the Vancouver Art Gallery as well as many private collections. He was an hononary member of the Accademia delle Arti di Disegno in Florence and, in 1981, received the Ontario Society of Artists' Award.
The artist died in Toronto on October 23, 2009.
