Saskatoon Star Phoenix
May 4, 1938. p.[?]
When the British Empire Exhibition was opened in Glasgow Tuesday, visitors to the Canadian pavilion on the Dominions Avenue saw prominently displayed the work of a Saskatchewan-born artist, Illingworth H. Kerr, of Lumsden. And it's only through ill fortune in his native Province that he happened of choose the Old Country for a temporary home and to have been selected as one of four to do decorative murals for the Canadian building at the exhibition.
Kerr is well-known to many in Saskatoon and a recent letter to one of his friends, Ernest Lindner, indicated that he hoped to return to Saskatchewan. In fact, the Lumsden artist tried several times to obtain employment here as a teacher of art but was unable to do so because he did not hold a normal school certificate.
Eminently qualified in his own profession, Mr. Kerr is a graduate of the Ontario School of Art and holds an art teacher's certificate. His pictures have been hung in the Royal Canadian Academy and by the Ontario Society of Artists. He won high commendation from Arthur Lismer, under whom he studied. Kerr's style leans towards that of the Group of Seven and his subjects have been chosen almost exclusively from Western Canadian life.
His father was one of the first settlers in the Qu'Appelle Valley and after completing studies in the East, the artist returned to Saskatchewan. He earned his living by trapping and farming but finally became discouraged at the lack of opportunity here and about three years ago he left for the Old Country.
Four of his early canvases were displayed a the second annual exhibition of the Saskatoon Art Association in the Public Library Auditorium here last week. One of them was a water color, the head of a coyote, and it won much attention. The other three were oils, one of them a portrait and the other two Saskatchewan scenes. Even in these early efforts something of the brilliancy of his technique and coloring could be recognized.
For the Canadian pavilion, Mr. Kerr has painted four of 10 large dioramas illustrating various phases of Canadian life and industry. The dioramas are box-like structures which heighten the effect of a third dimension.
Mr. Kerr has created a mining scene, Western wheat fields, a habitant scene and an ice hockey match. The ice hockey diorama involved pointing a mass of 3,000 spectators and a set of 14 murals decorate the walls of the rink. Small players on the light-flooded ice are in active play.
Artists who know Mr. Kerr and his ability hope that soon he may be able to return to his native land and Province, find employment in his profession here, and lead in the work of building a Western tradition of art.
