JAMES HOUSTON: Born in Toronto, Canada, June 12, 1921 - Died in New
London, Conn., April 17, 2005.
Art librarians interested in Inuit art and Steuben glass may have noted
last week the obituary of Canadian artist and author James Houston (see
Globe & Mail, April 21, 2005
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050421/OBHOUSTON21/TPObituaries/?query=james+houston
and CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/04/20/Arts/houstonobit050420.html).
Best known for being the first to appreciate Inuit carvings and
introducing them to the world some 50 years ago, Houston was also an
artist and prolific author. He lived in the Arctic for 14 years and
helped to export and promote Inuit sculpture. In the 1950s he introduced
printmaking to the Inuit and established the West Baffin Eskimo
Co-operative to market and sell their work. After leaving the Arctic, he
worked as a designer for Steuben Glass in New York for over 40 years,
where he was honored by a major retrospective of his work in 1992.
Librarians who are coming to the ARLIS/NA Conference in Banff in 2006
should plan on taking the tour to the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, where
Houston’s sculpture in acrylic and aluminum, the Aurora Borealis (1976)
(http://www.transcanadahighway.com/alberta/Calgary-PublicArt.htm), is
the focal point of the lobby. Houston's best-known book, The White Dawn
(Longman, 1971), was translated into eleven languages and in 1974 was
also made into a motion picture directed by Philip Kaufman.
Kathy Zimon
Local Arrangements Co-chair
ARLIS/NA Banff 2006 Conference
--
Kathy Zimon
Co-Editor, Art Documentation
ARLIS/NA
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