Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

"HERAKLEION" - ROLOFF BENY

Date

1949

Materials

PAPER, INK, WOOD

No. Pieces

1

Height

42.7

Length

35

Description

FRAMED PRINT ON PAPER DEPICTING A STYLIZED, GRECIAN MALE FIGURE IN VARYING SHADES OF BLUE. ABSTRACTED LANDSCAPE TO THE RIGHT OF FIGURE. ABSTRACTED SHAPES AND LINES IN SHADES OF BLUE, PURPLE, AND WHITE OVER SURFACE OF THE PRINT. NET IN FRONT OF MAN. BORDER AROUND THE PRINT CONTAINS “ROLOFF BENY – HERAKLEION” IN BLUE FONT AT THE BOTTOM CENTER AND THE ARTIST’S SIGNATURE, “ROLOFF BENY 1949” IN BLACK INK IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT. WOODEN FRAME TREATED WITH A MEDIUM-COLOURED VARNISH. GLASS COVERING FRONT OF PRINT IN FRAME. BACK OF FRAME SHOWS REMNANTS OF A BROWN PAPER BACKING ON ENTIRE SURFACE OF FRAME WITH PORTIONS REMAINING EXTENDED FROM THE FRAME (ESPECIALLY AT THE BOTTOM LEFT). WIRE HANGER ON BACK. LARGE PIECE OF PACKING TAPE ATTACHED NEAR THE CENTER OF BACKING BOARD. BACKING BOARD SECURED WITH POINTED METAL TABS ON ALL SIDES. CONDITION: PAPER IS SEVERELY DISCOLOURED AND DIRTY OVERALL. PAPER HAS COCKLED OVER ENTIRE SURFACE (WAVES/WRINKLES IN PAPER). FOXING ON OVERALL SURFACE OF PRINT. SLIGHT SEPARATION OF FRAME JOINTS. FRAME IS MODERATELY TO SEVERELY SCRATCHED AND CHIPPED OVERALL. SLIGHT SURFACE DIRT ON GLASS. DARK BROWN STAIN IN UPPER LEFT CORNER OF THE BACK.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

THIS WORK WAS DONATED TO THE GALT MUSEUM & ARCHIVES IN MEMORY OF HAZEL LONG AND WILMA LONG HOWARTH BY JIM AND TOM HOWARTH. ON AUGUST 24, 2017, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED TOM HOWARTH REGARDING HIS DONATION OF THE ROLOFF BENY AND FRED CROSS ARTWORKS. THE ARTWORKS ORIGINALLY BELONGED TO HOWARTH’S MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER. HOWARTH RECALLED THE ROLOFF BENY PRINT AS BELONGING TO HIS GRANDMOTHER, NOTING, “THE BENY PRINT WAS IN HER BEDROOM…[IT WAS] IN THE HOUSE WHENEVER WE WOULD COME UP TO VISIT HER. I CAN REMEMBER SEEING [IT], BUT WHEN YOU’RE A KID YOU DON’T THINK ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I CAN DEFINITELY REMEMBER SEEING [THE PRINT] IN THE HOUSE.” “I REALLY THINK THE BENY [PRINT] CAME TO HER THROUGH KNOWING THE BENY’S, ROLOFF BENY’S PARENTS, IN MEDICINE HAT WHERE MY MOTHER WAS BORN. I DON’T KNOW FOR SURE WHEN [MY GRANDPARENTS] MOVED FROM MEDICINE HAT TO LETHBRIDGE. THEY MOVED FROM MEDICINE HAT TO LETHBRIDGE AND THEN MY GRANDFATHER LONG OPENED A FURNITURE STORE IN LETHBRIDGE. WHEN HE PASSED AWAY IN ’45, MY UNCLE TOOK IT OVER AND HE RAN IT UNTIL THE ESTATE WAS SETTLED AND HE MOVED OUT TO VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA.” “MY GRANDMOTHER, IN ALL REALITY, WAS QUITE AN OUTGOING PERSON AND PROBABLY KNEW THE BENY’S. MEDICINE HAT WAS NOT THAT LARGE A TOWN BACK IN 1919, SO THERE WAS PROBABLY SOME FAMILIARITY THERE.” ON HIS DONATION OF THE ARTWORKS AND HIS FAMILY’S HISTORY, HOWARTH ELABORATED, “MY BROTHER AND I CAME INTO POSSESSION OF THESE WHEN MY SISTER [PEGGY HOWARTH-NUMBERS] PASSED AWAY AT THE END OF LAST YEAR. I HAD SEEN [THE ARTWORKS] IN MY GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE, THE [PAINTING] AND THE BENY PRINT, AND MY BROTHER AND I DISCUSSED IT AND WE THOUGHT THE RIGHT PLACE FOR THIS TO BE WOULD BE BACK IN LETHBRIDGE WHERE IT ORIGINATED. MY WIFE HELPED ME, SHE WENT ONLINE AND RESEARCHED A LITTLE BIT AND SHE CAME UP WITH THE GALT MUSEUM. I TALKED TO MY BROTHER AND WE SAID “WELL, LET’S SEE IF THEY’RE INTERESTED”, AND THEN THAT’S WHEN WE CONTACTED THE MUSEUM. WE JUST FELT IT WAS RIGHT THAT IT WOULD GO BACK TO CANADA, TO LETHBRIDGE BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE MY MOTHER WAS FROM, MY FATHER WAS FROM AND MY GRANDMOTHER WAS FROM CANADA.” “MY FATHER WAS BORN IN WINNIPEG…I DON’T KNOW THE WHOLE STORY MUCH TO MY CHAGRIN…I BELIEVE HE MET UP WITH MOM [WILMA CATHERINE MARGARET LONG-HOWARTH] IN LETHBRIDGE BECAUSE ONCE DAD BECAME OF AGE TO WORK, HE WENT TO WORK FOR THE BANK OF CANADA ALONG WITH MY GRANDFATHER. THEN DAD WAS TRANSFERRED, I BELIEVE, TO LETHBRIDGE TO WORK IN THE BANK THERE BECAUSE MY UNCLE…AND HIS WIFE, MY AUNT PEGGY, HAD MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE AND HE WAS TIED UP WITH THE BANK OF CANADA ALSO…MY DAD SERVED IN THE AIR FORCE FOR THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE. MY MOTHER AND HE WERE MARRIED ACTUALLY BEFORE HE WENT INTO THE SERVICE AND THEN AFTER THEY GOT OUT, MY GRANDFATHER HAD MOVED TO ROCKFORD ILLINOIS AND STARTED A COAL COMPANY UP TO DISTRIBUTE COAL [IN 1947]. THEY ASKED MY DAD TO COME DOWN. SO DAD AND MOM CAME DOWN HERE. THEY NEVER WENT BACK TO LIVE IN CANADA. THEY STAYED IN ROCKFORD THE REST OF THEIR LIVES, MY DAD BECOMING A NATURALIZED CITIZEN AND MY MOTHER NOT. SHE REMAINED A CANADIAN CITIZEN. WHEN MY GRANDMOTHER DIED, MY UNCLE BOB, ROBERT LONG, AND MY MOTHER DIVIDED UP THE POSSESSIONS OF GRANDMOTHER’S, AND UNCLE BOB TOOK SOME STUFF WHERE HE MOVED OUT TO VICTORIA. MOM BROUGHT THE STUFF HOME TO ILLINOIS. THE PAINTINGS WERE AMONG THE THINGS SHE BROUGHT HOME FROM UP THERE. THERE WERE A NUMBER OF PAINTINGS OF WATERTON – BIG CHIEF MOUNTAIN…THEY WERE OF PEOPLE THAT MY MOTHER WAS REAL GOOD FRIENDS WITH, THAT WERE…FREELANCE ARTISTS, THEY WEREN’T BIG NAMES OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.” “MY [MATERNAL] GRANDMOTHER DIDN’T PASS AWAY UNTIL 1980. MOM AND DAD LIVED DOWN HERE THE WHOLE TIME. MY GRANDMOTHER WAS LIVING IN CANADA BECAUSE THE GRANDFATHER THAT MY DAD FOLLOWED DOWN WAS HIS FATHER. MOM’S FATHER ACTUALLY PASSED AWAY IN 1945 JUST AFTER MY PARENTS HAD BEEN MARRIED, AND THEN MY GRANDMOTHER DIDN’T PASS AWAY UNTIL 1980, BUT SHE LIVED IN LETHBRIDGE THE WHOLE TIME. SHE NEVER CAME DOWN HERE OTHER THAN TO VISIT—AND THEN I CAN REMEMBER AS A CHILD GOING UP THERE TO VISIT HER A NUMBER OF TIMES.” “WHEN MY FATHER PASSED AWAY, MY SISTER AND HER HUSBAND MOVED IN WITH MY MOTHER TO TAKE CARE OF HER. SHE WASN’T UNABLE TO TAKE CARE OF HERSELF, JUST [NEEDED] SOMEBODY THAT WAS YOUNGER TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL HER NEEDS WERE MET. MY SISTER STAYED THERE UNTIL MOM PASSED AWAY. MOM PASSED AWAY IN 2OO8 AND INSTEAD OF MAKING MY SISTER MOVE BACK INTO THE HOUSE THEY WERE ORIGINALLY IN, MY BROTHER AND I SAID “PEGGY, YOU TOOK CARE OF MOM FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, SO YOU JUST STAY HERE”. SHE STAYED IN THE HOUSE THAT MY BROTHER AND I GREW UP IN, THAT MY DAD BUILT HIMSELF…THE ORIGINAL HOWARTH HOUSEHOLD JUST NORTH OF ROCKFORD. WHEN [PEGGY] PASSED AWAY, MY BROTHER AND I WENT OUT AND CLEANED EVERYTHING OUT AND THEN DECIDED, ONCE WE CAME UP WITH THE ARTWORK, WE THOUGHT IT SHOULD GO BACK. THAT’S WHEN WE DECIDED TO SEND IT BACK.” “MY BROTHER AND I DISCUSSED THIS, WE SAW GRANDMOTHER LONG MAYBE SIX OR SEVEN TIMES IN OUR WHOLE LIFETIME, AND SHE WAS A VERY PROPER PERSON. ONE TIME I MADE THE MISTAKE OF CALLING HER “GRANDMA”. SHE LOOKED AT ME VERY STERNLY AND SHE [SAID], “THOMAS, I’M NOT YOUR GRANDMA. YOUR GRANDMA LIVES IN ILLINOIS. I AM YOUR GRANDMOTHER”. SHE WAS VERY OLD FASHIONED THAT WAY, I GUESS MORE BRITISH THAN ANYTHING. SHE CAME FROM…NOVA SCOTIA, WHERE SHE WAS BORN…[I WANTED TO DONATE THE ARTWORKS] BECAUSE…I FEEL MY GRANDMOTHER’S SPIRIT…IS STILL IN CANADA…MY BROTHER AND I THOUGHT, “WELL SHE HAD THESE PAINTINGS FOR A LONG TIME, MAYBE WE’LL PUT THEM BACK IN THE TOWN THAT SHE DIED IN, MAYBE SHE’LL BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THEM AGAIN.” THAT’S A LITTLE WEIRD BUT THAT’S JUST THE WAY WE WERE THINKING.” THIS PRINT WAS CREATED BY ROLOFF BENY, A CANADIAN PHOTOGRAPHER WHO WAS BORN ON JANUARY 7, 1924 IN MEDICINE HAT. HE WAS BORN WILFRED ROY BENY, BUT LATER CHANGED HIS FIRST NAME TO HIS MOTHER’S MAIDEN NAME, ROLOFF. HE SPENT HIS UPBRINGING IN LETHBRIDGE AND KEPT A PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO IN THE CITY THROUGHOUT HIS INTERNATIONALLY PROLIFIC CAREER. BENY DEVELOPED HIS CAREER IN PAINTING, DRAWING, AND PRINTMAKING IN THE LATE 1940S AND EARLY 1950S. HE RECEIVED FORMAL TRAINING FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, BANFF CENTRE FOR THE ARTS, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA. WHILE AT THE LATTER, HE STUDIED UNDER MASTER PRINTMAKER, MAURICIO LASANSKY. KNOWN FOR HIS ABSTRACT WORKS, BENY’S ART HAS BEEN EXHIBITED AND COLLECTED BY INSTITUTIONS SUCH AS THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM, THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, THE ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO, AND THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA. BENY’S COLLECTION OF INTERNATIONAL, CANADIAN, ALONG WITH THE COLLECTION OF HIS OWN ART AND ARCHIVAL PAPERS ARE HOUSED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE ART GALLERY. THIS PRINT IS TITLED, “HERAKLEION,” BEING AN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CITY LOCATED ON A MOUTH OF WHERE THE NILE RIVER MET THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA. IT WAS A CITY KNOWN TO BOTH THE ANCIENT GREEKS AND EGYPTIANS AND THE THEME OF ANCIENT SUBJECT MATTER RUNS THROUGH THE WORK. REFLECTED IN THIS PRINT, ACCOUNTS OF BENY’S LIFE STATE HE SPENT MUCH OF HIS LIFE WANDERING “AROUND THE LONG, RICHLY-INDENTED PERIMETER OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.” BENY WOULD SPEND MUCH OF HIS LIFE LIVING IN ROME. ROLOFF BENY PASSED AWAY IN HIS ROMAN STUDIO IN 1984 AT THE AGE OF 60 YEARS. THE DONOR, TOM HOWARTH, EXPLAINED IN AN EMAIL THAT THIS PAINTING, ALONG WITH THE OTHER INCLUDED WITH THIS DONATION, CAME TO HIM FROM HIS MOTHER, WILMA LONG. ACCORDING TO HER ONLINE OBITUARY, LONG WAS BORN IN REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN ON DECEMBER 18, 1919 AND GREW UP IN LETHBRIDGE. HER PARENTS WERE HAZEL E. FOLLIS LONG AND CHARLES A. LONG. SHE MARRIED THE DONOR’S FATHER, JAMES ROBERT (BOB) HOWARTH IN LETHBRIDGE ON NOVEMBER 18, 1942. THE COUPLE HAD THREE CHILDREN: JIM, TOM, AND MARGARET PEGGY. BOB PASSED AWAY ON SEPTEMBER 23, 1991. WILMA PASSED AWAY IN ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS ON MARCH 26, 2008 AT THE AGE OF 88 YEARS. HAZEL LONG’S OBITUARY WAS PUBLISHED IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ON APRIL 11, 1980. IT STATES THE FAMILY OF HAZEL LONG (MAIDEN NAME UNKNOWN) (1893-1980) ARRIVED IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA FROM CHESLEY, ONTARIO IN THE EARLY 1900S, FIRST RESIDING IN CARMANGAY, THEN MEDICINE HAT, BEFORE SETTLING IN LETHBRIDGE IN THE MID-1920S. SHE PASSED AWAY IN LETHBRIDGE ON APRIL 9, 1980 AT THE AGE OF 86 YEARS. HAZEL MARRIED CHARLES ALBERT LONG (1874-1945) WHO – ACCORDING TO HIS NOVEMBER 5, 1945 OBITUARY – ARRIVED IN MEDICINE HAT IN 1895 AT THE AGE OF 21 YEARS. HE BECAME A CONDUCTOR WITH THE CPR AND WOULD OPERATE RUNS INTO LETHBRIDGE. AFTER SEVERAL YEARS IN MEDICINE HAT, HE MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE IN THE 1920S. FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, OBITUARIES, LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES, AND BIOGRAPHIES OF ROLOFF BENY AND FRED CROSS, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20170017001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20170017001

Acquisition Date

2017-04

Collection

Museum

Less detail