Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

"A PROUD TRADITION - GUNNERS OF LETHBRIDGE"

Date

1996

Materials

PAPER

No. Pieces

1

Length

60.5

Width

46

Description

UNFRAMED PRINT MARKED "A PROUD TRADITION - THE GUNNERS OF LETHBRIDGE" IN THE BOTTOM CENTRE. PRINT HAS IMAGES REPRESENTING LOCAL MILITARY FROM LETHBRIDGE. ON EITHER SIDE OF TITLE ARE DESCRIPTIONS OF SCENES IN THE PAINTING. NEW.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

MILITARY

History

PAINTING DONE BY LOCAL ARTIST R.J. KOLLEE. THIS LIMITED EDITION PRINT WAS PURCHASED FOR THE MUSEUM BY CHRIS KILFORD, AUTHOR OF "LETHBRIDGE AT WAR". *UPDATE* IN 2015 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTIST, JEANNE KOLLEE, WAS FOUND ON HER WEBSITE. KOLLEE MOVED TO SOUTHERN ALBERTA FROM THE NETHERLANDS. SHE IS A SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST, PRODUCING PAINTINGS IN OIL, WATERCOLOUR, AND ACRYLIC. IN HER ARTIST STATEMENT, KOLLEE DESCRIBES HER PROCESS: "DRAWING FROM MY CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE, I'LL TAKE A BLANK CANVAS AND GO TO WORK, NO PLAN... JUST SIX PAINTING KNIVES AND NO IDEA OF WHERE I AM GOING... THE END RESULT AFTER A FEW HOURS OF PLAYING IS THAT MY SUBCONSCIOUS MIND CREATES IMAGES OF FORM, DEPTH, AND COLOUR. I STUDY THE PIECE AND DECIDE ON THE SUBJECT MATTER, PICKING OUT VARIOUS ELEMENTS THAT I SEE IN THE WAY THE PAINT TEXTURE LAYS, THE WAY THE COLOURS COMBINE AND BY TURNING THE CANVAS AT DIFFERENT ANGLES." AT THE TIME OF THIS SURVEY, KOLLEE LIVES AND CONTINUES HER ARTISTIC PRACTICE IN LETHBRIDGE. CONTACT WAS MADE WITH THE ARTIST REGARDING THE CIRCUMSTANCES AROUND THE CREATION OF THIS PRINT. KOLLEE WROTE: "IT WAS COMMISSIONED BY... MAJOR CHRIS KILFORD. [THE COMMISSION] WAS ORIGINALLY FOR AN OIL PAINTING, BUT CHRIS LIKED IT SO MUCH THAT HE BOUGHT IT FOR HIMSELF, AND WE ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT FOR THE PUBLICATION OF PRINTS. [THEY WERE MADE] AS A GIFT TO THE REGIMENT WHEN CHRIS WAS TRANSFERRED DOWN EAST... WE PRINTED LIMITED EDITION PRINTS, 200 SIGNED AND NUMBERED, AND THERE WERE 25 SIGNED AND NUMBERED ARTIST'S PROOFS... I BELIEVE CHRIS STILL HAS THE ORIGINAL PAINTING. HIS INTENT WAS TO EVENTUALLY DONATE IT TO THE WAR MUSEUM IN OTTAWA." THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ABOUT THE DONOR, LIEUTENANT COLONEL CHRISTOPHER R. KILFORD, WAS FOUND ON THE WEBSITE OF TRAFFORD PUBLISHING. CHRIS KILFORD WAS BORN IN BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND. IN 1971 HIS FAMIILY IMMIGRATED TO CANADA WHERE HE LIVED IN WINNIPEG UNTIL HIS ENLISTMENT IN THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES IN 1978. IN 1992 KILFORD EARNED A BACHELOR OF ARTS, MAJORING IN POLITICAL STUDIES FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA. IN 1993, KILFORD WAS POSTED TO LETHBRDGE TO BE THE SECOND-IN-COMMAND OF THE 18TH AIR DEFENCE REGIMENT. DURING HIS TIME IN LETHBRIDGE, KILFORD WROTE TWO BOOKS ON THE MILITARY HISTORY OF THE COMMUNITY, 'LETHBRIDGE AT WAR' IN 1996 AND 'ONE THE WAY!' IN 2004. HE ALSO EARNED TWO MASTERS DEGREES IN WAR STUDIES AND DEFENCE STUDIES FROM THE ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE, AND IN MAY 2009 COMPLETED A PHD AT QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY. FROM 2009-2010, KILFORD WAS THE DEPUTY DEFENCE ATTACHE AT THE CANADIAN EMBASSY IN KABUL, AFGANISTAN, AND IN 2011 HE WAS PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF COLONEL AND APPOINTED AS THE DEFENCE ATTACHE TO THE CANADIAN EMBASSY IN ANKARA, TURKEY. KILFORD RETIRED FROM THE MILITARY IN AUGUST 2014. SEE PERMENANT FILE FOR HARDCOPIES OF ONLINE SOURCE MATERIALS AND TRANSCRIPT OF DISCUSSION BETWEEN EDMUNDSON AND THE ARTIST.

Catalogue Number

P19960111000

Acquisition Date

1996-??

Collection

Museum

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