Paraskeva and Philip T. Clark fonds [textual record, graphic material]
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Paraskeva and Philip T. Clark fonds [textual record, graphic material]
Hierarchical level:FondsContext of this record:Fonds includes:59 lower level description(s)View lower level description(s) -
Finding aid Textual records: (Paper) The finding aid consists of a file list of volumes 1 to 31 and an appendix comprising a detailed listing of the contents as compiled by Mary Clark. MSS2010Textual records: (Electronic) Finding aid. MSS2010
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000000559.pdf -
Record information Paraskeva and Philip T. Clark fonds [textual record, graphic material]
Date:1914-1994.Reference:R2941-0-2-E, MG30-D398Type of material:Textual material, Photographs, ArtFound in:Archives / Collections and FondsItem ID number:106929Date(s):1914-1994.Place of creation:No place, unknown, or undeterminedExtent:4.65 m of textual records.
401 photographs chiefly b&w.
6 prints 1 linocut.
2 drawings watercolour, charcoal, and graphite.Language of material:EnglishAdded language of material:English, RussianScope and content:Fonds consists of the papers of Paraskeva and Philip T. Clark comprising twenty-two series relating to the private and professional lives of Paraskeva Clark and Philip T. Clark. The series relating to Paraskeva Clark are arranged as follows: Personal material and memorabilia; Personal correspondence; Personal correspondence - Russian; activities, organizations and committees files; Lecture notes, speaking engagements and written articles files; Business correspondence - exhibitions; Business correspondence - galleries and collectors; Business correspondence - miscellaneous; Business records; Associations files; Exhibition catalogues and brochures - Canadian; Exhibition catalogues and brochures - international; Published material with reference to Paraskeva Clark; Published material - general arts; Published material - miscellaneous; Published material - Russian interest; and Published material - Russian. The series comprising the papers of Philip T. Clark are arranged as follows: Personal material and memorabilia; Personal correspondence; Associations files; General correspondence; and Business material. The fonds largely reflects the original order established by Paraskeva and Philip Clark. Mary Clark's explanatory notes have been added as an appendix and should aid researchers in fleshing out the material contained in the fonds. Included in these notes is a copy of the list of photographic material which has been transferred to the Visual and Sound Archives as well as a list of the non-archival and printed material returned to the family. Wherever relevant, an individual contents list has been placed at the beginning of each file, as compiled by Mary Clark.
Fonds contains graphic material, 1929-1985, including a family album of the Oreste family, 1910s to 1930s; photos of Oreste Allegri Sr. and Jr. (Paraskeva's first husband); Oreste as a boy; the Allegri home in Chatou, France with Paraskeva; Paraskeva and Ben Allegri in Paris; a photo album sent to Paraskeva by her husband Philip of his home and family in Toronto, 1920s and 1930s; photos documenting the social life of Paraskeva's circle of friends which included several prominent artists and collectors such as Charles Comfort, Emanuel Hahn, Elizabeth Wyn Wood, Frances Loring, Will Ogilvie, as well as Douglas Duncan of the Picture Loan Society; photos of the Adaskin family including John and wife Naomi Yanova, Harry and wife Frances Marr, and Murray and Frances James; family photos from the 1930s to 1980s of the Clark family, alone and with friends; formal portraits of Clark for publications on her art; photos of Norman Bethune in China and Europe. The fonds also contains Christmas cards sent to Paraskeva and Clark from artists Kazuo Nakamura and Fritz Brandtner; a portrait (probably a self-portrait by Ben Clark, Paraskeva's eldest son); and an unidentified landscape [work by Ben Clark?].
Also available are two portraits by Paraskeva Clark of violinist Murray Adaskin, 1944-45, and his wife, Frances Adaskin, 1950-52, showing both of them as performers. See Mikan 623629.Provenance:Additional name(s):Biography/Administrative history:Clark, Paraskeva, 1898-1986 : Paraskeva Clark, née Plistik, was born in St. Petersburg, in the Soviet Union. Her early art training began there in 1916, initially under the direction of Savely Zeidenberg. In 1918, she began working in the Free Art Studios (newly established after the Revolution to replace the Academies) under the tutelage of Kazuma Petrov-Vodkin and Vassily Shoukaeff, where she continued her art studies until 1921. In 1923, after the death of her first husband, Oreste Allegri Jr., with whom she had begun working in theatre set design, the artist emigrated to Paris with her first son, Benedict Allegri, in order to live with her in-laws. She found employment there until her second marriage to Philip T. Clark, of Toronto, in 1931. Paraskeva Clark emigrated to Canada with him in the summer of 1931. A second son, Clive, was born in 1933.
Her involvement with the art scene in Canada began in 1932 when she exhibited in a group show with members of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts. During the early 1930s, the artist did a number of commissioned window displays for the T. Eaton Company. In 1936, her first major exhibition took place at the Galleries of J. Merritt Malloney in Toronto where she showed with four other women painters - Kathleen Daly, Yvonne McKague, Isabel McLaughlin and Rody Kenny Courtice (the same year she was elected a member of the Canadian Group of Painters). The following year, Clark joined the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour, another group with which she would regularly exhibit. In 1939, the Art Gallery of Toronto included her works in a group show with Caven Atkins, David Milne and Carl Schaefer. By 1940, she had exhibited in numerous venues in the United States (including the 1939 New York World's Fair), in New Zealand and at the Tate Gallery in London.
Association with Douglas Duncan and the Picture Loan Society introduced her to J.S. McLean who became a life-long friend and supporter of her art.
During the period 1936-1946, Clark was an active participant in numerous political organizations. Friendship with Norman Bethune led to her involvement with the Campaign to Aid Spanish Democracy. During World War II, she committed her energies to the Aid to Russia Fund, raising monies through the sale of paintings in support of the cause, and through the arrangement of cultural exchanges. Clark maintained close ties with organizations working to strengthen Canadian-Soviet friendship, serving as National Vice-President of the Federation of Russian Canadians from 1944-1946. Through a series of lectures she gave to cultural groups on the history of Russian art, Clark sought to better inform the Canadian public about the artistic achievements of the Soviet Union. A commission by the National Gallery of Canada led to her painting the activities of the Women's Division of the Canadian Armed Forces in 1945.
The artist continued exhibiting regularly in group shows throughout the period 1950-1965. Her career enjoyed a strong resurgence, beginning in 1975, when the National Gallery of Canada featured her prominently in their exhibition entitled "Canadian Painting in the Thirties". In 1981, Clark was the subject of a National Film Board documentary entitled "Portrait of the Artist as an Old Lady" and, in 1983, Dalhousie Art Gallery organized a major retrospective of her work.
Although unavoidably drawn to the subject matter of landscape upon her arrival in Canada in 1931, due to the enormous influence of the Group of Seven, Clark is perhaps best-known for her "Self-Portrait" of 1933. Other examples of her portraiture, landscapes and still lifes are held in major collections throughout Canada including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario and Dalhousie Art Gallery.Additional information:General note:Received from Clive Clark of Toronto, Ontario, the son of Paraskeva and Philip T. Clark. The family has retained a small amount of material which relates to the career and personal life of Paraskeva Clark.Subject heading:Source:PrivateFormer archival reference no.:MG30-D398 -
Ordering and viewing options Conditions of access:Access restriction documentTextual records[Consultation Restricted]Finding aid box [FA 2010] 147[Consultation Closed]Graphic (photo)[Consultation Open]Box [PARASKEVA, CLARK 1995-019] 113[Consultation Open]Box [CLARK, PARASKEVA 1995-019] C 0523[Consultation Open]Graphic (art)[Consultation Open]Box [1995-019][Consultation Open]A056-01;[Consultation Open]A300-02;[Consultation Open]Terms of use:There should be no restrictions on consultation of either the photos or the artwork. Various copyright on items less than 50 years old. Copyright expired on items more than 50 years old. Credit: Name of photographer / National Archives of Canada / Copy negative no. Art: To be determined. Copyright: Ben Clark; Kazuo Nakamura; Fritz Brandtner.You can order materials in advance to be ready for you when you visit. You will need a user card to do this.
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