Zone d'identification
Cote
Titre
Date(s)
Niveau de description
Fonds
Étendue matérielle et support
Items described here also include approximately 4300 photographs, 40 transparencies, 12 contact sheets, and approximately 2700 negatives. The donation also includes approximately 800 minutes of audio recordings.
Zone du contexte
Histoire archivistique
George Swinton was born in Vienna, Austria on 17 April 1917. He came to Canada in 1939 and joined the Canadian war effort. He served for 5 years in the Canadian Army, retiring as a Captain (Intelligence Corps) and becoming a Canadian citizen in 1944. Following the war, Swinton studied at McGill, receiving a B.A. in 1946, as well as at the Montreal School of Art and Design (1946-47) and the Art Students’ League of New York (1949-1950). He held positions as Curator at the Saskatoon Art Centre (1947-1949); Instructor, Graphic Arts and Design, Smith College (1950-53); Artist-in-Residence, Queen’s University (1953-54); Industrial Designer, National Gallery, (1954); Instructor/Professor, University of Manitoba School of Art (1954-1974); Professor of Canadian Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa (1974-1981); and Adjunct Professor, Department of Art History Carleton University (1981-1985).
Swinton also wrote columns as an art critic for the Winnipeg Tribune between 1954 and 1958 and hosted the CBC radio program “Art in Action” from 1959 to 1962. While teaching at the University of Manitoba at the University of Manitoba from 1965 to 1971, he was Director of Exhibitions for Gallery 1.1.1.. It was there that he mounted the first solo exhibition by an Inuit artist, John Tiktak, in 1970. The exhibition was accompanied by an illustrated catalogue, and demonstrated a new scholarly approach to exhibitions of work by Inuit artists. A member of the Canadian Society for Education through Art, Swinton served as Chairman from 1956 to 1958.
An important collector of Inuit art, George Swinton acquired his first piece of Inuit art in 1950. Following his move to Winnipeg in 1954, Swinton began an association with the Hudson’s Bay Company. This relationship facilitated his first journey to the arctic in 1957 when he was commissioned to write a report on the economic and artistic viability of Inuit art. Swinton’s first collection of 139 sculptures was acquired by The Winnipeg Art Gallery in 1960 (mainly pieces from Inukjuak, Povungnituk and Salluit), and this established Inuit art as a focus for the Gallery. In 1976, a second collection came to the Gallery from Swinton—this time over 1,000 sculptures and graphics. A third collection was donated in 1989. Swinton made a further major donation of 371 works to the Art Gallery of Ontario in 1990.
Swinton authored many articles for popular and academic publications and lectured widely in Canada and abroad. He also published several books and catalogues on Inuit art and undertook a systematic study of Inuit art which culminated in his most well known published works; Eskimo Sculpture published in 1965 and Sculpture of the Eskimo published in 1972 (republished as Sculpture of the Inuit in 1992).
George Swinton was the contemporary and friend of many early collectors of Inuit art such as John and Alma Houston, Jerry Twomey and Ian Lindsay. He was frequently consulted by collectors and from 1965 to 1968 Swinton served on the committee which assembled the TD Bank Collection of Inuit art as a centennial project in 1967. He was also closely involved in mounting of the international exhibition “Sculpture/Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic” and served on a number of influential boards and committees over the years. Swinton was on the important Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, an advisory body to the federal government on matters of Inuit arts and crafts, from 1967 to 1973. He was also a key advisor to the Inuit Cultural Institute (ICI) between 1974 and 1978 and he was an important advocate for the art of Keewatin communities of Baker Lake, Arviat, and Rankin Inlet. As a recognized expert on Inuit Art and a person knowledgeable about Inuit culture Swinton was often consulted by agencies and institutions, including federal government of Canada, regarding proposed programs and policy development.
George Swinton was also a published poet and an exhibited artist and illustrator with a number of one man shows to his credit and his works are represented in many collections throughout North America. Major exhibitions include a retrospective of his work at Gallery 454 in 1994 and a celebration of his 80th birthday on 17 April 1997 which included works from the collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery and private collections in Winnipeg.
Honours awarded to George Swinton include the Centennial Medal; Member of the Order of Canada, 1979; Professor Emeritus of Carleton University, 1986; and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Manitoba, 1987. George Swinton died in Winnipeg on 22 April 2002.
Source immédiate d'acquisition ou de transfert
Zone du contenu et de la structure
Portée et contenu
Materials described here date predominantly from 1957 to 1984 with some collected reference materials dating from ca.1900. Items include correspondence and other collected documents pertaining to George Swinton’s activities as an author and educator as well as a collector and scholar of Inuit art. As suggested by the existing organisation, items were arranged in the following series: Inuit Cultural Institute, 1961-1978; Bibliographies, [ca.1970]; Biographies of Eskimo/Inuit Artists, 1966-[ca.1970]; Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, 1964-1973; Collections, 1930-1980; Correspondence with Individuals, 1957-1982; Department of Northern Affairs, 1958-1982; Ethnology and Archaeology, 1963-1982; Galleries and Cooperatives, 1964-1982; Organisations, 1958-1981; Seminars, Conferences and Speeches, 1964-1982; Local, Regional and Federal Governments, [ca.1960]-1979; “Sculpture/Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic” Exhibition, 1968-1973; Tiktak Exhibition at Gallery 1.1.1., 1968-1970; Special Topics, 1967-1976; Canadian Society for Art Through Education, 1952-1957; Articles and Reviews, 1964-[before 1982]; Manuscripts, 1970-1975; Personal, 1958-1980; Reference Materials, 1899-1983; Reference Materials. Periodicals and Occasional Publications, 1907-1982; Image Research and Study Collection, [ca.1955]-[ca.1980]; and Audio Recordings, 1957-1984.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
Mode de classement
Although the original order of these materials was likely disturbed subsequent to their accession, an attempt has been made to preserve original order as found during this arrangement and description project. The order of these materials as discovered was idiosyncratic and folder labels often did not accurately reflect folder contents. Items pertaining to one project or subject were scattered through several folders and are found in different series. Series headings were supplied but were also idiosyncratic and items may be included in one series which would seem to fit more appropriately in another. File level description aids navigation through the record.
Generally items were found to be arranged in reverse chronological order within folders. At some point previous to this arrangement and description project, staples and other fasteners were largely removed and items appear to have been re-ordered within the folders to conform to the chronological arrangement thus resulting in some loss of contextual information. During this project, the original order of items within folders was restored where it could be discerned. Duplicates have been discarded.
Zone des conditions d'accès et d'utilisation
Conditions d’accès
Conditions de reproduction
Langue des documents
Écriture des documents
Notes de langue et graphie
Caractéristiques matérielle et contraintes techniques
Photocopies that had begun to degrade were reformatted and the originals were discarded.
Photographic materials have been re-housed in non-reactive enclosures. Audio recordings have been reformatted as digital files for access purposes. The original recordings have been retained.
Instruments de recherche
Zone des sources complémentaires
Existence et lieu de conservation des originaux
Existence et lieu de conservation des copies
Unités de description associées
Zone des notes
Note
Twelve metres of published and bound secondary materials including books, periodicals and scholarly journals, government publications, and popular market magazines were also acquired with the materials described here. A small collection of these materials, known as the ‘Swinton Book Collection’, was separated from the accrual, catalogued and added to the Clara Lander Library holdings, a complete list of which is included here at the end of the series descriptions. The rest of the secondary materials were retained in the Swinton fonds and described here as series Reference Materials. – 1989-1983. – 75cm textual records + other materials; and series Reference Materials. Periodicals and Occasional Publications. – 1907-1982. – 2m textual records.
This arrangement and description project does not include the George Swinton’s ‘Slide Collection’ which was subsumed into the research collection of the Inuit Curatorial Department of The Winnipeg Art Gallery.