Ontario North: The Frederick Hagan Lithographs 1942-1953

The Art Gallery of Sudbury is opening a new exhibition by a Canadian painter, printmaker, and educator – Frederick Hagan. This exhibition titled Ontario North: The Frederick Hagan Lithographs 1942-1953 focuses on 37 lithograph prints produced by Hagan in northern Ontario during the years of World War II and immediately following. In lithography, the artist chemically treats the printing surface of a limestone block so that water and oil repel each other, and the greasy image captures ink for printing on paper. The printing press exerts a sliding pressure, but because the stone undergoes virtually no wear in printing, a single stone can last for decades.

Frederick Hagan’s printing press and lithograph stones, gifted by his family, are still in production and are located at Nipissing University in North Bay. Ontario North: The Frederick Hagan Lithographs 1942-1953 are drawn from a collection of 287 paintings, drawings and prints by Hagan that were first acquired under the direction of the former LUMAC Director/Curator, Pamela Krueger, for the permanent collection in 1989. “The exhibition is offered in recognition of the contributions of Pamela Krueger, curator, and Frederick Hagan, artist, and to the development of the permanent collections of the Laurentian University Museum and Arts Centre and the Art Gallery of Sudbury” says Demetra Christakos, Director/Curator of the Art Gallery of Sudbury. “As were many other artists at that time in Toronto, Hagan was affected by either the vision of or close association with members of the Group of Seven. Toronto had a small, closely-knit arts community.

The primary source of training was the Ontario College of Art. Evening courses at the Ontario College of Art (1937-1940) introduced Frederick Hagan to artists John Alfsen, Franklin Carmichael, and Frederick Haines,” wrote Pamela Krueger in an essay (Frederick Hagan and Northern Ontario, 1991). “Carmichael was much like my father in the shop, he was an active person and a practical person and he was a great keen visionary.” Frederick Hagan in conversation with Pamela Krueger, 1991 “The North became Frederick Hagan’s anchor in life, and often the work accomplished there became the source material for his paintings and prints. The North attracted him. It was less predictable and it emanated a strength that he admired and embraced” Pamela Krueger, 1991.

Frederick Hagan (1918-2003) was a Canadian painter, printmaker, and educator. Born in Toronto, he attended Central Technical School, following which he found employment in wood fabrication while attending night courses at the Ontario College of Art under John Alfsen, Frank Carmichael and Fred Haines, among others. From 1941-1946, Frederick Hagan was employed as Resident Artist and Master at Pickering College in Newmarket, Ontario. During these years he spent his summers in employment at Camp Pine Crest in Muskoka, Ontario. In the spring of 1946, Hagan journeyed to New York, where he participated in the Art Students’ League under Martin Lewis and worked in George Miller’s Lithography Shop. Later the same year, Hagan began teaching drawing, painting, composition, and printmaking at the Ontario College of Art. In 1955 he became Head of Printmaking, a position which he held until his retirement in 1983. Between 1986 and 1989, Hagan released “Exploration of Canada,” a series of 16 stamps for Canada Post. Frederick Hagan held memberships in the Canadian Society of Graphic Art (of which he was made an Honorary Member in 1965), the Canadian Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, the Ontario Society of Artists, and the Print and Drawing Council of Canada. His work is in the collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the Glenbow Museum, and numerous other Canadian galleries, including the Art Gallery of Sudbury.