BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS  

Bruno Joseph Bobak
(Bronislaw Josephus Bobak)

December 27 1923 - September 24 2012

B.C. Society of Artists (Member 1951-1963)
Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colours (1946)
Canadian Society of Graphic Artists (1952)
Canadian Group of Painters (1957)
Royal Canadian Adademy of Arts (Associate 1957, Academician 1973)
Canadian Painters and Etchers (1959-1963)



Catalogue cover by Bobak

Bruno Bobak was born in Wawelowka, Poland in 1923, and came to Canada in 1925 with his family. He became a painter and sculptor. He was an official Canadian War Artist from 1944 to 1946.

In 1944 Bobak won First Prize in a war art exhibition, his future wife Molly Lamb, also a war artist, winning second prize. They married and settled in Vancouver after the war. Bobak was head of the Design Department at the Vancouver School of Art from 1947 to 1957.

He submitted four engravings to the 1949 B.C. Graphic exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery, three of them were selected for the exhibition.

He exhibited in the 1949 and 1950 B.C. Artists exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

He exhibited in the Seattle Art Museum's annual Northwest Artists exhibitions in 1954, 1955, and 1959.


GROUP EXHIBITIONS
DATE EXHIBITION ARTWORK
1945 July 12 - 26 Canadian War Artists, Amsterdam Tanks advancing through Sogel, Germany
Panther tank near Sonsbeck
Engelen canal
Advance through Meppen
Tanks with distinguishing banners
Self-propelled guns
Wreckage
Gun at Krupp Works
1949 Oct. 8 - 30 VAG   B.C. Artists 18th Annual Mountain Slides
Mountain
1949 Nov. 22 - Dec. 11 VAG   First B.C. Graphic Dry Leaves
Rock Hill
Beach Form (rejected)
Beach Form
1950 Nov. 28 - Dec. 17 VAG   B.C. Artists 19th Annual Kelp
Lanterns
1951 April 24 - May 13 VAG    BCSA 41st Annual Young Huckleberry (Water Colour)
Seed Pods (Water Colour)
Dry Corn Stalks (Water Colour)
1952 April 1 - 20 VAG    BCSA 42nd Annual Weeds and Firs
Plant Forms
1953 May 5 - 31 VAG    BCSA 43rd Annual Sage Country
"Bittern"
1954 May 25 - June 13 VAG    BCSA 44th Annual Old Fir
Young Chestnut
1955 April 26 - May 15 VAG    BCSA 45th Annual Rock Face
Nest of Stones
Sketch
1956 Feb. 28 - March 18 VAG    BCSA 46th Annual Grasses Tossed by Wind
Reflections in a Melting Pond
Landscape
1957 March 5 - 24 VAG    BCSA 47th Annual Winter Hemlock
Winter Parsley
1958 Feb. 4 - 22 VAG    BCSA 48th Annual Grasses
Blue Rock

References - BIBLIOGRAPHY

Refer to BIBLIO.

References - GROUP EXHIBITIONS

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM - NORTHWEST ARTISTS EXHIBITIONS 1914 - 1975
     Refer to NWA BC artists by exhibition
     Refer to NWAA BC artists alphabetically

SOUVENIR CATALOGUE OF EXHIBITIONS OPENING THE NEW VANCOUVER ART GALLERY (refer to VAG51)

3rd BC GRAPHIC & CANADIAN SOCIETY OF GRAPHIC ART (refer to BCG57)

100 YEARS OF B.C. ART (refer to VAG58)

B.C. PAINTINGS BURNABY 58 (refer to BAG58)

ARTE CANADIENSE (refer to NGC60)

SPRING EXHIBITION - FCA - BC REGION (refer to FCA64)

SUMMER BUBBLE (refer to BAG70)

PRINTMAKING IN BRITISH COLUMBIA 1889-1983 (refer to AGGV83)

VANCOUVER: ART & ARTISTS 1931 - 1983 (refer to VAG83)

A MODERN LIFE: Art and Design in British Columbia 1945-1960 (refer to VAG04)

OUR CHANGING LANDSCAPE (2008) (refer to BAG08)

References - GENERAL

BRITISH COLUMBIA - A CENTENNIAL ANTHOLOGY (refer to BCCA58)

MACLEAN'S MAGAZINE - B.C. CENTENNIAL ISSUE (refer to MAC58)

CREATIVE CANADA - Volumes One & Two (refer to CC71)
      Includes 2 columns of information on Bobak.

PUBLIC ART IN VANCOUVER (refer to UBC72)

FROM DESOLATION TO SPLENDOUR (refer to FDTS77)

A GUIDE TO SCULPTURE IN VANCOUVER (refer to GSV80)

ROYAL CANADIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS - EXHIBITIONS & MEMBERS 1880 - 1979 (refer to RCA81)

ART BANK CATALOGUE (refer to AB87)

MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS - SPRING EXHIBITIONS 1880 - 1970 (refer to MM88)

A DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN ARTISTS (refer to M)
      Extensive 2-1/2 page biography with numerous references.

THE CANADIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA (refer to CE00)

CANVAS OF WAR - Painting the Canadian Experience 1914 to 1945
      2000, by Dean F. Oliver, Laura Brandon; Foreword by J.L. Granatstein
      Douglas & McIntyre Ltd., ISBN 1-55054-772-0
      178 pages illustrated in colour and b&w
      Includes reproduction of Bobak painting p. 96, biographical information.

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF ARTISTS IN CANADA (refer to BIAC03)
      16 references cited for Bobak.

VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY - B.C. ARTISTS FILES (refer to VPL)

THE FECKLESS COLLECTION (refer to FECK18)

GREATER VANCOUVER ART GALLERIES 1954-2020 (refer to GVAG20)
     1 reference to Bobak

Clippings

"Molly and Bruno Bobak" by Doris Shadbolt
      Canadian Art magazine, 1952, Vol. 9 No. 3

HOME