Christopher Pratt was born in St. John’s, Nfld., in 1935. While attending Mount Allison University as a pre-med student, Pratt was encouraged to explore painting by instructors Lawren P. Harris and Alex Colville.
From 1957 to 1959 he studied at the Glasgow School of Art, and returned to Mount Allison to complete a BFA in 1961. Pratt has spent the majority of his career focusing on painting and printmaking, while also working as a curator and serving on national arts juries and committees. His artwork often depicts landscape and the human form, rendered in precise detail. Pratt strips his subjects down to their most essential elements, creating flattened compositions that are at once documentary and abstract. The resulting works have a dreamlike, atmospheric feeling. In 1973, Pratt was named an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 1980
[TOP] Christopher Pratt, Labrador Sea, 1980. From the University of Lethbridge Art Collection; Gift of the artist, 1998.
he designed the provincial flag of Newfoundland and Labrador. His work is held in numerous public and private collections across Canada, including the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal, and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Pratt currently lives and works in St. Mary’s Bay, Nfld. A selection of works by Christopher Pratt is included in the exhibition The Uncanny Valley, which runs in the University of Lethbridge Main Gallery, from Jan. 10 to Feb. 28, 2013.
[MIDDLE] Christopher Pratt, Summer of the Karmann Ghia, 1998. From the University of Lethbridge Art Collection; Gift of the artist, 1998.
[BOTTOM] Christopher Pratt, Big Following Sea, 1996. From the University of Lethbridge Art Collection; Gift of the artist, 1998.
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