David Silcox
David Silcox has died after a short illness. He was 87.
A genuine champion of Canadian art, Silcox was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan on Jan. 28, 1937. He received bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees from the University of Toronto and spent two years at Hart House, overseeing the art gallery. Nominated in 1961 by the Globe and Mail as “Art Man of the Year,” he then spent a year at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, England.
He held myriad positions in the Canadian arts scene over the years, including the first Senior Arts Officer of the Canada Council for the Arts; Associate Dean, Faculty of Fine Art, York University; Federal Assistant Deputy Minister of Communications (Culture); and Ontario Deputy Minister, Culture and Communications. Most recently, he spent 12 years as president of Sotheby’s Canada.
He was also the author of many visual arts books and biographies, including the Canadian bestseller Tom Thomson: The Silence and the Storm (co-written with Harold Town); Christopher Pratt (co-written with Mariké Weiler); and Painting Place: The Life and Work of David B. Milne.
His final major book, The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson, was published in 2003.
Throughout his life, he served on the boards of more than 30 organizations, including the Gardiner Museum, the Stratford Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, the Americas Advisory Board of the Praemium Imperiale Arts Prize, and the American Friends of Canada (now the Council for Canadian American Relations).
He organized a major Canadian exhibition for the Edinburgh International Festival, and ws chair of the Canadian Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery and a trustee of the Canada House Trust.
He received the Order of Canada, the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, and several honorary doctorates. He was a Senior Fellow at Massey College and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
He died Feb. 27 in Toronto and is survived by his wife of 40 years, Linda Intaschi; as well as his brothers Ken and Louis. Nancy Silcox, his sister in law, is writing his biography.
Source: Globe and Mail, Toronto Star
