SK arts community mourns loss of trailblazing Indigenous painter
- Fraser Needham | January 13, 2016
Allen Sapp grew up in very humble circumstances on the Red Pheasant First Nation, just south of North Battleford.
It was the Great Depression and being one of seven children, he struggled just to get by.
Four of his siblings would not survive past childhood.
Nevertheless, it was these images of life and hard times on the small prairie reserve, as seen through a young boy’s eyes that would inspire the painter years later.
Allen Sapp, one of Saskatchewan’s most renowned artists, passed away peacefully in his sleep on December 29.
He was 87-years-old.
Sapp moved to North Battleford in 1963 and began selling his paintings door-to-door just to make ends meet.
However, it was when he met local doctor Allan Gonor in 1966 that things really began to change.
Gonor was so impressed with Sapp’s work that he offered to buy anything he painted and encouraged him to focus on autobiographical themes.
The doctor also provided money for art supplies.
Gonor also introduced Sapp to Saskatoon artist Wynona Mulcaster who helped mentor the painter.
By 1970, he was hosting his first art exhibit at the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon, which attracted 12,000 viewers.
This was soon followed by other exhibits in London and Los Angeles making him one of the first Indigenous artists to achieve international acclaim.
Over the years, Sapp has been recognized countless times for his artistic achievements.
He was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1975, received the Saskatchewan Award of Merit in 1985, was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1987, received an honourary doctorate from the University of Regina in 1988, a Lifetime Award for Excellence in Arts from the Saskatchewan Arts Board in 1996 and the Governor General’s Literary Award in 2003 for providing illustrations for the children’s book The Song Within My Heart.
In 1989, the Allen Sapp Gallery opened in North Battleford with the help of 80 paintings donated by the Gonor family.
Leah Garven is the curator of the Allen Sapp Gallery.
She says she believes part of the reason why Sapp’s works have such wide appeal is they are accessible.
Focusing on Indigenous people going about their day-to-day lives within a small community is something many people can relate to, Garven says.
“Through his paintings, he depicts some very tender, special and personal moments for himself, his family and his people,” she says. “And, this is something I think a lot of people associate with.”
Garven adds that one of the amazing things about Sapp is that he had no formal training, did not rough sketch his work and painted strictly from memory.
“Some people call it a photographic memory in that he could hold that image in his mind and paint it. What comes through on that is that he was never formally trained but he could paint in perspective and have things that maybe a naked eye would assume.”
Allen Sapp is survived by his daughter Faye Delorme, brother Simon, sister Stella and other extended family.