Calgary & Southern Alberta

Cafe, watercolour, 1966: Courtesy of the Glenbow Collection

Born in Calgary in 1906, Bates developed an interest in European Post-Impressionism in the 1920s. Influenced by van Gogh, Cezanne, Paul Klee, and Piet Mondrian, Bates also admired the work of the Group of Seven’s Thom Thompson. After travelling to England in 1930, Bates became influenced by the "naïve" school and began to paint in that style. After enlisting in the British Army in 1939, Bates spent five years in a German prison. Following the war’s end, he resumed his work as an architect in Calgary and helped design St. Mary’s Cathedral.

St. Mary's Cathedral was built in 1889. Originally St.Mary's Church, it was raised to the distinction of "Cathedral" in 1913. This Cathedral was demolished in 1954 because of structural problems with the foundation. The present Cathedral, shown above in 1996, was designed by Maxwell Bates.
Courtesy of the Glenbow Collection