Roland Gissing
The Peoples' Painter

Max Foran, with Nonie Houlton

About the Book

"Roland Gissing was my kind of an artist; I wish I had known him better." Grant MacEwan

The book begins with a description of the impression Canada made on Gissing upon his arrival in this country in 1913 at the age of 18. Gissing wanted to be a cowboy. He travelled from Alberta to California and back on horseback, sketching and painting as he went. Examples of this early work appear in the book. Gissing began selling his work and supporting himself solely by painting. The author discusses Gissing's technique as his style began to change and how the artist's frame of mind was reflected in his work. There is a good representation of the work of this period in the book. The book concludes with a discussion of Gissing's love of steam locomotives and some details about his time spent building these scale trains. Finally a sampling of paintings of the drastically different seascapes and badlands he was doing in the few years before his death, concludes the pictorial record of Gissing's life and works.

About the Author

Max Foran was born in Sydney, Australia and is a Canadian citizen.

Table of Contents

1. Testing the Romantic Vision, 1913-1923
2. Artist or Cowboy: In Between Two Worlds, 1924-1934
3. Good Years at the Ghost: The Best of All Worlds, 1935-1944
4. Gissings Galore: Restoring the Lost World, 1944-1956
5. The Okotoks Years: Exploring New Horizons, 1957-1967
6. The Legacy
   
   Epilogue
   Appendix: List of Paintings Discussed and/or Shown

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