Brunette Model

Joseph Sydney Hallam
Brunette Model, 1948
oil on canvas
30.5 x 25.4 cm
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. O.S. Pokorny, 1980

Joseph Sydney Hallam was born in 1898 in Manchester, England and immigrated to Canada with his family at the age of 12. He studied art at the Hamilton Technical School and Toronto Central Technical School.

A contemporary and friend of the Group of Seven members Franklin Carmichael and AJ Casson, the two artists encouraged Hallam during his formative years, influencing his artistic practice greatly. Yet during his later years, there is a slight deviation from the hard lines of his landscape works; we see a softer brushstroke and muted colours. Hallam was President of the Canadian Society of Artists in 1948 and his works can be found amongst the collections of National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario.