Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 192-?-1988 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1.25 m of textual and other materials including:
172 drawings and sketches
696 photoprints
377 postcards
156 slides
14 audio cassettes
1 map
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Canadian painter, illustrator and author Illingworth Holey Kerr was born in Lumsden, Saskatchewan, in 1905. He won awards from his works at the Regina Exhibition in 1919 leading to his studies at the Central Technical School and Ontario College of Art (1924-1927). He later studied at the Westminster School of Art in London, England where he met his wife, Mary Spice.
The Kerrs later moved back to Saskatchewan, and then to British Columbia were Kerr taught at the VancouverSchool of Art from 1945-1947. Upon moving to Alberta, Kerr became the Director of the Art Department at the Provincial Institute of Technology (later the Alberta University of the Arts). Kerr was president of the Alberta Society of Artists from 1952-1953, and became a member of the Canadian Authors Association.
Kerr retired from teaching in 1967 and received an honourary doctorate from the University of Calgary in 1973. He died in Calgary, Alberta, on January 6, 1989.
Archival history
Donated by the I.H. Kerr estate in 1989, 1991, 1992.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Fonds consists of correspondence; notebooks and notes about paintings; manuscripts of short stories, poetry, play, unpublished(?) book (possibly titled Purple wagon), lecture notes and travel notes; sketches, pencil drawings and book illustrations; slides and photographs, including many of I. Kerr's paintings; greeting cards featuring I. Kerr's prints; biographical material; newsclippings of book reviews and articles about I. Kerr; exhibition catalogues; postcard collection; material relating to awards and honours bestowed on I. Kerr; sound cassettes made during writing of Paint and circumstance; and other miscellaneous material.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The fonds is arranged into the following series:
- Artwork
- Awards
- Correspondence
- Diaries and notebooks
- Exhibition catalogues
- Manuscripts
- Miscellaneous
- Published works
- Works by others
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
No restrictions on access.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Text in English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Related file is Gordon Snyder, Material relating to Illingworth Kerr and other artists (Acc 667/99.24, 696/01.2, 757/04.7). Additional archival material located at Glenbow Archives, Calgary, Alta.
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of the fonds.