A Painter’s Paradise Opens at the Galt

Guest curator Mary-Beth Laviolette standing with a painting in the exhibit.

Lethbridge—Southern Alberta has attracted and grown visual artists of all stripes. Our landscape provides plentiful opportunities for artists to practice their craft. The newest exhibit at the Galt Museum & Archives focuses on the works of two prolific southern Alberta painters, Michael Pisko and Ernest Riethman.

Galt Curator Aimee Benoit standing in the exhibit space.

“We are really pleased to be presenting this exhibit that has been guest curated by independent art writer and curator Mary-Beth Laviolette,” says the Galt’s Curator, Aimee Benoit. “We are able to incorporate paintings by both Pisko and Riethman from our collection here at the Galt, and feature other works that have been loaned to us by the University of Lethbridge and family members of both artists.”

Early members of the Lethbridge Sketch Club who were active from the 1930s on, Pisko and Riethman had an enthusiasm for southwestern Alberta that left a legacy of wonderful paintings. Their subject was generally landscape but depicted in two very different styles in which vivid impressions were created about Lethbridge, southwestern Alberta and the Rockies.

The exhibition explores the relationship each artist had with the Lethbridge community as well as their connections to major Canadian painters in cultivating a strong landscape tradition for the region.

“A Painter’s Paradise is an opportunity for visitors to explore the tradition of landscape art as well as the longstanding artistic community in Lethbridge and southern Alberta, but also to explore their own creativity through hands-on programs that we will be holding periodically throughout the exhibit,” says Benoit. “The Galt is excited to host this exhibit that tells the story of these two artists and features such familiar and vivid landscapes.”

A Painter’s Paradise: Michael Pisko and Ernest Riethman will be open to visitors through May 10, 2020.

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This media release can be found at www.galtmuseum.com/news.

Media Contact:

Graham Ruttan (he/him)
Marketing and Communications Officer
Galt Museum & Archives | Fort Whoop-Up
graham.ruttan@galtmuseum.com
403.320.4009