Home > Artist Database > Bio-bibliographic Database > VALE, Florence
Artist Database
VALE, Florence
- Born
- Ilford, Essex, England, 1909
- Died
- Toronto, Ontario, 2003
- Biography synopsis
- Florence Gertrude Vale immigrated to Canada in 1910 with her family, settling in Toronto. Vale was required to leave school at seven and worked in Toronto's garment district. In 1929 she married Dutch-born artist Albert Jacques Franck (1899-1973). Vale and Franck were supportive of emerging artists interested in abstraction. In 1950 and 1951, they organized the Unaffiliated Artists exhibitions held at the Eaton's College Street Gallery. Florence Vale was self-taught and later worked in watercolour, pen and ink, collage and mixed media constructions. Vale's increasing interest in the simplification of form and surface texture led to her exploration of collage where she used abstract shapes and austere compositions. In 1980, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre organized "Metamorphosis - Memories, Dreams and Reflections - The Work of Florence Vale," the first major retrospective of her work.
- Media used
- Collage
- Watercolour
- File & Archive locations
- Artexte Information Centre, QC - Documentation Centre
- Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
- Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
- Hamilton Public Library, ON - Local History and Archives Department
- London Public Library, ON
- National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
- University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
- University of Calgary Library, AB
- University of Manitoba - Architecture and Fine Arts Library
- Vancouver Art Gallery, BC - Library
- Winnipeg Art Gallery, MA - Clara Lander Library
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
- University of Guelph, ON - Archival & Special Collections
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- Florence Vale .... recent work Toronto: Gadatsy Gallery, 1977
- Carr, Angela, ed. Raven Papers: Remembering Natalie Luckyj (1945-2002) Newcastle, ON: Penumbra Press, 2010
- Luckyj, Natalie. Metamorphosis : memories, dreams and reflections : the work of Florence Vale Kingston, Ont.: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1980
- Luckyj, Natalie. Other Realities: The Legacy of Surrealism in Canadian Art Kingston, Ont.: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1978
- Murray, Joan. The Art of Florence Vale, 1909-2003. Brampton, Ont:: Art Gallery of Peel, 2010
- Walker, Kathleen. "International acclaim given Davison." Ottawa Citizen (9 Sept. 1978)
Writings by- Vale, Florence. Seven Hills Toronto: Chartres Books, 1988
- Vale, Florence. The Amorous unicorn Erin County, Ont.: Porcupine's Quill, 1984
