The Illustrated Man: Artist Gordon Rayner

During the final decade of his life, artist Gordon Rayner returned to portraiture, creating stirring portraits of himself – some now on exhibition through March 2 at Christopher Cutts Gallery in Toronto.

In the summer of 2010, the Christopher Cutts Gallery and Gordon Rayner were planning a self-portrait exhibition for the fall. Unexpectedly, Rayner passed away in September of that year, and what was to be a self-portrait show became an exhibition celebrating his career.

Now, after 14 years, the show that was to be, is, the gallery says. “The Illustrated Man” features 12 raw self-portraits of the artist in his final years, completed between 2001 and 2010. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue featuring an insightful essay by Canadian art critic Gary Michael Dault.

In the text, Dault describes these evocative self-portraits as “utterly fearless in their unsparing depiction of the hitherto swashbuckling painter now brought low by age, infirmity, by raw, angry wit, and roaring resignation.  He looks like an old lion — with time’s thorn relentlessly piercing him more and more deeply.”

Christopher Cutts Gallery website, here.

Exhibition page, here.

Image at top of post: The Illustrated Man (Self Portrait) 2010, oil on board, 32 x 24 inches