Born: Montreal, Quebec, January 12, 1912

Died: Toronto, Ontario, April 6, 1987

Saul Field, OSA, CPE, CSGA, FIAL, printmaker, painter, and filmmaker, was born in Montreal in 1912, where he studied briefly at the Ecole Des Beaux Arts, and with several well known Canadian painters including Arthur Lismer, Charles Fainmel, and Luois Muhlstock. An early sketchmate was Dr. Norman Bethune. Lismer said of Field, "I know of no other Canadian artist who draws with such wit." His first one man show in Montreal in 1946 was sponsored by Cleveland Morgan and earned him the title Watercolour Painter of the Laurentians.

Field moved to Toronto in 1952 and in 1958 he and his artist wife Jean Townsend opened the Upstairs Gallery on Castle Knock Road where they exhibited many young artists and new Canadians. He became interested in prints, studied with Nicholas Hornyansky and in 1963 co-invented (with Jean, who was already a printmaker) the acidless Compotina plate. This spontaneous method of achieving colourful hand pulled graphics suited his exuberant style and led to the production of many portfolios including:

• Themes from the Old Testament
• Legends of French Canada
• Sholom Aleichem Suite
• Bloomsday Suite
• Gogol Suite

All of these prints can now be found in collections around the world. His multimedia style of printmaking earned him international attention and was a boon in his filmmaking. Field made two art films:

• Tevye, based on his Sholom Aleichem Suite, was shown at the Melbourne, Chicago, and Ottawa international film festivals
• Ulysses, based on his Bloomsday Suite

Both films benefited from Field's printmaking process which gave his work a three dimensional quality.

Saul Field - Hodel's Wedding - Compotina Print

Some of Field's most satisfying years came after his work exhibited to millions of viewers in a number of pavilions at Expo '67. He also designed posters for the Bertrand Russel Peace Foundation in 1972, and the second and fourth James Joyce Symposia in Dublin. Field had several book versions of his portfolios published including:

• The Magic Fiddler, and other Legends of French Canada (Text by Claude Aubry)
• Bloomsday, an Interpretation of James Joyce's Ulysses (Text by Morton P. Levitt)
• The Government Inspector and The Overcoat (Text by Nicoli Gogol)
• Tales of Heritage I and II (Text by Hedi Bourauoui)

In 1985 he was commissioned by Hans Hoeppner, of Hamburg, to create 10 image each for The Anetevka Suite and The Magic Flute, both in editions of 45 prints.

In 1983 Field and Townsend's joint traveling show, The Juxtaposition of Joyce and Yeats, was seen in Canada House in London, Oxford University, University of Leeds, the Sligo Festival in Ireland, the Lyric Theater in London, and later in Toronto and Philadelphia. The couple also collaborated on the poster for the International Year of Youth (1985), commissioned by the Government of Canada's Secretary of State for Multiculturalism.

Saul Field was an inspired teacher and gave workshops in Canada, United States and Denmark. He also taught at the University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus, and at York University, Calumet College for 9 years as a Fellow.

Field's works are represented in public and private collections throughout the world, including the British Museum and Library of Congress. During his lifetime he received awards from the Canada Council, The Samuel Paley Foundation, the Ontario Arts Council, and the James Joyce Foundation.

Field, however, was most proud of his Tales of Heritage which he conceived with poet Hedi Bourauoui in 1981. The two portfolios illustrate similarities and differences in the imaginative tradition of Canada's ethnocultural groups through art and poetry.

Field believed that the portfolios could act as tools for friendship between people and so he donated twenty hand printed portfolios, of ten engravings each, to the Canadian Government to be used in our embassies abroad. To date the work has been exhibited in Tel Aviv, Moscow, Cracow, Accra, Bonn, Paris, and Peking. It has also been shown at cultural and educational institutions in Budapest, Athens, Tokyo, Madrid, and Rome.

The artist's trademark, a Basque beret which he wore wherever he went, was almost as recognizable as his tremendous zest for life which permeated every project he undertook. His indomitable spirit kept him working during his hospitalization with his hypodermic needle and his tarleton plate to produce his last series, Tree of Life, based on Jug's Collective Unconscious. During his last weeks, he also completed the Twentynine Words for Peace from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. Typical of Saul, he never stopped working and half an hour before his death on April 6th, 1987, he approved his last proof.

In 1988, Saul and Jean were featured together in the film Of the Heart and Mind: The Lives and Work of Jean Townsend and Saul Field. This film was made by Toronto's Kathy Nicholaichuk (Brilliant Films) and was shown several times on CBC.

Saul Field - Magic Flute: Papageno - Compotina Print

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