Renowned artist Ted Harrison dies in Victoria

WATCH: From the Global BC archive, artist Ted Harrison draws for crowds of tourists at Vancouver’s Expo 86.

VICTORIA – Renowned painter Ted Harrison, whose swirling lines and brightly coloured depictions of landscapes and people made his work internationally recognizable, has died in Victoria at age 88.

Harrison was born in the English village of Wingate in 1926, moved to the Yukon in 1968 and settled in Victoria in 1993.

According to his website, living in the Yukon was the strongest influence on his life and art.

“When Ted Harrison moved to the Canadian Yukon, he began to paint the landscape as he saw it in his mind, rather than creating a literal representation of the scenery.”

Harrison left his studies at an art school in England temporarily to serve in the military during the Second World War.

He then returned to Hartlepole College of Art and, in 1950, received a diploma in design. The following year, he earned a teaching certificate, which prompted him to teach and travel all over the world.

Harrison lived in Carcross, Yukon, with his wife, Nikki, also deceased, and son. He had his first art showing at the Whitehorse Public Library in 1969, a year after moving to the territory.

He wrote children’s books and designed the Yukon pavilion for Vancouver’s Expo 86, and a Canada Post Christmas stamp in 1996.

Harrison also received the Order of Canada for his contribution to Canadian culture.

In 2005, he was inducted into the Royal Conservatory of the Arts. Four years later, he donated a mural titled Vast Yukon to the University of Victoria.

Harrison was also an editorial cartoonist for the Whitehorse Star in the late 1970s and early ’80s.

— By Rhiannon Russell, Whitehorse Star