Unseen and Rediscovered works by the former Canadian war artist, fashion illustrator & modern painter Irwin ‘Bud’ Crosthwait (1914 – 1981), will go on sale in an unprecedented selling exhibition by Gray MCA in London this September. The exhibition will present the most extensive selection of works by Crosthwait in 45 years, from across Europe and North America, including many works that have never before been on public view. The exhibition will run from 17-22nd September, 2015 and will feature a total of more than 60 original works ranging in price from £350-£10,000.

Before attaining the title of official war artist for Canada, Irwin ‘Bud’ Crosthwait had been fascinated in capturing life around him since early childhood. Born of an artistic father, he had been encouraged to develop his talent and went on to attend the prestigious Pratt Institute of Fine Arts in New York. Here he became fascinated by the work of master fashion illustrator Carl ‘Erik’ Erickson, who inspired him to attend the seasonal fashion collections. Crosthwait admired Balenciaga and Givenchy, for their classic style, and later Ungaro and Courrèges for their new and modern style. With his instinctive feeling for the female form, Crosthwait had found his forte that would shape his career for the next 30 years. It was no surprise when he was immediately ‘snapped up’ and appointed principal advertising artist for the wellknown Canadian retail chain known today as ‘Bay’, which in turn led to his appointment as official War Artist for the Canadian Navy during World War II.

Between 1944 and 1947 Crosthwait served with the Royal Canadian Navy aboard HMCS Ontario and the Colossus Class Aircraft Carrier HMCS Warrior, documenting the drama of the war at sea and key moments, such as the liberation of France. His works on paper present a human element to the war and an insight into everyday life aboard ship. Some of the works display a certain candour that encapsulates the spectacle of war and others display more personal impressions of naval personnel and the landscape and context of battle at sea.

In a press release issued by the Naval Headquarters Information section, for an exhibition held during his time as a war artist, Crosthwait‘s works, which were created principally in pencil and ink, were described as ‘Impressionist sketches and watercolours’. They were further defined as ‘on the spot impressions’ that convey a sense of feeling beneath them, offering a sense of context to his portrayals. Crothswait’s only known war work until this exhibition, had been held in the permanent collection of the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. However newly discovered works, recently found in boxes put out for rubbish near to where Crosthwait lived in Paris, will offer a unique and never before seen insight to his wartime portfolio.

On honourable discharge from the Navy, Crosthwait headed to the fashion capital of Paris, where he began a lifelong career as a fashion illustrator.

He was to become a household name among the leading fashion publications of the period such as Harpers Bazaar, Elle, Femina, Vogue, L’Art et la Mode, The New York Times and Herald Tribune and a favourite with the haute couture houses. He became highly respected for his exceptional and spirited fashion illustrations that captured the essence of Paris haute couture, through his rapid and unique use of line and colour. His work had an abstract, modernistic feel that was more impressionistic than detailed.

Harpers Bazaar 1961, ‘…with Crosthwait the adjectives come tumbling out: a loose-limbed man with one of the fastest delivery rates on record, an amusing talker when he is not smoking his pipe, a sports car enthusiast and a connoisseur of beauty….’

As the Exhibition’s Curator, Connie Gray noted: “To be able to bring this extraordinary & versatile artist back into the public eye is an honour. His name & style was synonymous with the world of haute couture for so many years. He was known as ‘the tough man’ of fashion yet he drew with the lightest of touches & should be now recognised as one of the masters of his trade.”

Among the top designers commissioning Crosthwait, was 60s haute couture fashion designer Marc Vaughan, who appointed Crosthwait to illustrate his couture collections. Over time the two of them became great friends and when Crosthwait began to create Modernist art works, Marc Vaughan became one of his largest collectors. His admiration for Crosthwait’s skills as an artist bear testament today, as during research of the artist for this exhibition, it was discovered that Mark Vaughan’s widow, Madame Audart held a collection of original Crosthwait fashion illustrations and a number of his most important abstract works, a selection of which will go on view in the exhibition for the first time since their original creation.

Crosthwait’s most important muse and model for his fashion illustrations was Ursula Frey, who Crosthwait had known since her childhood. Ursula featured in almost all of his fashion commissions for top magazines and designers such as Dior, Pucci, Givenchy and Yves St. Laurent in the 1960s. To this day her huge collection of fashion illustrations by the artist have been stored carefully away in her Switzerland home and have not seen the light of day for more than 45 years! Gray MCA is thrilled that these works, a vital part of fashion history, will go on public view for the first time in decades and in perfect timing for London Fashion Week.

Angela Landels, former Art Director at Harpers Bazaar and Fashion Illustrator, said of Crosthwait: “Bud was a darling man to work with. Always good natured. He stood out in the fashion world, like an old mariner sitting in the front seats of the fashion shows – he never looked like a fashion artist, but everyone adored him. He was irresistible. What made him interesting was that his work was not accurate or precise; he captured a fleeting impression of an elegant woman in elegant clothes. His work was abstract modernism – impressionistic, rather than detailed.”

Crosthwait’s success as a leading fashion illustrator fed his real passion for painting, enabling him to purchase the tools to create his powerful and highly textured Modernist work. Highly revered by his post war Tachism school abstract expressionist contemporaries, including Victor Vasarely; he exhibited worldwide on a regular basis and to great acclaim, alongside Serge Poliakoff, Hans Hartung, Robert Jacobsen and Nicholas de Stael. As momentum grew and grew, so did his following and his work is now held in private collections worldwide.

During this time Crosthwait lived between Paris and Menzonio in Switzerland, where he had a home and studio. His great friend Peter Wallner spent many happy summers with Crosthwait in Menzonio. He observed that the artist was at his happiest sketching in this mountain village, which was to forever hold a place in his heart and is where he spent many years with his muse Ursula. Consequently Peter Wallner’s daughter now holds an astonishing collection of Crosthwait’s abstract works.

Other abstract works by the artist in the exhibition, come from family friends of Crosthwait’s. Lana Hobden Thompson’s family’s relationship with the artist goes back as far as the 1900s. They hold fond memories of him as an enchanting character, as well as his artistic prowess. He was interwoven with the family throughout the various stages of his life, until his death. The family would send the artist ‘care packages’ from Canada containing all the dearly missed comforts of his Canadian youth including coffee, tobacco & cereals. In return Crosthwait would send them canvases & drawings as payment for their kindness. The family set up the Crosthwait website in his memory, which not only shows the diversity and skill of Crosthwait’s work, but ensures that his work and its appreciation lives on. A large selection of work in the exhibition will be a previously unseen selection of works from the Hobden Thompson private collection in British Columbia, Canada.

Ashley Gray commenting on the artist and how historically valuable this exhibition is, said: “Irwin Crosthwait earned his place alongside the grand masters of post-war Paris’s Tachism Abstraction, yet his deeply textural work often echoed the raw Abstract Expressionism that was changing the history of Modern Art in North America. His powerful work was exhibited worldwide and Gray MCA is privileged to curate and celebrate the work of a hugely talented and versatile modernist painter.”

This is the most extensive exhibition ever held of Crosthwait’s fashion work, abstract paintings and war art.