First Exhibition Since 1997
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Thank you Alvaro Pacheco for the wonderful photo |
Stanley Lewis and the Pink Lady. Photo by Kamal ©
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Stanley Lewis Stanley Lewis was born in Montreal on 28th March 1930 and died in Montreal on 14th August 2006. He lived in Montreal, always close to Mount Royal, and the last years of his life were spent on the Main, where he lived in his studio above Berson Monuments on the Boulevard St. Laurent, named affectionately the Main by the Montrealers. In his younger years he had studied under Dr Arthur Lismer in Montreal. He went on to study at the Istituto Allende in Mexico and then in Florence under his maestro, Vittorio Gambacciani. He rounded off his apprenticeship with the Inuit in Northern Canada, which permitted him to develop a particular technique of engraving on stone. He also travelled to China to learn about its culture. He loved Chinese teas, Chinese food, and jade which he collected. When in Florence, Stanley encountered Irving Stone, the famous American writer. He helped Stone over two years understand the techniques of sculpting, which Stone later used for his novel on Michelangelo: The Agony and the Ecstasy. Stone wrote in the acknowledgements: "Stanley Lewis, the Canadian sculptor, was my guide in Florence to Michelangelo's techniques; there he also taught me to carve marble. He has answered an unending stream of questions about the thinking and feeling of the sculptor at work." The man and the artist 56 years of Stanley's career left us with a rich legacy of sculptures and stone cut prints. Amongst the sculptures that were dearest to him, we find the two Pink Ladies, one sculpted when he was young in Italy whilst working under the auspices of Vittorio Gambacciani, while the other was sculpted in the 1990s and called The Two Solitudes, as she represented the two conflicting sides of the Main - the French and the English. Please refer to the film Dust to view both Pink Ladies. (Reviews) Stanley's prolific production of prints is first noticed with the Ten Commandments, which he created in Israel in 1965. He participated in exhibitions at both an international and national level - in Paris, Florence, Israel, New York, Mexico, the National Gallery of Canada, the Museum of Fine Arts in Quebec, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal. He continued to work right up until his death, always surrounded by youth, by artists, by the hipsters and street punks, and anyone interested in art or a good chat. Stan was constantly haunted by mortality and often quoted the verse from the scriptures: “from dust to dust.” But then he would add a dash of hope: “Man is mortal, but art is eternal”. About working above Berson's, the gravestone engravers, he said: "I sculpt for the living and downstairs they sculpt for the dead." After his death, the friends of Stanley Lewis organised two retrospective shows which were held in 2006. One to celebrate the man and the other, at the Museum of Fine Art, to celebrate the artist. |
 Stan with stone: Photo by Glauco Bermudez
Short Chronology 1930: born March 28; lives at 5252 Esplanade, Montreal 1949: begins his studies at the School of Art and Design, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, under Dr Arthur Lismer 1953: graduates from the School of Art and Design; begins studying at the Instituto San Miguel Allende, Mexico 1955: La Molendaro (Corngrinder) completed; the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation awards him a scholarship to study in Italy 1956: joins the studio of Vittorio Gambacciani in Florence 1958: Pink Lady completed (Florence version) 1959: leaves Italy and returns to Canada; first show at the Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal 1963: joins the Ein Hod artists’ colony, Israel 1965: marries at Ein Hod; divorces in Israel, leaves Israel and returns to Canada 1969: marries for the second time. 1969 - 1990: has over 33 solo shows, teaches sculpture at the Saidye Bronfman Centre, experiments with stone-cut printing, innovating the Inuit technique. 1990 - 2006 1990: decides to concentrate on stone carving in his studio on the Boulevard St Laurent, Montreal 2002 - 2005: Stanley Lewis begins artistic relationship with various filmmakers, and teams up with Ryan Larkin, the Montreal animator. Four documentaries are created during this time. 2005: plans a retrospective show; plans to travel to Aix-en-Provence to research Cezanne; starts work on Bird & Mask; four documentary films featuring Stanley; hospitalized 2006: dies August 14 at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal; buried at the Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem Congregation Cemetery in Montreal Between his time of travel, creativity and teaching, Stanley spent much of his latter life helping others, inspiring, innovating and convincing anyone who would pass by his studio that: life had no time to wait, it had to be lived NOW! |
A warm thanks goes to Ezra Soiferman who continues to sponsor the Guest Book for Stanley
The Ongoing Search For Stanley's Artworks
We, the Friends of Stanley Lewis, are always looking out for photos of his artworks to add to this site. If you are a gallery, private collector, school or museum, please contact us and we will make sure that this information is catalogued in Stanley's online archive. We do not buy, nor do we sell any artworks, we are not agents, just his friends, and our sole aim is to make sure Stanley's legacy is kept alive.
Presented in this website is only a segment of the work we possess. We intend to digitize much of the archive which Stanley gave us before he died, which includes film, super8, 16mm, audio, press clippings, photos, slides, personal letters, texts, poetic writings and memories from friends and colleagues.
With thanks
We would like to thank Allan Raymond, researcher and lecturer of Canadian Jewish history and personal friend to Stanley, who managed to keep much of Stanley's legacy for us by photocopying and salvaging his personal letters, photos and journals.
We also wish to thank the Montreal artist Daniel Erban for the archive of press clippings on Stanley, which detail his exhibitions over many years. These will be digitised, scanned and uploaded and shared soon.
Fred Kline who gave us much insight into Stanley's journey to the Artic, where we spent a glorious time in his home in Santa Fe. He donated the Wanderers series of stone-cuts to us. He was also our first sponsor.
These three friends are no longer with us, yet their dedication to Stanley's artistic life, and generosity, form a large part of this online website, which is an ongoing project.
March 2021 update
We would like to thank the Woodstock Art Gallery in Ontario for contacting us. They have 41 prints in their permanent collection. They are from Stanley's 'Celestial Light' series, as well as his 'Main and Air Pollution' series. Many of Stanley's prints can be viewed on the Artworks page.
*Kamalphoto
The Ongoing Search For Stanley's Artworks
We, the Friends of Stanley Lewis, are always looking out for photos of his artworks to add to this site. If you are a gallery, private collector, school or museum, please contact us and we will make sure that this information is catalogued in Stanley's online archive. We do not buy, nor do we sell any artworks, we are not agents, just his friends, and our sole aim is to make sure Stanley's legacy is kept alive.
Presented in this website is only a segment of the work we possess. We intend to digitize much of the archive which Stanley gave us before he died, which includes film, super8, 16mm, audio, press clippings, photos, slides, personal letters, texts, poetic writings and memories from friends and colleagues.
With thanks
We would like to thank Allan Raymond, researcher and lecturer of Canadian Jewish history and personal friend to Stanley, who managed to keep much of Stanley's legacy for us by photocopying and salvaging his personal letters, photos and journals.
We also wish to thank the Montreal artist Daniel Erban for the archive of press clippings on Stanley, which detail his exhibitions over many years. These will be digitised, scanned and uploaded and shared soon.
Fred Kline who gave us much insight into Stanley's journey to the Artic, where we spent a glorious time in his home in Santa Fe. He donated the Wanderers series of stone-cuts to us. He was also our first sponsor.
These three friends are no longer with us, yet their dedication to Stanley's artistic life, and generosity, form a large part of this online website, which is an ongoing project.
March 2021 update
We would like to thank the Woodstock Art Gallery in Ontario for contacting us. They have 41 prints in their permanent collection. They are from Stanley's 'Celestial Light' series, as well as his 'Main and Air Pollution' series. Many of Stanley's prints can be viewed on the Artworks page.
*Kamalphoto
Here are some classic Stanley quotes:
I always did it my way!
We are only passing through, nothing is forever; well, there is one thing, good stone sculpture!
In the end it's the work that counts
I never take no for answer, yes is better
I'd rather be a dead hero than a living coward
If you want to know about an art form, go to where it was created (that's what Arthur Lismer said)
It is yin and yang - I sculpt for the living, and downstairs they sculpt for the dead. (Talking about Berson Monuments, the Jewish tombstone engravers above which he had his studio)
"If there's a Michelangelo there must be a God!"
STANLEY LEWIS
Additional Information
Premiere of DustStanley's dream to host his film at the Main Deli with old friend Peter Varvaro came true! By Helena Michie
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Scatterflix DocumentariesMore information on Stanley and documentary workshops
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Online ResourcesOnline information on Stanley
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