Frederick Hagan | Exhibiting at PAMA
Frederick Hagan | Fantastic Landscapes: Beyond the Ordinary
Installation image, courtesy PAMA, Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives
On display until March 22nd, 2026 at the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives is a delightful and inspring collection of works from the Estate of Frederick Hagan, as part of their exhibition, Fantastic Landscapes: Beyond the Ordinary.
Sharona Adamowicz-Clements (Curator, Art Gallery) states in her exhibition text:
"Fantastic landscapes let us imagine faraway places and unknown worlds. Sometimes they are based on actual locations, but often they feel otherworldly. They are set in space, deep in the sea, or even in spiritual realms.
This exhibition shows several artworks that explore surreal and mysterious environments. These scenes are not meant to be realistic or easily understood. Instead, they are imaginary, exaggerated, or abstract versions of landscapes.
These unusual places come from the artist’s mind and are meant to stir emotions. They might inspire joy, fear, wonder, or disbelief. Strange, whimsical, or even haunting, they feel like visions from dreams or nightmares. In the end, how they are received depends on you, the viewer."
Highlighted in this curation is the seminal work "Lives of Muskoka Desiring 1873", which was acquired by PAMA in 1994.
Lives of Muskoka Desiring 1873, Polymer on Masonite, 1965
Curatorial text regarding the significance of the work, from Sharona Adamowicz-Clements:
"Fred Hagan’s painting is a love poem to his past. Set in Muskoka, Ontario, where his father’s family lived, the work includes personal objects and family portraits. Like a dream sequence, unrelated images appear in dribs. They are incomplete and not easily understood.
An open chest of drawers with a saw represents the artist’s father, a carpenter. A piano, belonging to his mother, connects to a coffin that may suggest his father’s early death, leaving behind a wife and eight children. These symbols, along with the northern wilderness, painted in the background, shaped Hagan’s life and art."
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Also included are four lithographs from Hagan's "Exploration" series, which was an expansion of a smaller collection of sixteen works designed specifically for Canada Post, as part of a special edition stamp project with the Crown Corporation.
Frederick Hagan, Mark of the Land, Exploration #36, Lithograph on Paper, 1989
Frederick Hagan, Knowing Presence, Exploration #6, Lithograph on Paper, 1989
Frederick Hagan, Bitter Returning, Exploration #35, Lithograph on Paper, 1989
Frederick Hagan, Dark Mountains, Exploration #34, Lithograph on Paper, 1989
Image courtesy PAMA, Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives
To learn more about the exhibition and location of PAMA, please visit their website.
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Frederick Hagan’s unique work has for decades responded to and shaped Canadian painting. Born in Toronto in 1918 and raised in Cabbagetown, Hagan looked to his lived environments as sources for his artistic subjects. This is certainly evident in the collection of work to be exhibited in "Close to Home: Paintings from 1940-1990". The works offer intimate glimpses into the artist’s home and studio - masterpieces honouring the humble objects found there.
In 1967, Hagan was awarded the Canadian Centennial Medal. In 1985, he was commissioned by Canada Post to create 16 postage stamps, issued 1986-1989. In 1998, he was awarded the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Medal. His work is presented in prominent public collections including those of the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Royal Ontario Museum.
Frederick Hagan passed away on September 6, 2003 at the age of 85.