“I believe when I paint I can hear my people. Their cries, their torment, their quiet sadness and their spiritual beauty torment my brush and my heart swells to creative heights.” – Arthur Shilling

At a moment where the digital has become so important it is often a nice reminder that sometimes we can literally touch the past by holding a piece of ephemera in our hands. After the untimely death of Anishinaabe artist Arthur Shilling in March 1986, Kinsman Robinson Galleries, then located at 25 Prince Arthur Avenue (just west of Avenue Road), mounted a retrospective exhibition in tribute to this important Indigenous artist.

“Arthur Shilling: The Legend” ran from October 9 – 25, 1986. To accompany the exhibition a publication was produced. KRG’s Paul Robinson designed the layout as well as assisted with the writing and editing of the essay that included reflections by Jean Chretien on Arthur’s influence and impact as a contemporary native artist in his time. In the pre-desktop-publishing era, the booklet was printed on offset presses, designed using cut and paste techniques as well as what was then a state-of-the-art IBM Selectric Composer Typesetter. Now, we offer to you the digitized version of this publication that captures a part of KRG’s history.

Access here the Arthur Shilling: The Legend publication in a downloadable PDF format.

View here available works by Arthur Shilling.