Woodruff Kerr Aykroyd [1904-1967]
Lake Muskoka
3 1/8 x 2 3/8 inches (7.8 x 6 cm)
Etching
signed 'W.K. Aykroyd' and titled in pencil.
Framed. 9 5/8 x 7 5/8 inches (24.4 x 19.4 cm)
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Woodruff Kerr Aykroyd [1904-1967] Born in Toronto, Ontario, an architect, he studied engraving at the Central Technical School, Toronto, and for nine months followed his own personal study and travel agenda in Europe. Touring Europe just before World War Two, he visited Brittany, France; Surrey, England; harbours of Holland; and Florence, Italy. In Canada he did scenes of Algonquin Park. Viewing his solo show at Arts Club of Toronto Augustus Bridle in the Toronto Star in 1924 noted, "Clear, concise patterns and imposing perspectives are evident in all his pictures. Old inns in England, and tucked-away French Rues, in towns no longer paradises for artists, are his special joy, One precinct shows tenement clotheslines, skillfully manoeuvred in stiff style from white paper. Wall-decor of old inns has almost lacelike intricacy. Dark canyons of dimlit lanes are impressive. A few windmill scenes are reminiscent of pre-Nazi picturesqueness in peaceable Holland." During this period Aykroyd was working in the draughting department of munitions works. Was a member of the Canadian Society of Graphic Art (1932) and the Society of Canadian Painters-Etchers & Engravers (1931) and held office both societies. - MACDONALD, A Dictionary of Canadian Artists Vol 1. Ottawa: 1997
See Artists in Canada: A List of Artists' Files. National Gallery of Canada: 1999.