George Arthur Kulmala O.S.A. (1896 – 1940)

A prominent early 20th Century Canadian painter, George Arthur Kulmala (aka: G.A. Kulmala) was born in Pori, Finland and immigrated to Toronto, Ontario with his parents in 1904. He lived the rest of his life in Toronto and died there. He was a member of the Ontario Society of Artists* and exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts*. His paintings were also chosen to be shown at the 1925 British Empire Exhibition and at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. His works are in several museum collections.

Kulmala’s primary medium was oil paint on panel or canvas. His most frequent subjects were landscapes, snowscapes, genre* and rural scenes, usually of locations in southern Ontario such as Muskoka (he had a summer home at Lake Rosseau) and Algonquin Park. His styles were Expressionism*, Impressionism* and Plein Air Painting*. The askART auction results have some excellent illustrations of his oeuvre. (1)(2)

Other than high school art classes and the Ontario College of Art* summer school at Port Hope, where he studied under under J.W. Beatty, Kulmala was mostly self-taught.

He was a member of the Ontario Society of Artists* (1928) and exhibited with them frequently (1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1937 and 1939). He also exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (1924 – 1929 and 1939) and at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), Toronto in 1925, 1927 and 1930. (3)

His works were featured in the Canadian Pavilion at the British Empire Exhibition at the Palace of Fine Arts, Wembley Park, London, England (1925); in The Annual Exhibition of Little Pictures at the Art Gallery of Toronto (1931 and 1933); and in the Canadian Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair (1939). (3)

According to the Canadian Heritage Information Network* and individual museum sources, his works are in the permanent collections of the Art Gallery of Hamilton (Ontario), Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery (Owen Sound, Ontario) and the Trent University Art Collection (Peterborough, Ontario).

Footnotes:
(1) Please note: Kulmala’s obituary called him “Artist of Northland” and other sources say his subjects were in northern Ontario; however, because Canada stretches as far north as you can go on this planet, a little clarification is in order: The terms “Northland” and “Northern” appear, in this case, to be relative only to the city of Toronto. All of Kulmala’s painting locations referred to above are about 120 miles north of Toronto and in southern Ontario, which is the most southerly part of Canada. For example, in Canada, latitude-wise, all of the painting locations are further south than the cities of Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Quebec City; and, in the world they are further south than Seattle, Washington; London, England; and Paris, France. Sources: A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume Three, Jacobi – Lismer (see sources below); “Artist of Northland G.A. Kulmala Dead”, The Toronto Star (see sources below); and my Replogle Globe. – M.D. Silverbrooke

(2) Please note: There is a painting titled Okanagan Lake in the askART auction results. Okanagan Lake is in southern British Columbia (western Canada); however, we could find no biographical information discussing Kulmala visiting that region or, for that matter, anywhere outside of southern Ontario. Perhaps he visited British Columbia or, possibly, the painting was mistitled. – M.D. Silverbrooke

(3) Please note: Kulmala’s works may have been included in more CNE and AGT (Little Pictures) exhibitions; the dates we have listed were taken from the labels on the backs of paintings sold at auction and recorded by askART. – M.D. Silverbrooke

Sources:
American artists III: Signatures and Monograms from 1800, Volume 3 (2009), by John Castagno; Scarecrow Press, Lanham, MD

Biographical Index of Artists in Canada (2003), by Evelyn de Rostaing McMann (see askART Publications)

The Collector's Dictionary of Canadian Artists at Auction (2001), by Anthony R. Westbridge and Diana L. Bodnar (see askART Publications)

Documentation of Nordic Art: design, bibliographies, databases (1993), edited by Charlotte Hanner; Saur, München

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts: Exhibitions and Members, 1880 – 1979 (1981), by Evelyn de R. McMann (see askART Publications)

A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume Three, Jacobi – Lismer (1975), by Colin S. MacDonald; Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Limited, Ottawa, Ontario

Art Gallery of Ontario – The Canadian Collection (1970), by Helen Pepall Bradfield (see askART Publications)

Canadian Landscape Painters (1932), by A.H. Robson; Ryerson, Toronto

The Fine Arts in Canada"(1925), by Newton MacTavish (see askART Publications)

British Empire Exhibition London 1925: Canadian Section of Fine Arts (1925), by National Gallery of Canada; published by the by National Gallery of Canada

“Artist of Northland G.A. Kulmala Dead”, The Toronto Star, Toronto, Ontario, February 23, 1940

Canadian Heritage Information Network*

Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art* website

AskART auction results

Roberts Gallery website

Neil McAllister, Maynards Fine Art & Antiques

* For more in-depth information about these terms and others, see AskART.com. Glossary http://www.askart.com/AskART/lists/Art_Definition.aspx

Written and contributed to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke.