Sidney Charles Mooney (1927 – 2018)

A Canadian painter, Sidney Charles Mooney (aka: Sid C. Mooney) was born in Montreal, Quebec and died in Toronto, Ontario, his home since about 2010. He grew up in Perth, Ontario and lived for most of his life in Ottawa, Ontario (c.1958 – c.2010). He also lived in Toronto for a time in the 1950s (c.1950 – c.1958).

His primary medium was oil paint. His best known subjects were wilderness landscapes, shorelines, mountains, and urban scenes. The locations included the provinces of Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. His style could be described as Fauvism*. Canadians would recognize it as influenced by some of the best known works of the Group of Seven*. The askART auction results have many excellent illustrations of Mooney’s works. (1)

He is considered a self-taught painter who started painting professionally later in life during and after a career in business; however, he did study briefly under two important artists: he attended workshops taught by the famous Canadian art icon A.Y. Jackson and classes by Ralph Burton (see both in askART). (2)(3)

Attached below is an abridged obituary for Mooney courtesy of Turner & Porter Funeral Directors. A link to the complete document is in our sources:

“Sid was born in Montreal in 1927 but grew up in the town of Perth, Ontario. He learned his love for music from his mother and love for the outdoors from his father. There, he was involved in church, sports and other community activities. After his father returned from the war, Sid started working at the local shoe factory. As a young adult, he moved to Toronto to continue his studies in violin and singing. He had an interesting time as a soloist in several churches and musical groups.

After marrying Jean and working at the Dack Shoe Company for a short time, he moved to Ottawa in the late 1950’s where they raised their three children, and were members of the Woodroffe United Church for over 50 years. While working in the retail shoe business, Sid attended painting classes given by the late Ralph Burton and with the encouragement of Colleen Fogarty and later Thomas Grossman, he started a second career as a landscape artist. Painting, music and family remained Sid’s passions for the rest of his life.

Sid passed away peacefully, on March 9, 2018, surrounded by his family at the St. Joseph’s Healthcare Centre, in Toronto.”

Footnotes:

(1) Please note: There is a painting illustrated by askART with the title Mississippi River near Fallbrooke; the Mississippi referred to is a 120 mile long river near Ottawa and it is no relation to the famous river in the U.S.A. There is also a painting of the same title in the askART auction record for Mooney’s teacher Ralph Burton. Additional source: Latitude website. – M.D. Silverbrooke

(2) Please note: Our source for the A.Y. Jackson workshops is The Collector's Dictionary of Canadian Artists at Auction (see sources). – M.D. Silverbrooke

(3) Researchers please note: Our sources do not provide any exhibition or gallery information for Mooney and none of the 70 paintings in his auction results (at the time of writing) had any exhibition or gallery information attached. We are happy to add more information about this artist from knowledgeable sources. – M.D. Silverbrooke

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

Obituary - Turner & Porter Funeral Directors https://turnerporter.permavita.com/site/SidneyCharlesMooney.html

Canadian Heritage Information Network*

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

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