1909
Born on February 4 in Shoeburyness, England.
1912
Emigrated to Victoria, B.C. with his parents. As a teenager, he read Fred Housser’s book on the Group of Seven and became determined that his art would do for B.C. what the group had done for northern Ontario.
1923
Encountered the work of Emily Carr.
1925-1927
Studied at Victoria College
1927-1928
Studied at the Provincial Normal School in Victoria.
1928-1931
Taught art in Duncan on Vancouver Island.
1931-1937
Taught art at Kitsilano High School in Vancouver.
1933
Influenced by some Cézanne paintings he saw in Chicago.
1934-1937
Studied under Frederick Varley, Charles Scott and Jock MacDonald at the Vancouver School of Art.
1937
Traveled to London and Paris; studied in art classes in both cities. Influenced by Picasso’s Guernica, which he saw in Paris.
1938
Instructor at the Vancouver School of Art until 1966
1942
Enlisted in the Canadian Army. Worked in the War Records Office in London, England.
1944
Appointed official war artist.
1945
Appointed Head of the Drawing and Painting Section at the Vancouver School of Art.
1947-1948
Studied at the Art Students League in New York.
1953
Represented Canada in the Sao Paulo Bienal
1957
First extensive Mediterranean traveling.
1960
Second extensive period spent in Greece and Italy.
1966
Resigned from Vancouver School of Art
Wrote "In Search of Form"
1973
Wrote "Mind’s I"
1975-1976
Traveled to India
1977
Participated in the Symposium on Canada’s Cultural Future in Washington, D.C.
1981
Published "Act of Art"
1987
Founded the Vancouver Institute of the Visual Arts (VIVA) with Doris Shadbolt.
1989
Appointed Freeman of the City of Vancouver
1998
Passed away on November 22 in his studio in Burnaby, B.C.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
1936
Vancouver Art Gallery
1939
Vancouver Art Gallery
1940
Vancouver Art Gallery
1941
Vancouver Art Gallery
Art Gallery of Toronto
Kenneth McAllister’s Studio, Victoria
Brock Memorial Building, University of British Columbia
1942
Point Grey Masonic Hall
Vancouver Art Gallery (February)
Vancouver Art Gallery (October)
1943
Vancouver Art Gallery
Faculty Room Library, University of British Columbia
1944
T. Eaton Gallery, Toronto
1946
Vancouver Art Gallery
Victoria College Library
Spencer’s Art Gallery, Victoria
1947
Vancouver Art Gallery
Mildred Brock Room, Brock Hall, University of British Columbia
1948
Laing Galleries, Toronto
Vancouver Art Gallery
1949
Laurel Art Gallery, New York City
1950
University of British Columbia Art Centre Gallery
Art Gallery of Toronto
1952
San Francisco Museum of Art
1953
School of Art, Winnipeg
Vancouver Art Gallery
San Francisco Art Institute, School of Art
1954
Arts Centre of Greater Victoria
Art Gallery of Toronto
1955
Musée des beaux arts, Montreal
1957
New Design Gallery, Vancouver
1958
Seattle Art Museum
1959
Burnaby Municipal Hall
Vancouver Art Gallery
1960
Zoe Dusanne Gallery, Seattle
Laing Galleries, Toronto
New Design Gallery, Vancouver
1961
Edmonton Art Gallery
Laing Galleries, Toronto
New Design Gallery, Vancouver
Art Gallery of Greater Vancouver
1963
New Design Gallery, Vancouver
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Yellow Door Gallery, Winnipeg
Vancouver Art Gallery
1964
Tate Gallery, London, England
Jerrold Morris Gallery, Toronto
Art on Billboards, Vancouver
Edmonton Art Gallery
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
1965
New Design Gallery, Vancouver
1966
New Design Gallery, Vancouver
1967
Burnaby Art Gallery
Douglas Art Gallery, Vancouver
1969
Galerie Godard-Lefort, Montreal
Vancouver Art Gallery
Fleet Gallery, Winnipeg
1970
Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver
National Gallery, Ottawa
Edmonton Art Gallery
Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon
Winnipeg Art Gallery
1971
Bau-Xi Gallery
1974
Bau-Xi Gallery
1977
Harbourfront Art Gallery, Toronto, PADAC Exhibition
Art Gallery of Peterborough, Ontario
1978
Art Gallery of Peterborough Retrospective
Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C.
Canadian Consulates, Boston and Atlanta
1980
Retrospective, McMaster University Art Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario
Retrospective, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
1982
Harbourfront Art Gallery, Toronto
1984
Art Gallery of Peterborough
Vancouver Art Gallery
1986
Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia
1988
Art Gallery of Victoria
1990
Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, Washington
Teck Gallery, Harbourside, Simon Fraser University
1991
Glenbow Museum, Calgary
1992
Retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada
1994
U.B.C. Fine Arts Gallery
1996
The Burnaby Art Gallery
1997
Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver
COMMISSIONS, HONOURS AND AWARDS
1957
Guggenheim International Award
Canadian Government Overseas Fellowship
1963
Mural commissioned for the Edmonton Airport
1964
Mural in Charlottetown
1972
Officer of The Order of Canada
1973
Mural commissioned for the National Arts Centre in Ottawa
Honorary Doctor of Law, Victoria University
University of Alberta Canadian Artist’s Award
1977
Honorary LLD, Victoria University
Canada Council Molson Prize
1978
Honorary Doctor of Law, Simon Fraser University
Honorary Doctor of Law, University of British Columbia
1988
Honorary LLD, Bishop’s University, Quebec
1990
Gershon Iskowitz Award
SELECTED BIBILIOGRAPHY
Shadbolt, Jack. In Search of Form. McClelland and Steward, 1968.
Shadbolt, Jack "The Activity of Art: A Personal Response to History" Artscanada, June, 1975, pp. 22.
Halpin, Marjorie M. Jack Shadbolt and the Coastal Image, UBC Press, 1986.
Watson, Scott. Jack Shadbolt. Douglas and McIntyre, 1990