Biography
Gathie Falk was born in 1928 in Alexander, Manitoba. Her parents were German-speaking Mennonites who immigrated to Canada in order to escape persecution in Russia. Shortly after Gathie’s birth, her father died, leaving the family impoverished forcing them to move repeatedly to various Mennonite communities across Canada. For a short time, the family moved to Winnipeg, setting in Vancouver in 1947.
In Vancouver in the 1950s Falk worked as an elementary school teacher and devoted her spare time to her art studies. She enjoyed summer classes at UBC and studied drawing and painting with JAS MacDonald. In 1965 Falk left her position as a teacher and decided to pursue a career as a full-time artist. That same year she had her first solo exhibit and traveled to Europe for the first time.
From 1968-1972 Falk was one of the first performance artists working in Canada and over that period created fifteen unique performances. Repetition of ordinary activities and ideas of domesticity were central to her performances.
In the early 1970s Falk returned to painting and sculpture, exploring motifs of the domestic and every day. Gathie Falk defined her work as a “veneration of the ordinary,” the witty and whimsical treatment of common objects of everyday life. She choose simple, domestic pleasures as her subjects: the beauty of a glistening stack of fruit, shoes lined up in a row, clothing hanging on a close line or lush summer gardens and dazzling night skies.
Falk exhibited extensively throughout her 60-year career including the survey exhibition “Paintings 1978-1984” (1985) which toured to 5 public galleries across Canada and “Gathie Falk” (2000), a major touring retrospective exhibition organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery. The McMichael Canadian Art Collection organized her final touring retrospective “Revelations” (2022-2024), accompanied by a beautiful publication.
Falk’s artworks are in countless public collections including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montreal, National Gallery of Canada, Vancouver Art Gallery and Winnipeg Art Gallery.
She was awarded the Gershon Iskowitz Prize (1990), named to the Order of Canada (1997), Order of British Columbia (2002) and received the Governor General’s Award in Visual Arts (2003). Most recently in 2013, Falk received the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Visual Arts.
In 2018 Falk published her memoire “Apples, etc.”, co-written with Robin Laurence. “Life & Work”, an online Art Canada Institute book devoted to Falk’s life and art practice was published in 2022, written by Michelle Jacques.
Gathie Falk passed away on December 22, 2025, in Vancouver.
Seeking Artworks by Gathie Falk
Selected Works
Gathie Falk
Bootcase with Single Right Men’s Shoes, 1973
Gathie Falk
Heavenly Bodies: The Moon & 3 Stars, 2004
Gathie Falk
Heavenly Bodies Again #10, 2015
Gathie Falk
Pieces of Water, 2019
Gathie Falk
Water Again #16, 2016
Gathie Falk
Abstract #3, 2018
Gathie Falk
Chicken, Vase, Plates, 2020
Gathie Falk
Blue Bowl with Apples
Gathie Falk
Yellow Marigolds, 2018
Gathie Falk
Chair With Zinnias – Back View, 1985
Gathie Falk
Picnic With Green Bottles, 1976
Gathie Falk
Lightbulbs (Dark Blue, Gold)
Gathie Falk
Cement with Fence #1, 1982
Gathie Falk
Yellow Iris’s (Angel), 1983
Gathie Falk
Heavenly Bodies Again #24, 2015
Gathie Falk
Water Again #22, 2016
Gathie Falk
Abstract #6, 2019
Gathie Falk
Coffee, Tea & Cake, 2021
Gathie Falk
Orange Juice, 2019
Gathie Falk
My Smoking Jacket, Radio, Mug, 2009
Gathie Falk
White Euphorbia, 2017
Gathie Falk
Small Purse, c. 1970
Gathie Falk
Checkerboard with Moths, 2017
Gathie Falk
Heavenly Body: 12 Star Constellation, 2000
Gathie Falk
Heavenly Bodies Again #15, 2016
Gathie Falk
Pieces of Water #18: Pratt / Dyck, 1996
Gathie Falk
Water Again #23, 2019
Gathie Falk
Abstract #5, 2018
Gathie Falk
Candle, 2018
Gathie Falk
Vase, Table, Trees, 2020
Gathie Falk
Bluebells, 2018
Gathie Falk
White Dress (Pleated Skirt), 2015
Gathie Falk
Saddle with Birds, 1974-1975
Gathie Falk
Oil Cans, 1969
Exhibitions
December 4 - January 31 - 2026
“In The Presence of Painting”
Painting and all of its pleasures is the focus of our current exhibition. Proclaimed "dead" multiple times over the past 150 years, we celebrate the materiality of paint and its lasting impact.
More
October 23 - October 26 - 2025
Art Toronto 2025
Join us for Art Toronto at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre October 23 - 26, 2025
MoreCurriculum Vitae
DATES
Born in 1928, Alexander, MB – Passed away in 2025, Vancouver, BC
COLLECTIONS
Brock Hall, U.B.C., Vancouver
U.B.C. Faculty Club, Vancouver
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver
Toronto Dominion Bank, Vancouver
Department of External Affairs, Ottawa
Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa
Rothmans
Art Gallery, Stratford, Ontario
Petro Canada, Calgary
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Government of British Columbia, Victoria
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
CBC Collection, Vancouver
B.C. Central Credit Union, Vancouver
Stanmore Investments, Vancouver
University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge
Canadian Commercial & Industrial Bank, Edmonton
Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax
First City Trust, Vancouver
Ringhouse Collection, Edmonton
Indusman Collection, Toronto
Glenbow Art Gallery, Calgary
CBC Collection, Regina
Dupont Canada Inc., Toronto
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Toronto
Norcen Energy Resources, Toronto
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria
The Manufacturers, Toronto
Lignum Ltd., Vancouver
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg
Musee d’Art Contemporain, Montreal
Museum London, London, Ontario
Memorial University, St. John’s Nfld.
Workman’s Compensation Board, Toronto
C.I.L. Collection, Toronto
Xerox, Toronto
The Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton
Grant MacEwan Community College, Edmonton
McMichael Canadian Collection, Kleinberg
London Life, London, Ontario
Art Gallery of North York, North York
Hewlett-Packard Canada
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, Toronto
Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops, B.C.
EDUCATION
University of British Columbia
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Milroy, Sarah. Gathie Falk: Revelations, McMichael Canadian Art Collection and Figure 1 Publishing, 2022
Falk, Gathie, and Robin Laurence. Apples, Etc. An Artist’s Memoir. Figure 1 Publishing, 2018
The dazzling, The Things in My Head, a fit ode to Gathie Falk, Robin Laurence, Georgia Straight, November 2015.
Collection, Connection and the Making of Meaning (exhibition catalogue), The Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, 2013. p. 80.
Laurence, Robin. Falk’s Late Style Takes Wing. The Georgia Straight, November 2007.
Sawchyn, Linda. Gathie Falk Visions. Kelowna Art Gallery (exhibition catalogue), 2002.
Newlands, Anne. Canadian Art From Its Beginnings to 2000. Firefly Books Inc., 2000. p. 103
Thom, Ian M. Art BC: Masterworks from British Columbia. Douglas & MacIntyre, 2000. p. 14, 16, 114-5, 134-135.
Milroy, Sarah. Falkland. The National Post, February 26, 2000. p. 5.
Gopnik, Blake. Fertile Fruit. The Globe and Mail, February 19, 2000. p. R3.
Grenville, Bruce et al. Gathie Falk. Douglas & MacIntyre, 2000. Print.
Richardson, Letia. Complex Simplicity. Artfocus, Fall 1997. p. 26.
L’ ABC daire du Musee, Musee d’art contemporain du Quebec, Les publications du Quebec, 1995.
Lombton, Gunda. Stealing the Show. McGill University, 1994. Print.
Rybczynski, Witold. A Place for Art: the Architecture of the National Gallery of Canada. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1993. Print.
Enright, Robert. The Thing in the Head That’s There: A Conversation with Gathie Falk. Border Crossings, 1993.
O’Brien, Peter. Gathie Falk – Wynick Tuck Gallery, Toronto, May 2-23. Parachute Magazine, 1992.
Rosenberg, Ann. Life Imitates Art for Fascinating Falk. The Vancouver Sun, Saturday Review, October 5, 1991.
Richard, Alain-Martin and Clive Robertson. Performance in Canada: 1970-1990. Editions Interventions and Coach House Press, 1991. Print.
Lind, Jane. Gathie Falk. Douglas & MacIntyre, 1990. Print.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022-2024: Gathie Falk: Revelations, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Museum London, Glenbow, Audain Museum (touring with catalogue)
2020: Painting Nature with a Mirror, Musée d’art Contemporain de Montréal, Montreal, QC (group show) Together Apart, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC (group show)
Small Gems II, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON (group show)
2019: Gathie Falk: New Paintings and Sculpture, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2019: Cosmos: Erik Olson, Gathie Falk & Margret Nazon, Glenbow, Calgary, AB
2018: Gathie Falk 1974-2018, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
2018: Gathie Falk: The Things We Grow, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2017: Mostly Small Paintings, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
2016: Water Again, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2016: Heavenly Bodies Again, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
2015: The Things in My Head, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2014: Lux: Water, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
2014: Paperworks, Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby, BC
2011:
Presence and Absence, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2010:
Gathie Falk, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2007:
Gathie Falk: Dreaming of Flying, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2005:
Heavenly Bodies, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2004:
Baseball Caps, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Gathie Falk/Apparel, Evergreen Cultural Centre, Coquitlam, BC
2002:
Gathie Falk: Visions, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, BC
2001:
Portraits, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2000:
Gathie Falk, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC (Retrospective Exhibition travelling to the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON; Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, MB; Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, NS; Musee des Beaux Arts de Montreal, Montreal, QC
Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, ON, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, NB)
1999:
Gathie Falk: Souvenirs du quotidien, Musee Regional de Rimouski, Rimouski, Quebec, QC
1998:
Galerie Rene Blouin, Montreal, QC
Traces : An Installation, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1997:
Apples, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1996:
Pieces of Water: 1995-1996, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1995:
Heads, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1994:
Nice Tables with Details, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Recent Works by Gathie Falk, Art Gallery of S.W. Manitoba, Brandon, MB
1993:
Clean Cuts, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1992:
Development of the Plot, Wynick Tuck Gallery, Toronto, ON
1991:
Venice Sinks with Postcards from Marco Polo Series, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1990:
Hedge and Clouds Series, Isaacs Gallery, Toronto, ON
Ceramic Sculpture from the 60’s and 70’s, Equinox Gallery,
Vancouver, BC
Hedge and Cloud Series, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1988:
Support Systems, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Support Systems, Isaacs Gallery, Toronto, ON
1987:
Soft Chairs, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Soft Chairs, Isaacs Gallery, Toronto, ON
Soft Chairs, 49th Parallel, New York, NY
1985:
Painting Retrospective, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC (touring)
Retrospective, 1962-85, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Chairs, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1984:
Theatre in B/W and Colour, Isaacs Gallery, Toronto, ON
1983:
Theatre in B/W and Colour, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1982:
Pieces of Water, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Pieces of Water, Isaacs Gallery, Toronto, ON
Herd One Installation and Cement Paintings, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1981:
Beautiful B.C. Multiple Purpose Thermal Blankets, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1980:
Night Skies, U.B.C. Fine Arts Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Night Skies, University of Southern Alberta, Lethbridge, AB
Night Skies, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB
1978:
East Border & Sculptures, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB
150 Cabbages and Borders, Artcore, Vancouver, BC
1977:
Herd I, Forest City Gallery, London, ON
1976-77:
Herd II and Drawings, National Gallery Tour
1976:
39 Drawings, Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1974:
Single Right Men’s Shoes, Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris
1968:
Living Room, Environmental Sculpture & Prints, Douglas Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1967:
Odalesque Gallery, Victoria, BC
1965:
Paintings, Canvas Shack
COMMISSIONS
1990: Salute to the Lions of Vancouver, Canada Harbour Place, Vancouver, B.C.
1988: Development of the Plot, Cineplex Odeon, Park and Tilford Garden, North Vancouver
1987-88: Diary, The Chancery, Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C.
1979: B.C. Multiple Purpose Thermal Blanket, B.C. Central Credit Union, Vancouver
1971-72: Veneration of the White Collar Worker #1 and #2, Department of External Affairs, Ottawa
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2013: Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts
2003: Governor General’s Award in Visual Arts
2002: Order of British Columbia
1997: Order of Canada
1990: Gershon Iskowitz Prize
1980: Canada Council Senior Grant
1971: Canada Council Arts Bursary
1969: Canada Council Arts Bursary
1968: Sun Award
1968: Canada Council Arts Bursary
1967: Canada Council Short Term Grant
News
Publications
Curnoe Ewen Falk Moppett
Michael Gibson Gallery
April 2013
44 pages, colour illustrations, 5 3/4 x 5 1/2 in., softcover
$15.00
Michael Gibson Gallery exhibition catalogue for Curnoe Ewen Falk Moppett. Our 2013 show that re-visited the original 1982 exhibition at the MacKenzie Art Gallery.
Videos
ACI Visits “Chroma” Exhibit
Sara Angel, Founder and Executive Director of the Art Canada Institute recently spent a morning at the Michael Gibson Gallery. Join Angel as she receives a tour of the exhibit "Chroma" and discusses with Michael Gibson and Jennie Kraehling the many artists exploring glorious colour through their artworks.
Gathie Falk @ Art Toronto
An overview of beautiful new still life paintings that Gathie Falk has painted for us for Art Toronto 2020 booth.
