Biography

Ted Harrison (1926–2015) was a British-born Canadian artist whose distinctive vision of the Yukon made him one of the country’s most recognizable painters. Born in Wingate, County Durham, England, Ted studied art and design at Hartlepool College of Art before beginning a teaching career that took him around the world. He immigrated to Canada with his family in 1967 and moved to Carcross, Yukon, the following year, where the northern landscape profoundly shaped his artistic direction.

During his twenty-five years in the Yukon, Ted developed a highly personal style defined by sweeping contours, saturated colour, tilted buildings, ravens, dogs, and small figures set against vast skies and mountains. Rather than painting the landscape literally, he simplified and reshaped it to express the character and spirit of northern life. His work also extended to writing and illustration, including celebrated editions of Robert Service’s The Cremation of Sam McGee and The Shooting of Dan McGrew. Ted was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1987, received the Order of British Columbia in 2008, and was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

— “Painting is the last great freedom. You can paint what you like.”