Artist Christopher Cran
Title Browse #1
Media acrylic on wood board
Dated
2017
Size 36 x 18 in. / 91.4 x 45.7 cm.
Estimate $8,000 - $10,000
Notes
signed, titled and dated verso; unframed
Provenance
TrepanierBaer Gallery, Calgary, label verso; this work was generously donated by the artist; proceeds will be donated to the Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts) Centennial Scholarships fund in celebration of the university's Centennial year. The Centennial Scholarships fund is a transformative initiative to provide future artists, craftspersons, and designers with tuition-free education. Centennial Scholarships will reduce financial barriers and provide students with a tuition-free year of study. For more information or to donate directly visit: auarts.ca/donate-now
Biographical Information
Christopher Cran ~ [b.1949] Canadian RCA
Chris Cran has been described in The New York Times as a painter who '..has built a career on tampering with people’s perceptions.' Widely exhibited across Canada and internationally recognized, Cran has become known for turning nothing into something, with the slightest push. Cran’s paintings, included in numerous Canadian collections, involve a variety of visual tricks, where images may appear one way but have been made in unexpected ways.
Born in Ocean Falls, British Columbia, Cran studied art at the Kootenay School of Art in Nelson, British Columbia in 1976 and graduated from the Alberta College of Art and Design [now Alberta University of the Arts] in 1979, where he also taught art for many years. Cran's paintings exhibit a long-standing interest in the relationship between representation and abstraction, as well as photography and painting.
Through his work as an artist, mentor and educator, Cran has inspired generations of artists while making a lasting impact on Alberta's creative community. In 2026, he was appointed to the Order of Canada, one of the country's highest civilian honours. Cran's work has been reviewed by The New York Times, Canadian Art Magazine, and The Globe and Mail among many others. Cran’s work is found in numerous private and public collections including the National Gallery of Canada, the Glenbow Museum, the Nickle Arts Museum, and the Art Gallery of Alberta. Chris Cran is represented by TrépanierBaer Gallery in Calgary, Clint Roenisch Gallery in Toronto, and Wilding Cran Gallery in Los Angeles.
see artist's website at chriscran.com; see Heads, various, University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, 1992; Chris Cran Paintings: 1993-1996, by N. Tousley, Art Gallery of Peel, 1996; Chris Cran, by J.Drouin-Brisebois, R.Doherty, B.McCulloch, N.Tousley and W.Wood, National Gallery of Canada, 2016; biography and other examples in A Measure of Success: Graduates of the Alberta College of Art 1963-1984, by V.Greenfield, A.C.A.D., 1985 and Contemporary '88 Calgary, by M.B.Laviolette, pg.56, Olympic Arts Festival, 1988; see Allgemeines Kunstler-Lexikon, Band 22, pg. 167, K.G. Saur Verlag Munchen-Leipzig, 1983-2009; listed on Artists in Canada, a Union List of Artists' Files, by National Gallery of Canada Library et al, Canadian Heritage Information Network [CHIN] website