North Shore Canadian Art
Investment Quality Important Canadian Art

Donald Curley (1940-2009)

Title: The Last Mill, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

Medium: Oil and Acrylic on Board

Period: Dated 1974

Size: 24” x 36”

Comments: This is a master work, painted at the height of the artist's career, in his photo-realistic style.

Price: SOLD

Don Curley was born in Halifax. He studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, the Art Students League in  New York, the Pratt Institute in New York, Columbia University in New York and the Royal Academy in London, England. He instructed and lectured at the West Vancouver Academy of Fine Art, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Ottawa, NSCAD, Dalhousie University and numerous other community organizations. Don also wrote articles for various art publications. In addition to his paintings and prints, Don's creativity also led him to design ten coins for the Royal Canadian Mint, which included a gold coin portrait of Alexander Graham Bell. In 1996 he was included in "Who's Who in International Art." A stamp was printed in Switzerland that year as a tribute to him in honor of this achievement. Further, he was made an Honourary Fellow of the International Biography Association, Cambridge, England, and he received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Commemorative Medal.  Like so many artists, Don often donated works to community causes. He worked for years with Ducks Unlimited, the World Wildlife Fund, and other organizations in aid of threatened species. He lent his artistic hand to others, including the needs of Bonny Lea Farm, Chester, and the Lunenburg Art Gallery. Don spent the later part of his life in Chester where he taught art in Chester Basin and The Barn painters group in Chester. He has held solo exhibitions at St. Mary's University in Halifax, Galerie Moos in Montreal and Gallery 1667 in Halifax, among others. His painitngs are included in the collections of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada, Bell Canada, The Claridge Collection (Montreal), the Museum of Natural Science (Ottawa), the Nova Scotia Art Bank and others, as well as countless private collections.