Canadian Historic Toronto Winter Landscape, Watercolour Painting by John Kasyn 1926-2008, OSA, CSPWC, Titled “On Robert Street”

John Kasyn was born in Poland in 1926, and moved to Winnipeg, Canada with his family in 1938. In 1940, his family moved to Toronto, where he studied at the Central Technical School. He then pursued his studies at the Ontario College of Art, where he studied under FS Challenger, George Pepper, Jock MacDonald and RW Murphy. After he had completed his studies, he worked as an art director in different design studios before dedicating himself to painting full-time. Kasyn is mainly known for his watercolour paintings of historical houses in Toronto and represented in many public, private and corporate collections in Canada and the United States. He is a member of ” The Ontario Society of Artists” (OSA), founded in 1872 is Canada’s oldest continuously operating professional art society. Also a member of the “Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour (CSPWC), founded in 1925, and is considered to be Canada’s official national Watercolour Society.

This watercolour “On Robert Street”,  is an excellent example of this talented artist’s works. Kasyn loved painting winter scenes explaining “Winter is my time. It’s a moody time of the year, and the sky changes fast. I rarely paint a house on a sunny day. It doesn’t do anything for you.” His winter scenes, filled with contrast and detail, capture the essence of  Toronto’s historic neighbourhoods including Cabbagetown, The Annex, Rosedale, and Kensington Market preserving a piece of their remarkable cultural heritage before “urban development”. For five decades focusing on Toronto’s back lanes, he amassed a library of over 6,000 slides.

His work is a hidden gem of Canadian art and a unique opportunity to own a piece of Toronto’s historical charm.

Dimensions: Image: height 5″ x width 8″  Frame: height 12.5″ x width 15.5″ x depth 1.25″