Donald Flather Original Paintings

Dr. DM Flather Biography
Prepared by Donald's Grandson, David Flather

Dr. DM (Donald McIntosh) Flather was a very talented man who combined his love of the outdoors with his love of art to produce many beautiful artworks from all across Canada and parts of the USA. Donald was a self taught Artist whom first began painting at a young age on small pieces of glass. During his lifetime, he produced some 400 paintings or so (quite a low number for most accomplished Painters), which included stunning Canadian landscapes and seascapes from Coast to Coast, the high Arctic (including a Series from Baffin Island), the Rocky Mountains, a few paintings from the USA (Washington State and Hawaii) as well as paintings of plants, humans and animals. The earliest painting that I (David Flather) was able to document was a small quaint painting of a woman seated by a pond titled "Miss Sophia" from 1919.

Although a teacher by vocation, he dedicated a great deal of his life (circa 1919-1987) to his painting and developed his own unique style, which has been said to combine elements of French Impressionism and the Group of Seven. In addition, DM Flather was also an accomplished Potter that produced likely hundreds of vases, bowls and so on over the years. I (David Flather) can remember always seeing many beautiful and brightly coloured ceramics created by Donald throughout their dining room.

Donald Flather was born in London, England in 1903 and immigrated with his parents as a youngster to the Canadian Prairies. They were members of the pioneering Barr Colony movement. After their stay on the Prairies they moved to an orchard on the Westshore of B.C.'s Shuswap Lake. It was farm life that really captivated Donald's love with nature. Then sometime in the 1920s, the family moved to Vancouver where they operated a greenhouse. He met his devoted wife, Grace, a home economics student, at teacher training college and the couple courted for several years. Then in 1927 Donald began his main profession of teaching and started by teaching secondary biology and science in Vancouver where he spent many years teaching in Vancouver's West End community King George Secondary School on Barclay Street. Donald and Grace had three bright sons that all went on to become medical doctors but they did not follow their Father's pursuits of painting or pottery. Elwood was the eldest, followed by Barrie and last was Verne. David Flather's Uncle Dr. Barrie Flather would sometimes share stories about the Family nature trips where "all sorts of pondlife" was discovered and often brought home. Many of these specimens were still around years later when David Flather (Dr. Verne Donald Flather's Son) visited his Grandpa Donald's house where the somewhat disorderly and numerous biological specimens greatly troubled Grandma Grace that demanded order in the home (she had numbered and labelled all of the kitchen cabinets). The basement held numerous biological specimens in glass jars of various sizes that I (David) always found interesting. However, the faint smell of formaldehyde meant that I often did not look at all of the specimens for very long ...

Barrie fondly remembers times when his Father was up in his upstairs studio, his slide projector on with a landscape slide from a recent trip appearing up on the screen. Barrie could see him concentrating as he gently struck brush strokes onto the panel - which could be a variety of materials as Granddad was known to paint on whatever was handy. Although Dr. DM Flather was known to have a photographic memory (with the great ability to accurately recall both scenes as well as colours) he would often start a painting and then complete it in subsequent years - with gaps of 5 years between painting updates common which is probably why Donald referred to his 35mm slides on occasion. David also suspects that Donald took some photos in the early 1940's when his brother, Lorne Flather, would sometimes take him on Canadian Royal Air Force flight training trips over the Rocky Mountains. As Donald would most likely not have had enough time to sketch the Rocky Mountain landscapes during these flights, David believes that at least some of the Rocky Mountain paintings would have been created by referring back to the photos and slides. Barrie recalls that his Father often used his imagination to "stylize" the scene in a roughly bastract or surreal manner. Barrie also remembers that in the early 40's, the Artists names that were occasionally talked about around the house included Lawren Harris (Group of Seven Founder/ Leader), A.Y. Jackson (Group of Seven Member), Fred Varley (Group of Seven Member), Emily Carr, Jack Shadbolt and W.P. Weston. However, to Barrie as a youngster, these famous Artist names really did not mean anything to him and he was certainly not aware of the very important Group of Seven. These were friends and people that Donald knew through his work as secretary-treasurer of the Federation of Canadian Artists (began in 1941). I (David Flather) have seen many examples of Donald's paintings with similarities to Lawren Harris' paintings as well as to those painted by W.P. Weston. In fact, I have seen several paintings by Donald and W.P. featuring the same BC Coast landscape subject matter with Donald's version pre-dating W.P.'s painting version on at least a few occasions. This leads me to believe that Granddad was not only friends with Lawren Harris but also W.P. Weston.

Below are a few examples of DM Flather's ceramics - as you can see he even signed and dated some of the items:

Donald Flather was definitely a colleague of Lawren Harris, founder of the Group of Seven and the two men worked together for several years on the Executive of the Federation of Canadian Artists, of which Donald was an original and founding member in 1941. Donald was also Secretary of the B.C. Federation of Artists in the 40's and 50's. Following this, he acted as National Treasurer of The Federation of Canadian Artists. DM Flather actually exhibited one of his pieces of pottery exhibited at the Juried 18th Annual BC Artists Exhibition held at the Vancouver Art Gallery Museuem in 1949. The pottery was titled "Vase for Pink Flowers".

Below are a couple of photos of an early Annual BC Federation of Artists parties held at BC (Bert) Binnings, West Vancouver home - likely in the 1940's. Unfortunately, David Flather was unable to locate any pictures of Donald with the other Artists at this party but shown are some photos of his Wife, Grace:
Photo of Grace Flather (seated foreground) with Jack Shadbolt in the background at BC Binnings BC Federation of Artists party.		Photo of Grace Flather (left) with Bess Harris (right) - Wife of Lawren Harris (both seated), serving tea at BC Binnings BC Federation of Artists party. Apparently, these two ladies were seen as "the leading ladies" at this party as being the servers of the tea was seen at the time as quite an honour.

Donald Exhibited many times in the 1940's with Lawren Harris at the Juried Annual BC Artists Exhibitions held at the Vancouver Art Gallery Museum between the years of 1944 to 1950. After Donald's passing, his paintings have been on display in many Art Galleries (including Vancouver's most prestigious/ leading Art Gallery, The Heffel Gallery) and Institutions including The Art Gallery of Toronto and The Vancouver Art Gallery, who have added his work to their permanent collection (see below). DM Flather has had solo Exhibitions in Whistler, North and West Vancouver, and joint Exhibitions in Vancouver and Victoria. These were arranged by both his Son, Dr. Verne Donald Flather as well as myself (David Flather). His paintings have appeared in many publications, including Beautiful BC Magazine and the Vancouver Sun. Visit Donald's Artwork Exhibitions page for a complete listing of DM Flather's Exhibitions.

Dr. DM Flather is shown here in this September 19, 1951 newspaper article collected and kept (as well as underlined) by Donald's dedicated Wife, Grace. Grace was also a bit of an Artist - learn more below here... Donald was also an Author - he wrote a high school Science textbook that was apparently in use until around the 1990's.

Donald was a very humble man, and he did not devote much time or effort to showing his artworks; rather he preferred to circulate his paintings and pottery amongst friends and Family. I (David Flather) am not aware of any attempts of Granddad to seek commercial Art Gallery representation during his lifetime and by the time of both his and Grace's passing, he had amassed quite a number of his paintings in his Kerrisdale home. I feel that Granddad was more than content gifting some of his best paintings to Family and Friends. Donald did not sign some of his paintings on the front- as he believed it to be unnecessary and detracting from the beauty of the painting (much as Lawren Harris did after 1926). It was his lovely Wife, Grace, whom encouraged Donald to sign his beautiful paintings. I can recall Grandma reminding Donald to sign certain paintings as she was showing them to us. However, Donald was not only unable to complete this task before his passing in 1990 but he also left some partially completed paintings.

I (David Flather) have many fond memories of my late Grandfather, Dr. DM Flather. Although some are vague (especially from when I was a youngster), I can recall sitting atop Granddad's red farm tractor at his "Crispair Farm" in Celista, BC on the West side of Shuswap Lake. I must have been only 2 or 3 years old at this time (circa 1969) but that was the highlight of that trip. Some time after Donald retired he decide to sell his Crispair Farm in Celista, BC. I can remember my Uncle Barrie telling me that the one main condition that Granddad put on the Buyer of the Farm that there was to be "no hunting of any kind on the property". Granddad was a lifelong lover of nature and probably an environmentalist long before the term became popularized. The destruction of our natural environment by mankind really troubled Granddad - which is the reason that he did not want the new Owners of the Crispair Farm to harm any animals and this was probably the reason why he painted some destructive forest fire scenes (including one with small animals such as rabbits fleeing the flames) to highlight and bring to attention man's destruction of the natural environment.

As a youngster I also had many memorable visits (together with my Siblings) with my Grandparents at their East Boulevard, Vancouver, BC home in the community of Kerrisdale. Granddad seemed to be interested in just about everything and his back yard was a real hodge podge of greenhouses with many potted plants of all types growing all over the place. As he was both a talented Botanist and gardener, Granddad actually grafted several different varieties of apples on to one of our apple trees at our North Vancouver home - which I though was really neat.

Dr. DM Flather is shown here in in 1922 in the Shuswap Lake Region of BC. At this time, Donald would have been 19 years old.

Inside of Granddad's house there was always a big organ which he loved to play but what I really remember were all of the wonders upstairs as well as in the basement. Upstairs was Granddad's painting studio which was always so crowded with paintings lined up against the walls that there was barely any space for a spectator to stand and watch. Looking back on it, the studio was not much more than a large closet. Then downstairs was where the real magic was where Granddad on special occasions would let my Siblings and I work with clay on a small table beside his potter's wheel. My Sister, being 3 years older than I, always made better objects like cats but I remember liking to make log cabins. The biggest problem was my impatience as we could never complete our projects the same day as they had to be fired in the kiln. Then on subsequent visits we could apply the glaze but then we had to wait again for firing them in the kiln!

Donald was a highly "unusual Artist" in the sense that we are not aware of any attempts for Donald to sell his paintings. Rather, it is apparent that he painted for the true love of painting - much preferring to gift his best paintings to friends and Family. This is evident in the 7 or 8 Annual BC Artists Exhibitions held at the Vancouver Art Gallery Museum that Donald had several of his paintings (and one piece of pottery) selected from hundreds of Artists by the art Show Jury for exhibition. Beside each of the Art Show Catalogue listings by Artist and artwork, the Artist's price is shown. However, all of Donald's artworks had no price listed as the paintings were not for sale and for exhibition/ public enjoyment only. Check out all of Donald's paintings featured at these Annual Art Exhibitions on his Exhibtions page. Through those links you can see the complete catalogue of the Artists participating which included the Group of Seven's Lawren Harris (one of his paintings was listed for sale for only $700) and J.W.G. MacDonald, B.C. Binning, E.J. Hughes, W.P. Weston, Jack Shadbolt and other renown BC Artists.

It was Donald's youngest Son, Dr. Verne Flather that wanted the Public to be able to enjoy his Father's paintings. After so many years of positive comments from his patients about the several Donald Flather paintings decorating the walls at his North Vancouver Doctor's office, after Granddad passed in 1990 he asked Grandma Grace if he could do a small scale exhibition. The result was a small scale exhibition of approximately 40 of Donald's paintings through the North Vancouver Public library in 1991. Then, tragically, in the Spring of 1992, my Dad, Dr. Verne Flather, had his life cut short (killed by a former patient of his). As David knew how proud Father Verne was of Donald's paintings, David wanted to "take over where Verne left off" in bringing Donald's paintings to the Public and seeing through his Father Verne's dream.

However, after Verne's passing (with Donald's passing just 2 years earlier), this devastated Grandma Grace and both David and his Uncle Barrie decided that while Grace was still alive we would not take any of Donald's paintings from their East Boulevard home. It was only after Grandma's passing in 1995 when David and Barrie had to empty the house that we realized just how many paintings Donald had made. David shortly thereafter began the long process of organizing the paintings and having them cleaned by professional art restorers. Then, in 1998 David put together a website showcasing Donald's paintings and then embarked on promoting them for others to see and enjoy.

Dr. DM Flather passed away on September 29, 1990. His Wife Grace Flather passed away in 1995 (see Grace's short Bio down the page...). DM Flather 's artworks are currently widely held and enjoyed by leading Canadian, American, European, Indonesian and Asian Art Collectors. Please find below some images of Dr. DM Flather at different times throughout his life, as well as some photos of his Wife, Grace.

Do you own an original Dr. DM Flather painting? If so, David Flather would love to hear from you to add it to his permanent catalogue of paintings. I can also assist you with purchasing it or assisting you to sell the painting. Call David at 604-818-9274 or send me an email with details at siteinfo@shaw.ca

Photo Above: Dr. DM Flather posing in front of Eva Lake, Mt. Revelstoke in 1962.
Donald also made a beautiful landscape painting of Eva Lake.

Photo Above: Dr. DM Flather at his Doctorate Graduation

Photo Above: Dr. DM Flather sitting in a field with his Wife, Grace Flather taken in the late 1920's.

Photo Above: Click for a larger picture of Donald Flather, age 8
during a trip to London, England with his Mother

ARTIST GRACE M. FLATHER BIOGRAPHY:
Grace Mary Flather (Maiden name was Wray)
February 3, 1906 - May 28, 1995

Photo Above: Dr. DM Flather with his Wife, Grace Flather taken in the 1980's.

DM Flather's wife Grace was also a bit of an Artist. Grace M. Flather was born in Brandon, Manitoba. After moving to Vancouver she married Donald Flather on October 4, 1930. She exhibited two of her pottery artworks in the 1948 annual B.C. Artists exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery Museum. Grace had three Sons, Elwood, Barrie and Verne and resided with DM Flather all of her life at their East Boulevard home in Kerissdale (Vancouver, BC). Grace was also a teacher - her specialty was Home Economics. She died in Vancouver in 1995 at the age of 89 after a stay in the hospital that was caused by a fall and broken arm near her home in Kerrisdale. Unfortunately Grace never recovered from that relativly minor accident.

Grace exhibited two of her pottery artworks at the 17th Annual BC Artists Exhibition held at the Vancouver Art Gallery Museum September 18 to October 10, 1948. The pottery pieces were titled "Flower Vase (for smoky type Gladiolus spike) B.C. Materials" and "Flower Vase"