The Beauty Of Arthur Shilling

Sharing the life and art of a dear friend

- Rudy and Gloria Bies, Mississauga

We are a couple of art lovers who own a small collection of Canadian artworks. We saw and purchased our first Arthur Shilling painting at the Blue Easel Gallery in Toronto in 1972. It was a sepiatoned oil painting of two Native girls. The power of the portrait was spellbinding to us. It was not just an ordinary portrait but a beautiful painting that used colours and portrayed facial expressions that seemed to capture real emotions.

By October 1975, Arthur’s paintings drew us to his hometown on the Chippewas of Rama First Nation reserve near Orillia, Ont. We were interested in having portraits done of our children by him, when we discovered that he was ill. We were in contact with Arthur’s wife, Millie, who told us that he was staying at the Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital in Orillia.

One day, we arrived at Arthur’s mother’s house, where Millie showed us a handful of his paintings. We liked a painting that depicted twin faces of Arthur’s niece, Suzanne Sutherland and asked to purchase it. Millie told us she would not sell it without Arthur’s permission.

On our way back home, we stopped by the hospital, where we met Arthur for the first time. As a child, he su‘ered from four attacks of rheumatic fever, leaving his heart valves damaged. He was convinced that he was going to die before the spring and told us he did not want to talk about art. The few paintings he had remaining were meant for Millie, since they were the only things he had left to give her. We continued to chat with Arthur for a few more minutes until we decided to leave.