Allan W. Edwards

(1915 - 1991)

A Retrospective of Paintings

A native of Victoria, BC, Edwards had his first training in art at the age of fourteen under the tutelage of Archibald Fairbairn, who had been trained in the English school of watercolour painting. At the age of sixteen he left for Toronto where he attended the John Russel Academy of Art and he had the opportunity, for the first time, of working from the model. He showed exceptional promise in portraiture and, after a year, he left Russel’s to pursue a successful career in that field.

Moving to Detroit in 1937 he was engaged as a member of the faculty of the Meinzinger Foundation, one of the largest schools of commercial art in the U.S.A. This led him into a career as a fashion illustrator which took him to New York City where he did work for Saks, Wanamaker’s, Macy’s and Bloomingdales. It was at the latter department store that he became involved in furniture illustration.

In 1940 he came back to Canada to serve in the Armed Forces and, after a medical discharge,returned to the States where he then served in the U.S. Army until 1946. After his discharge, he settled in San Mateo with his wife and daughter and took over the job of Art Director at the City of Paris, a large department store in San Francisco. Two other children were born in San Mateo before the family moved to Los Angeles where Edwards became associated with one of the studios. He had become well known for his illustrations and was commissioned to do work for Revlon, Max Factor , Lear and many other nationally advertised accounts.

Several attractive offers were made and he accepted the position of Advertising Manager with W.& J. Sloane in Beverly Hills. Two years later he was offered a position with Burton C. Schutt, one of the foremost architects in the U.S. and, since he wanted to learn as much as possible about design he accepted. Florence Bates Hayward, the famous interior designer, was associated with Schutt and, together, they formed one the finest design teams in the world. The influence of these two creative people changed the course of Edwards career. Hilton Hotels International asked him to come to New York to work on their projects, his first assignment being the Havana Hilton, then under construction. The revolution forced him to flee and he then was to Puerto Rico to work on the Caribe Hilton. He designed the gardens and did much work on the interior of the hotel and was then asked to design the landscaping for the newly built El San Juan Intercontinental Hotel. During this period, Florence Hayward asked him to come to Honolulu to work with her on refurbishing the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Edwards designed all the furniture and executed 350 large paintings for the guest rooms.

He returned to Canada in 1961, establishing an art school, gallery, craft shop and design studio in Victoria, BC. He then opened a design office in Vancouver and subsequently went to Ottawa to do the interiors of the Skyline Hotel. From there he went to Toronto to open a design business plus a textile mill which turned out hand-woven fabrics for his many projects. In 1972 he returned to the West Coast and opened a design studio in West Vancouver. He then went to London where he designed the interiors for the Skyline Hotel at Heathrow and the Park Tower Hotel in Knightsbridge.

Throughout his career, Edwards had continued to paint and exhibit throughout the U.S. And the Caribbean. He achieved recognition for his watercolours and won many awards.A promoter of the Federation of Canadian Artists, he moved to Saltspring Island and founded the Saltspring Island Seminars. Brilliant and forgotten by museums, but clearly loved by his old friends.