Angus Trudeau (1908–1984) spent his working life as a sailor and cook aboard the Lake Huron commercial ships. He devoted his spare time, and his retirement years to painting and model building. Trudeau’s language was Ojibwe and he spent virtually his whole life on or around Manitoulin Island, and in his later life, on the Wikwemikong Reserve, where he was much admired by the younger generation of the Woodland School of painters.
Trudeau’s inspiration is drawn from the world of Manitoulin, although his vision is imbued with deeply personal insight. His subjects —the lake freighters, ferry boats, bygone community buildings and events— are often portrayed through the diapason of memory or through reference materials he collected.
The artist’s self-taught style is well suited to the purity and freshness of his vision. The approach perfectly conveys the lively delight with which Trudeau viewed the world around him and its ghosts from the past. His paintings incorporate a variety of media, including some elements of collage. Often bending the “laws” of perspective, they are startlingly vivid and richly evocative.
