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Item Name: Painting
Title: Slough Near Silton
Maker: Robert David Symons
Year: 1968
Country: Canadian
Materials: Watercolour on paper
Measurements: overall: 34.5 cm x 27.5 cm
ID Number: PC83.1.84
Legal Status: PERMANENT COLLECTION


Extended Label Info: The landscape of Southwest Saskatchewan inspired Robert Symons deeply, and his passion for this part of the world is evident in his painting and his writing. His work often focuses on the details of the prairie landscape which might otherwise be overlooked. In this painting, he documents the grasses surrounding a pond, which is known colloquially as a slough, an area of soft, swampy wet-land. Robert David Symons was born in 1898 in Mayfield, England. Though he had no formal training, Symons's artistic interest was nurtured by his father, William Christian Symons, a painter and illustrator. In 1914, Symons moved to Canada and settled in Maple Creek. After military service in World War I, he returned to work as a rancher, and a game warden. He compulsively sketched birds and animals in pencil and in watercolour and developed a strong affinity for the prairie landscape. From 1942 to 1961, Symons moved to BC, and worked near Fort St. John, as a game warden, rancher, and as a member of the British Columbia Provincial Police. In 1961, he returned to Saskatchewan, settling in Silton. During the 1960s, in addition to his own painting and writing, Symons taught art at the University of Regina. He is the author of several historical novels, and his paintings are held in numerous public and private collections. Symon’s murals and displays for the Saskatchewan Museum of National History inspired naturalistic museum designs across Canada, and he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Regina in 1970.