Folk Memoirs

Irene McCaught

 Irene McCaugherty was a self-taught artist, writer, and poet. Her folk-art paintings explore the people and cultural narrative of southern Alberta’s pioneer days in the later part of the 19th and early 20th century. She recorded the daily happenings of life in early Alberta with humour and colour, and invited viewers to enter her world of auction sales, musical rides, road building, small town life, and ranching.

Irene McCaugherty often painted in an unusual dimension, long and narrow. That rectangular shape reflected the view she had out the window of her pick-up truck, as she drove around southern Alberta to capture the stories of the people and the places she called home.

Her watercolours do not conform to traditional one-point perspective, and she found a voice that was uniquely hers, capturing the imagined past and invented history of life on the prairie. She created more than 1,000 paintings before her death in 1996, many of which have been donated by her family to the Lethbridge College Campus where they are on display in the Founders’ Square Space.

Hazel Litzgus

Hazel Litzgus continues to captivate the hearts of Albertans with her charming and nostalgic folk images of early Alberta life. Born on a farm near Lloydminister, Alberta, Hazel, through her paintings give us a glimpse of her early childhood and her many recollections of early rural and small town life on the Alberta Prairies.

Working in the unforgiving medium of watercolour, Hazel Litzgus narrates moments from her past in vivid detail with whimsy, in a naïve painting style. Whether it be the detailed wallpaper and patterned linoleum floor in a country farm house, or a school yard full of excited children playing various games, her art work is very reflective of her as a person. Hazel is a charming, soft spoken lady with a strong and determined character. She is full of life and stories and one feels right at ease as she tells of her experiences on the Prairies. Hazel’s book, Where the Meadow Lark Sang was published in 2003 and received great attention. In a review by CM Magazine, University of Manitoba, wrote:

“In her use of bright colours and carefully detailed drawing, Litzgus created illustrations that are reminiscent of William Kurelek.”

Doris Zaharichuk

Doris Zaharichuk was a painter of lyrical, rural images depicting memories from her childhood and her Romanian heritage. Her paintings combined a charming narrative with a sensitive representation of the Alberta landscape, and captured the span of the seasons, the daily activities of work and play, and the sense of warmth to be found in community and family.
Zaharichuk was largely self-taught, and started painting after her husband passed away in 1974. She took classes at the Edmonton Art Gallery from artist Peter Lewis, who encouraged her self expression. She found a sense of joy and peace in her artwork, and often painted two or three canvases a month, despite her chronic arthritis.
Zaharichuk exhibited often at the Kathleen Laverty Gallery in Edmonton, as well as at Heffel Fine Art in Vancouver, the now defunct Beaver House Gallery in Edmonton, and the Prince Arthur Gallery in Toronto. Her work hangs in public and private collections in Canada and Australia.

William Panko

William Panko emigrated from Austria in 1911. Panko worked as a farm labourer in the summer months and as miner in Drumheller during the long Albertan winters. Panko fell ill with tuberculosis in 1937, and spent ten years at the Baker Memorial Sanatorium in Calgary. As a young man, Panko did not receive any formal art training; however, he seemed to have an innate understanding of colour and composition. Panko started painting at Baker Memorial, and with the support of well-known artist Marion Nicoll, he painted approximately 30 watercolour paintings. Nicoll insisted that his primitive folk style was unique, and she believed that he shouldn’t receive any formal instruction, as that type of tutelage would have disrupted his individualistic style. His works’ delineate scenes of his life, primarily they tell the tales of his life in Drumheller, from his garden to his home. The Coste House in Calgary exhibited his watercolour paintings during the winter of 1947. The Muttart Gallery, included Panko’s work in a travelling exhibition, titled The Primitives, which travelled to The Edmonton Art Gallery, The Prairie Gallery in Grande Prairie, and the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (SAAG). Panko passed away from a fatal heart attack on March 17, 1948 at the age of 56.