Philip Henry Surrey

Philip Henry Surrey

Philip Henry Surrey, painter (b at Calgary 8 Oct 1910; d at Montréal 7 May 1990). He studied at the Winnipeg School of Art (1926-27), with Fred VARLEY in Vancouver, and at the Art Students League, New York (1936). Surrey was a member of the Eastern Group of Painters and a founding member of the CONTEMPORARY ARTS SOCIETY (1939). The surrealistic tendencies in his work melded well with the society's goal of promoting modern art movements in a Canadian context. His cityscapes have dreamlike groupings of figures taking part in familiar activities, often in juxtaposition, conveying more than one level of reality (eg, La procession, 1940). The aim of Surrey's illusion is to caution the viewer to question perceptions of reality and to address the problems of city life.