C. Anthony Law

C. Anthony Law
Born	Charles Anthony Francis Law (1916-10-15)October 15, 1916 London, England
Died	October 15, 1996(1996-10-15) (aged 80) Halifax, Nova Scotia
Education	Ottawa Art Association with Franklin Brownell and F.H. Varley (1934-1937) while he studied at the University of Ottawa (1931-1936); with Frank Hennessey in the Gatineau and Gaspé areas in Quebec (1935-1939); in Quebec City, instruction from Percival Tudor-Hart.
Known for	naval official war artist of the Second World War, painter
Spouse	Jane Brumm Shaw (1917-2010) (m.1942)
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)

C. Anthony (Tony) Law DSC D.Lit (1916{ – 1996) was a Canadian naval Official War Artist of the Second World War. He served as a naval officer throughout the war and was known for engaging with enemy coastal convoys off France, and twice Mentioned-in- Dispatches. In 1944, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for 15 successive actions during the Normandy landings. After the war, he stayed with the Royal Navy. retiring in 1966. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia held a major retrospective of his work in 1989.

Career =

Law was born in London, England to Canadian parents, Law came with his family to Canada in 1917, to Quebec City. He attended Upper Canada College in Toronto (1928-1931).

His talent as an artist was discovered and encouraged by Dr. Marius Barbeau. He got his B.A. at the University of Ottawa (1931-1936) and deeply interested by the Group of Seven collection in the old National Gallery (the building that is now Ottawa’s Museum of Nature) took art lessons from Franklin Brownell and F.H. Valley at the Ottawa Art Association (1934-1937). In Ottawa he befriended Frank Hennessey with whom he painted in the Gatineau and Gaspé areas (1935-1939). In his hometown of Quebec City, his art teacher was Percival Tudor-Hart.

In 1937 he held his first solo show in Quebec City and in the same year, joined the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps as Lieutenant. In 1939 he was awarded the Jessie Dow Prize for a landscape in oils and in 1940 he transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve and sailed for England where he served on ships before joining the Motor Torpedo Boat Command and later becoming the commander of the 29th Canadian Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla of the Royal Navy at Dover which was stationed along the English Channel.

He was involved in the action against the German battleship Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in 1942 which he depicted it in paint (Canadian War Museum). Even at war, he still found time to paint, usually when ashore during refits. In 1943, for example, he received a temporary assignment that enabled him to record some of Canada's more notable vessels, including HMCS Haida, Chaudière, Huron, and Restigouche.

In an interview for the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph in December 1943, he said certain battles were “unforgettable”. Brilliant light came from the star shells so he could paint in the middle of the night. In 1944, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for 15 successive actions during the Normandy landings. After the destruction of the 29th Flotilla in 1945, which occurred when Law was absent, Law became an official war artist.

He held three solo shows in 1950 and 1951 in Ottawa; before taking up his duties of first Lieutenant-Commander aboard the aircraft carrier ‘Magnificent’. In 1955 he became second-in-command of the Arctic patrol ship ‘Labrador’ and in 1957 his Arctic and other paintings were exhibited at the Provincial Museum in Halifax. He also had a show of his Arctic paintings at the Robertson Gallery, Ottawa in 1961, the year he took command of the destroyer HMCS Sioux. He was Commander of the Third Escort Squadron and his last command was on the mobile repair ship HMCS Cape Scott. He retired from the Navy in 1966.

After his retirement he devoted his time to painting. Law and his wife, the artist Jane Shaw, settled in Halifax in the 1950s, where Law helped create both Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. He was Chairman of the AGNS’s Board of Governors from 1977 to 1979 and artist-in-residence at Saint Mary’s University from 1967 to 1980.

A retrospective exhibition of his paintings was held at the Nova Scotia Museum of Fine Arts Centennial Art Gallery in 1968. He was a member of the Nova Scotia Society of Artists. From 1973 to 1975 he was a governor of the Canadian Conference of the Arts and since 1968 was a board member of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and chairman from 1977 to 1979. He was appointed artist -in-residence at Saint Mary's University in Halifax in 1967, where he had established the Art Gallery and served until 1980. He had a retrospective exhibition at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in 1989, culminating in a joint exhibition with his wife artist Jane Shaw at Saint Mary's University Art Gallery in 1996.

His works are in the collections of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Canada House (London, England), the Confederation Centre of the Arts, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Canadian War Museum, the Musée naval de Québec and the House of Commons.

In 1981 he was awarded the honorary degree of doctor of letters by the Senate of Saint Mary's University.

In 1989, he had published a book about the Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla, titled "White Plumes Astern: Short Daring Life of Canada's Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla" (Nimbus Publishing Ltd, Halifax, 1989 ISBN 10: 0921054270ISBN 13: 9780921054276).

An interview with Law is available in St Mary’s University.