Comment

La Biennale di Venezia, founded in 1895, is one of the world’s most prestigious cultural organizations. “Canada 66” was an exhibition at the 1966 Biennale, curated by the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. The NGC selected three artists — painter Alex Colville, sculptor Sorel Etrog and graphic artist and painter Yves Gaucher. The accompanying publication was designed by Gerhard Doerrié during his time at Paul Arthur+Associates, and featured on its cover a grayscale photograph of a maple leaf divided into three tinted vertical sections. The blue and red sections represent the country’s English and French speaking parts (a colour code that was used frequently at this time, including for the ’67 Expo). The third (black) section presumably represents the third language used in the document, Italian. Minimal supporting text adds to the impact of the cover to make a bold and confident statement about Canada’s creative potential.

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