Allan Harrison

Born in Montreal in 1911, Allan Harrison studied at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal in 1930 under John Lyman and André Biéler before continuing his training at the renowned Art Students League of New York in 1931 with Kimon Nicolaïdes. He returned to Montreal in 1932 and 1933 to work at the Atelier under the direction of Lyman and Biéler. In 1939, Harrison became one of the founding members of the Contemporary Art Society, a pivotal organization in the development of modern art in Canada. He furthered his artistic education in Paris in 1947–48 with Arpad Szenès and returned to France in 1956 to study in the atelier of André Lhote.

Throughout his career, Harrison balanced periods of prolific artistic production with his work as an advertising designer. He was also a dedicated educator, teaching at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' School of Art and Design (1941–46), Sir George Williams University (1961–66), and the Université du Québec à Montréal (1970–72). His extensive travels throughout Europe, Central and South America, Cuba, and the United States further enriched his artistic practice.

Harrison worked across a variety of subjects, including still lifes, landscapes, and figure compositions. In addition to painting and drawing, he also produced graphic works. He exhibited regularly with the Contemporary Art Society during the 1930s and 1940s and later presented his work in numerous galleries, including Galerie l'Art français in 1976.

His works are represented in many important public and private collections in Canada and abroad, including the Musée du Québec, the Canada Council Art Bank, the Bezalel Museum in Jerusalem, and the Maison de Radio-Canada in Montreal.