Aba Bayefsky

Who was Aba Bayefsky?

Aba Bayefsky, CM was a Canadian artist and teacher.

He was born in Toronto, the second son of a Russian-born father and a Scottish-born mother, he studied at the Central Technical School. During his teens, he attended classes at the Children’s Art Centre of the Art Gallery of Ontario, where he was encouraged by such artists as Arthur Lismer, Erma Sutcliffe, Dorothy Medhurst, and A. Y. Jackson. He later studied at the Académie Julian.

He enlisted in the RCAF in October, 1942, and was made a Flight Lieutenant. He was appointed an official war artist in December, 1944, assigned to depict airborne operations over north-west Europe.

After the war, he was an instructor at the Ontario College of Art. In 1958, he joined the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

In 1979, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.