Gerald Squires

Who is Gerald Squires?

Gerald Leopold Squires, CM is an artist from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Perhaps best known for painting dramatic landscapes in acrylic and oil, Squires has also produced major work in sculpture, lithography, and stained glass. He is also an accomplished portraitist. Much of his work draws its inspiration from the landscape and culture of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Born in Change Islands, Newfoundland, Gerald Squires moved with his family to Toronto, Ontario at the age of twelve. In Toronto he attended Danforth Technical School, where his natural artistic talent was encouraged. He later took night classes at the Ontario College of Art & Design. Upon graduating from Danforth, Squires supported his art practice by apprenticing as a stained glass artist, and later worked as an editorial artist with the Toronto Telegram for several years. He exhibited his work in Toronto in solo shows such as St. Francis of Assisi and Related Subjects, The Canticles of St. John of the Cross, and The Wanderer Series. Squires was also a founding member of the Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery in Oshawa, Ontario.

In 1969 Squires quit his job at the Telegram and returned to Newfoundland. In 1971 he settled in an abandoned lighthouse in Ferryland, where he lived with his wife and two daughters. In Ferryland, Squires was an artist in residence and teacher for Memorial University of Newfoundland, and established a steel sculpture studio, Headland Studios, with fellow artist Stewart Montgomerie. Work from this period includes Studies in Steel, Portraits, and The Ferryland Downs Series.