Toronto portrait artist Arnaud Maggs dies at age 86, says gallery

TORONTO – Renowned Toronto-based portrait artist Arnaud Maggs, whose works depicted notables including Northrop Frye, Anne Murray, Irving Layton and Leonard Cohen, has died.

The Susan Hobbs Gallery in Toronto says Maggs died of cancer in the city on Nov. 17. He was 86.

Maggs won several high-profile honours throughout his career, including the 2006 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, and this year’s $50,000 Scotiabank Photography Award.

He also showcased his work around the world and most recently had an exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada.

Born in Montreal, Maggs began his artistic career in the mid-1970s after stints as a graphic designer and commercial and fashion photographer in New York and Toronto.

Through his portraiture, he aimed to catalogue the geometry of the human face.

Maggs also captured ephemeral objects and created work from documents, including records of child labour in textile mills as well as 19th-century invoices.

His photographic style often involved isolating a single item in each frame and then grouping images together in grids.

With his “After Nadar” show at the Susan Hobbs Gallery last March, Maggs featured his own self-portraits in theatrical costume and makeup.

An exhibition of Maggs’ work will launch at Ryerson Image Centre in May 2013.