Mary Pratt

Mary Pratt (Mary Frances West, 1935-2018) was a Canadian painter known for her photo-realist still lifes. Born in New Brunswick, she is regarded as one of the most influential Canadian painters since the Group of Seven, having turned everyday objects into vivid, realistic images.

She studied Fine Arts at Mount Allison University, where she met the painter Christopher Pratt, whom she married in 1957. After a period in Scotland, the couple settled in Newfoundland. By the late 1960s she had found that light was her central subject and began incorporating photography into her process. Works such as The Bed (1968) and Supper Table (1969) mark the start of her characteristic style, with domestic interiors, jars of jelly, apples and brown paper bags.

In the 1980s she widened her subjects to include wedding series, fires and portraits of her daughter, and in the 1990s her work took a darker tone after her separation, as in Pomegranates in Glass on Glass (1993). She was named Companion of the Order of Canada in 1996 and received the Molson Prize in 1997. Her work is held in collections including the National Gallery of Canada.