Russell T. GORDON

GORDON, Russell T.
Well-known Montreal painter and art teacher Russell T. Gordon died at home in early November 2013, of cancer. He was 77 years old. Gordon was born in 1936, in Philadelphia (PA), where he received his early training (BFA) at Temple University with a basketball scholarship; he later took a double Master's Degree (Arts and Fine Arts) at the University of Wisconsin. His initial employment as a fine arts instructor was at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, followed by a teaching engagement at the University of California at Berkeley. In 1973 he first came to Montreal as a visiting professor to Sir George Williams (now Concordia) University, where he joined the faculty the following year and remained for almost 25 years until his retirement in 1998. Throughout his career, Russell Gordon never ceased painting; his works have been widely shown, and can be found in several prominent museum and corporate collections in both the USA and Canada. He was also much sought after as a visiting artist, speaker and jury member, and received bursaries and grants from many sources, including the Carnegie Foundation for his work with inner city youth and the Rockefeller Foundation, for a residency at Bellagio (Italy) in 2006. He will be warmly remembered by many colleagues, students and friends. His ashes will be buried at Stonington (Maine), where he found both peace and inspiration.