Bobak, Bruno

CONVOCATION, OCTOBER, 1986
BRUNO JOSEPH BOBAK
to be Doctor of Letters

Bruno Bobak was born in Poland but his home has been in Canada for nearly sixty years; for the last twenty-five years he and Molly have lived in Fredericton and have given to this university their energy, their charm, and their distinctive and distinguished talents.

Bruno told me a little while ago that "Bobak" meant "marmot" in Polish, and I thought little of this until I looked the word up in my dictionary where it is defined as a "mountain mouse" -- murem montis. It then occurred to me that this was perhaps an apt term to describe the wry, whimsical man who has observed and recorded for a quarter century with humour and affection the passing parade from his perch "up the hill." He is a wise and well tempered mouse, indeed, and one of Canada's finest painters.

It was a happy occasion for both the University and this man when he became Artist-in~Residence in 1960. Bruno, himself, has said with deep gratitude that his appointment provided him with the security and liberty he needed to grow as an artist. His wife has written that before this time her husband "had been essentially a water colourist working in browns, blacks and greys." At the University he was free to move into oils and to use colour in the freer manner which characterizes the mature work of this major Canadian artist.

But what has Bruno given to the University? As an artist of the first rank, he "has brought prestige to the University, inspiration to the young artists of the region, and pleasure and awareness to his public." Perhaps his most enduring contribution to our lives and to the lives of those who will come after us has been the creation and growth of the University's Fine Arts Collection. It has been primarily his zeal, foresight, and determination which has made it possible for all of us to live and work in an atmosphere graced with the remarkable paintings which surround us. For all this we are deeply grateful.

Donald Andrus, friend and critic, has fixed the essential Bobak when he wrote: "In every medium, material, process and idea are in extricably fused and bent by the will of the artist to the examination of the fragility and vulnerability of life and its ultimate paradox, its certain uncertainty." This powerful artist and paradoxical man has been honoured both in Canada and abroad, arid it is right and proper that we too honour him tonight.

Insignissime Praeses, Amplissima Cancellaria, tota Universitas, presento vobis Brunonem Josephum Bobak ut adrnittatur honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in Litteris in hac Universitate.

From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 2