Ross, Frederick Joseph

CONVOCATION, MAY, 1986
FREDERICK JOSEPH ROSS
to be Doctor of Laws

Generally regarded as one of Canada’s consummate figure painters, Fred Ross has made his home in Saint John for almost sixty years and ranks with Miller Brittain and Jack Humphrey as perhaps the best-known artists that this city has produced. It is indeed a great pleasure to welcome such an acknowledged craftsman in his profession to this convocation as one of our honorary degree recipients.

Fred Ross was born and raised in Saint John and received his early art instruction from Ted Campbell at the Vocational School. Under the influence of both Campbell and Miller Brittain, his artistic style was moulded in the tradition of the Italian masters of the Renaissance, a style which he never abandoned, in spite of exposure to other art forms over the years. Following two summers in Mexico, where he was influenced by the famed muralist Diego Rivera, he returned to Saint John in 1950 to find the artistic climate of the city somewhat inclement and was forced into part-time teaching to keep the wolf from his studio door. Nevertheless he resisted the temptation to follow some of his colleagues to larger centres or embrace more profitable contemporary styles. He was gratified to witness the eventual swing back to realism as a popular art form, reflected in the increased popularity of his own works and those of his fellow artists Alex Colville, Tome Forrestall and Christopher Pratt. He was finally able to return to full-time painting in 1970 and has since had solo exhibitions at many universities and art galleries, including the prestigious Walter Klinkoff Gallery in Montreal, the Wallack Galleries in Ottawa, and the Galerie Dresdnere in Toronto. His works have been shown in group exhibitions in New York, Ottawa and London. When one of his commissioned works was stolen from the walls of a well-known university in 1978 he knew he had finally "arrived" as a famous artist.

Fred Ross has developed an individual style of realism which is unmistakably his own. The single adolescent human figure as harlequin or ballet dancer and the indolently erotic reclining nude are two of his favorite subjects, invariably drawn in simple stark surroundings with an air of mystical preoccupation and an exactness for detail which has become his trademark.

Fred Ross has been described as "a Romantic with a 15th-Century vision, living and working in the 20th Century." While at first glance his painting suggest the archaic, careful scrutiny reveals they also proclaim the contemporary.

While we admit there is a timelessness about his work which transcends regional and temporal influences, we might be pardoned for hoping that today’s award might inspire Fred Ross to even greater heights as an artist. In recognition of his achievements as an artist of national reputation and a lifelong devotion to this City, we are proud to bestow on him the degree of Doctor of Laws.

Insignissime Praeses, amplissima Cancellaria, tota Universitas, praesento vobis Fredericum Josephum Ross ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradem Doctoris in Utroque Jure in hac Universitate.

From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 2