Art Gallery of Newfoundland and
Labrador (AGNL)
Shaped by the Sea
Permanent Collections
One of the first artists living in Newfoundland to work as a sculptor, Stewart Montgomerie is also a landscape artist.
Born in 1941 in Scotland, Montgomerie and his family moved to Corner Brook, Newfoundland, when he was 11 years old. In 1959, he was awarded a scholarship to the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD), where he stayed for one year. He then moved to Toronto, where he studied welding and worked with well-known Canadian sculptor Gerald Gladstone. Montgomerie returned to Corner Brook in 1961, where he was hired to fill the unusual position of artist-in-residence for Bowaters Newfoundland, a pulp and paper company. He produced illustrations for safety and promotional posters while at the same time continuing with his artwork.
After being one of the few professional artists working on the west coast of Newfoundland for a number of years, Montgomerie eventually moved to Ferryland, about one hour south of St. John's. While living in Ferryland, he continued to paint and, whenever the opportunity presented itself, produced sculptures. Montgomerie and his neighbour at the time, prominent Newfoundland artist Gerald Squires, collaborated on several occasions. The most notable piece being a metal mural which was originally displayed in Atlantic Place in downtown St. John's and is now in the Marine Atlantic Ferry Terminal in Argentia.
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Maritime Form Series 1975 Ink Drawing 48.2 x 63.2 cm 
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Recognition of a more infamous kind came to Montgomerie for his sculpture Maritime Form, which he created for the city of Kingston, Ontario, in 1976 in conjunction with the Olympics. The eight-foot stainless steel and alloy sculpture was not received well by local people, who asked that it be removed since it was considered "dangerous" after a child was injured playing on it. It was later moved to St. Lawrence College.
Despite this, Montgomerie has continued to produce sculptures whenever possible since he prefers to work in three dimensions. When that proves difficult, Montgomerie continues with painting. He has produced numerous landscapes of Newfoundland and, on one occasion, of Wales, United Kingdom. In the early 1980s, he created a series of abstract acrylic paintings based on whalebones. The paintings reflected a continuing theme for him, that of ageing or death.
Montgomerie's paintings and sculptures have toured the country and can be found in public and private collections.
