Art Gallery of Newfoundland and
Labrador (AGNL)
Shaped by the Sea
Permanent Collections
Born into one of the more famous ‘art families' in Canada, Barbara Pratt Wangersky has managed to find a style that does not mimic that of either of her parents.
Born in St. John's in 1963, she spent her early life surrounded by the paintings and prints of her parents, Christopher and Mary Pratt. While art was frequently discussed in the household, she says that her parents neither actively encouraged nor discouraged her from exploring a career as an artist. During her teen years, however, she gave up drawing and painting for several years, discouraged by her mother's criticisms of some of her works. She did not start painting again until her third year at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, where she was studying art history.
After she rediscovered painting, her love of it came back with a rush. After graduating from Acadia and winning several awards and grants, she began to concentrate on art full-time. After taking part in a few group exhibitions, she held her first solo show in 1986 at the Spurrell Gallery in St. John's. All 22 pieces of artwork sold out in 45 minutes. Her next show at the Emma Butler Gallery featured 15 pieces and sold out in 20 minutes. She has since had a solo exhibition in Toronto and been included in several group shows at the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador.
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Two Women in Bright Gowns 1986 Oil on Canvas 154 x 128 cm 
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Pratt Wangersky paints people almost exclusively. Her artwork often features elegantly beautiful women in stylish clothing. Her early images were often influenced by the fashion magazines that she loved to read while growing up, like Vogue or Elle. Disturbing for some people, however, is the fact that she frequently decides not to show the head of a woman she paints, instead choosing to focus on the colour and texture of the clothing the model is wearing.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature about Pratt Wangersky's art is her use of vivid colour and detailed texture when painting clothing. She has been called a ‘fabric realist' by some critics. While the clothes she paints shimmer with a life of their own, the models wearing them are sometimes rendered almost abstractly.
Pratt Wangersky continues to paint in her studio in St. Phillip's, just outside St. John's. Her artwork can be found in private and public collections across Canada and the United States.
