An original painting by a famous Canadian artist will hang on the walls at Port Coquitlam's Terry Fox Library.
The estate of William Allister recently donated 20 of his acrylic paintings - valued at $164,000 - to the Fraser Valley Regional Library, of which the PoCo library belongs.
His widow, Mona, wanted to honour her late husband's wish to have his artwork accessible to the public.
"William took so much joy in his creative expression that he wanted everyone to see it and what better place than at his library to make his art available to people of all ages and walks of life," she said in a news release.
A Delta resident, Allister frequented the FVRL's Tsawwassen Library to research for his International Collection. One of the 19 paintings in that series, titled African Heritage, is now on permanent display at the PoCo library. The colourful piece depicts North African symbols.
The other gifted paintings in the International Collection can be seen at various FVRL locations.
Allister, a father-of-two who died in 2008 at the age of 89, lived an adventurous life around the world including as a Hollywood actor, a soldier in Hong Kong, a prisoner of war in Japan, a writer in New York and Mexico and a painter in Montreal and Tsawwassen. His artwork is in public and private collections and has been exhibited at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo.
Meanwhile, art lovers who want to buy a canvas giclee reproduction of the International Collection can call the FVRL at 1-888-668-4141 (ext. 7005), email [email protected] or visit fvrl.ca (under the tab Support FVRL, Allister Art).
