John Alfsen was born December 23rd 1902 in Alpena, Michigan and moved to Canada around 1914.  He studied at the Ontario College of Art.  After he left the college in 1925, he travelled and painted in Europe studying at the Academy Beaux Arts in Antwerp and sculpture under Bourdelle at the Academie Grande Chaumiere in Paris.  For two years he had Keweta Hayes Miller for a teacher at the Art Students League in New York.  As an artist he was esteemed by his colleagues, by critics, and by collectors.  Eric Freifeld said "We had an important and exquisite master in our midst."

John Alfsen taught at the Ontario College of Art for more than forty years.  During a two year absence from O.C.A. he taught and painted winter circus people at the Ringling Bros. School of Art in Sarasota, Florida.  He considered his circus paintings done at this time to be major accomplishments.

Exhibitions include: Wembly Exhibition, London (1924-5),   World's Fair, New York (1939),   Great Lakes Exhibition (1938),   Carnegie International, Pittsburgh (1945),   National Academy of Design, New York (1956),   Atlantic States Exhibition, Atlantic, Georgia (1950),   Portrait Exhibition Australia, Sydney (1955).   Collections include:   National Art Gallery of Canada,   Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto),   Art Gallery of Hamilton (Ontario),   Beaverbrook Foundation and in numerous private collections.  He left a rich legacy of portraits, figures, landscapes and nudes when he died in Markham, Ontario on November 30th 1971.

To find out more about John Martin Alfsen and to view his works up close, visit   JohnAlfsen.com