George Swinton

George Swinton L.L. D. (17 April 1917 – 21 April 2002) was a Canadian painter, historian, and one of the earliest writers and collectors of Inuit art. His book Eskimo Sculpture was published in 1965. A second book Sculpture of the Eskimo followed in 1972, a third Sculpture of the Inuit in 1999.

Life and career Swinton was born in Vienna, Austria, under the name Georg Heinz Schwitzer. In 1935/36, he studied agriculture at the BOKU (nowadays University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences), from 1936 to 1938 Economics and Political Science at the College for World Trade (Hochschule für Welthandel, nowadays Vienna University of Economics and Business). After the "Anschluss" of Austria to the "Third Reich" (March 1938), he emigrated with his family via the United Kingdom to Canada (1939). He served five years with the Canadian Intelligence Corps in the Canadian Army, becoming a Canadian citizen in 1944. in 1972 as "the most comprehensive statement on Canadian Eskimo sculpture and the best representative collection of photographs of the sculptures themselves" and Swinton's text as "personal, committed, vigorous and wide-ranging".

Death In 2002, he died due to complications caused by congestive heart failure in Winnipeg.

Art work In watercolours and paintings of landscapes, Swinton revealed his love of the prairie. In 1958, he had an exhibition of his paintings at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

Selected public collections National Gallery of Canada Art Gallery of Greater Victoria Vancouver Art Gallery Winnipeg Art Gallery

Selected honours Order of Canada (1980) Honorary Degree, University of Manitoba (1987) 125th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation Medal (1992) Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002)