A Brush with Life

Kathy E. Zimon is a fine arts librarian (emerita) at the University of
Calgary. She is the author of Alberta Society of Artists: The First 70
Years and co-editor of Art Documentation Bulletin of the Art Libraries
Society of North America.

In British Columbia, the Koerner family is prominently associated with
philanthropy in the arts, but John Koerner, the author of this book, is
less well known, although he has been a respected painter in Vancouver
for more than 50 years.

Born in Czechoslovakia in 1913 to a well-to-do family, Koerner studied
philosophy, law, and art in Prague and Paris, and travelled in Italy.
Having left Prague to escape Hitler’s Europe, the extended family
eventually settled in Vancouver in 1939 to re-establish its lumber
business. Koerner spent a dozen years working for the family firm before
returning to painting and teaching at the Vancouver School of Art
(1953–1958) and the University of British Columbia (1958–1962).

A Brush with Life is not a conventional autobiography, but the
philosophical reflections of an artist on a long, happy, and productive
life; on his art and friendships with some important West Coast artists,
including B.C. Binning and Jack Shadbolt; and on his spiritual beliefs
and the nature of God, based on the teachings of Bф Yin Rв (J.A.
Schneiderfranken, 1876–1943), a German mystic, whose books he first
encountered as a student. Non-figurative, Koerner’s paintings are
difficult to categorize but often encompass elements of both landscape
and still life that share multiple horizons and perspectives in
ambiguous juxtaposition. The European sensibility of their lush palette
is balanced by pictorial space that suggests distance and emotional
detachment. Koerner’s text affirms his devotion to the teachings of
his spiritual mentor, while the rich imagery of the paintings conveys
the tranquility of spirit that characterizes his life.

Meticulously produced in a horizontal format appropriate to many of the
paintings’ orientation, more than half of the book’s 134 pages are
devoted to reproductions in full colour. There is a brief excerpt from
the Book of the Living God by Bф Yin Rв, and a chronology that lists
Koerner’s education and teaching; solo and group exhibitions,
commissions, awards, professional affiliations, and publications; and
works in public and corporate collections. There is also an index. This
is an admirable book by a remarkable man that should be in all Canadian
art collections.