Inspired Halifax: The Art of Dusan Kadlec

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Be prepared to devote hours to examining this beautiful album of more
than 75 colour plates of Kadlec’s paintings.

It’s hard to believe that these are contemporary works of art.
Kadlec, born in 1942, moved to Halifax in 1968 and decided to capture in
oils the city as it was in the 1890–1900 period. He succeeded to such
a remarkable extent that his work is easily mistaken, at least by the
general viewer, for that of one of the European masters of the last
century.

To a base of careful, detailed research, Kadlec adds the highest of
artistic skills and an obvious passion for his adopted city. The result
is a collection of streetscapes and harbour views that capture not only
the visuals but also the lighting, tone, texture, and spirit of the city
during an era of growth and prosperity. His representational style is
suggestive of the European academic tradition often called Romantic
Classicism. Think of Canaletto or Turner.

His scenes of Halifax’s industrial areas, commercial streets,
churches, markets, and the all-important harbour transport the viewer
back 100 years. His street scenes are rich with realistic details of the
unique Halifax architecture, and his waterfront views are so realistic
that the viewer can almost hear, and smell, the harbour. His paintings
of sailing ships are breathtaking. And just to remind us that these are
the work of a contemporary artist, there are two plates of modern-day
derelict ships.

Kadlec is enormously prolific, and does not limit his work to painting
historic Halifax. Although that city is the subject of this collection,
a few of his paintings of American eastern seaboard cities are included
as well.

The book is an excellent presentation of a remarkable artist and his
fascinating work.