The Theatre of the Self: The Life and Art of William Ronald

M. Wayne Cunningham is a past executive director of the Saskatchewan
Arts Board and the former director of Academic and Career Programs at
East Kootenay Community College.

In the preface to Dr. Robert Belton’s biography about Canadian artist
and broadcaster William Ronald, Joan Murray, the director of the Robert
McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, refers to Ronald as “an undervalued
artist” and “a heroic pioneer of the Canadian abstract world.” In
his readable and intelligent synthesis of Ronald the self-promoter and
Ronald the abstract painter, Dr. Belton’s aim is twofold: to elevate
Ronald’s value as a Canadian artist and to reinforce his reputation as
an artist of heroic proportions.

To achieve his objectives, Belton marries the biographical facts of
Ronald’s life as a flamboyant painter/broadcaster with discerning
critical analyses (his own and others) of Ronald’s art. The result is
a magnetic portrait of an often brash and abrasive individualist
determined to tout his own talents. They were talents worth touting in
that Ronald, among other things, was a charter member of the influential
Painters Eleven, exhibited at the prestigious Kootz Gallery in New York,
and created the memorably controversial Prime Ministers series. At the
same time, he was a radio and television personality well known for his
outspoken views.

Belton complements his narrative and often anecdotal style with
academic research and scholarly insight. His eight chapters of
biographical data are supplemented with 11 pages of detailed notes, a
list of the book’s 65 black-and-white illustrations and eight color
plates, an appendix of 26 Ronald cartoons that appeared in the
Conservator, a chronologically organized appendix of his exhibitions
from 1951 to 1990, a general bibliography, and a chronologically
organized bibliography of articles, reviews, catalogues, and
publications about Ronald’s artistic endeavors. Also included is a
summary list of the highlights of Ronald’s life, from his birth on
August 13, 1926, in Stratford, Ontario, to his death by heart attack on
February 9, 1998, in Barrie, Ontario.

Belton’s absorbing account of a larger-than-life Canadian artist will
appeal to a broad audience.