Banting as an Artist

Lawson Gallery

During the summer of 1920, Frederick Banting was in desperate need of a distraction. A renewed interest in painting freed him from the worries his personal and professional life in London, Ontario. In the ensuing years, this hobby would serve as an important escape mechanism from the societal and personal pressures, both real and perceived, associated with being an international hero.

At the time of his death in 1941, Banting’s portfolio numbered more than two hundred works. It was his intent that after the conclusion of the Second World War, he would leave the scientific field and devote the rest of his life to his art. As illustrated in this exhibition, Banting’s works had transformed from that of an unschooled amateur to a more than competent painter with natural ability and promise.

“I have resolved to keep on working and by the law of probabilities I am bound to do a decent sketch sometime.”

~ Frederick Banting, 1930