Luke Lindoe ASA CSPWC
(1913 – 2000)
Luke Orton Lindoe (March 8, 1913 – [date of death]) was a Canadian potter, painter, sculptor, and businessman, primarily active in Alberta. For much of his career, he was based in Medicine Hat. Lindoe held various jobs throughout his life, ranging from mineral prospecting, coal mining, and teaching art to producing potting clay and manufacturing ceramic products like ashtrays. He also received numerous commissions to create stone or concrete murals for public buildings.
Lindoe gained widespread recognition for his work as a mentor to ceramic artists, as well as for his own contributions to ceramics, oil painting, and sculpture.
Born in Bashaw, Alberta, Lindoe spent his first sixteen years living a nomadic life with his mother across western Canada and the United States. Determined to study art, Lindoe turned to his father, the general manager of two mines in Coleman, Alberta, for support. He worked as an underground coal miner while studying painting and sculpture at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (now the Alberta College of Art and Design) in Calgary from 1935 to 1940.
In 1940, Lindoe moved to Toronto to study sculpture at the Ontario College of Art (OCA), though he could only afford to stay for a short time. During his stay, he developed an interest in ceramics. In 1939, he became an Associate Member of the Alberta Society of Artists.
EXHIBITIONS
Lindoe’s ceramic work has been widely exhibited in North America, Europe and Japan. Lindoe’s work was shown in many group exhibitions. Sole exhibitions included:
- 1953 Luke Lindoe Ceramics, Coste House, Calgary
- 1964 Medicine Hat High School, Medicine Hat
- 1971 Alberta College of Art Gallery, travelling to Canadian Guild of Potters, Guild House, Toronto
- 1978 Come Walk With Me, National Exhibition Centre, Medicine Hat (renamed Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery in 1980)
- 1980 Lefebvre Galleries Ltd., Edmonton; Medicine Hat Public Library, Medicine Hat
- 1981 Photographic Fantasy, Medicine Hat Public Library, Medicine Hat; Masters Gallery, Calgary
- 1982 Masters Gallery, Calgary; Crescent Heights High School, Medicine Hat
- 1984 Masters Gallery, Calgary
- 1985 Conquest Art Gallery, Calgary; Capital Glass Building, Medicine Hat, organized by Conquest Art Gallery
- 1986 Luke Lindoe, Paintings and Sculpture, The Art Gallery of the South Okanagan, Penticton, B.C.
- 1990 Virginia Christopher Galleries Ltd., Calgary (ceramics)
- 1991 Come Walk With Me, Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery; Canadian Art Gallery, Calgary
- 1995 Virginia Christopher Galleries Ltd., Calgary
- 1996 Photographs, Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery, Medicine Hat
- 1997 Virginia Christopher Galleries Ltd., Calgary
COLLECTIONS
Many public and private collections hold his work. Major collections include:
- Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Edmonton
- Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary
- Alberta House, London, UK
- Bow Valley Industries, Calgary
- Canadian Pacific, Calgary
- Canadian Perspectives, Calgary
- Canadian Utilities Ltd., Calgary
- Carmanah Resources ltd., Calgary
- City of Medicine Hat, Medicine Hat
- Department of External Affairs, Government of Canada, Ottawa
- Everson Museum, Syracuse, New York
- Foothills Hospital, Calgary
- Glenbow Museum, Calgary
- Government House Foundation, Edmonton
- Medicine Hat College, Medicine Hat
- Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery, Medicine Hat
- Medicine Hat public Library, Medicine Hat
- Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon
- Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
- The Nickle Arts Museum, University of Calgary, Calgary
- PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd., Calgary
- Sapphire Resources Ltd., Calgary
- TransCanada Pipelines Limited, Calgary
- University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge
- The Westaim Corporation, Calgary
- Western Co-operative Fertilizers Ltd., Medicine Hat
MURALS AND SCULPTURE
Lindoe fulfilled various commissions for murals and sculpture:
- 1947 Greyhound Bus Line Depot, Calgary; portal decoration in concrete relief (destroyed)
- 1948 Imperial Bank of Canada, Calgary; portal relief limestone
- 1949 Alexander Calhoun Public Library, Calgary; engraved brick mural
- 1950 Stampede Corral, Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Board, Calgary; concrete reliefs
- 1950 Kirby Memorial Building, Mount Royal College (Kirby Centre), Calgary
- 1956 St Mary’s Cathedral, Calgary; Virgin Mary and Christ Child, exterior cast concrete sculpture, 21 feet high, weighing 7 tons
- 1959 Calgary Allied Arts Council, Canada Council Competition Award, for the Calgary Allied Arts Centre, Calgary; free-standing ceramic block relief (new located at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, Student Activity Centre)
- 1961 St. John’s Church, Lethbridge; brick mosaic facade
- 1961 Dr. Dan MacCharles Memorial, Dan MacCharles Park, Medicine Hat; free-standing ceramic mosaic, mural and fountain
- 1964 Catholic Church, Augusta, Montana; Holy water font and mosaic panel
- 1966 Alberta Provincial Museum and Archives, Edmonton; Museum facade in limestone relief
- 1967 Medicine Hat Public Library, The Canadian Federation of Artists; Medicine Hat Branch Centennial Commission; ceramic sculpture
- 1979–80 Alberta Provincial Treasury Building, Calgary; ceramic mosaic and concrete relief
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