Frederick Banting

Frederick Grant Banting was born on November 14, 1891 in Alliston, Ontario.  Known to many as the co-discoverer of insulin, Frederick Banting won the Nobel Prize for Medicine, together with Dr. Charles Best, and Dr. J. J. R. MacLeod in 1923. Banting’s artistic career, although lesser known, is equally notable. Banting served in the Canadian Medical Corps in WWI where he was wounded, convalescing in England. Upon his return to Canada he sought out A.Y. Jackson, wishing to purchase a painting he approached him in his studio. With their common background of similar war experiences and shared enthusiasm for art and the Canadian landscape, they soon formed a strong friendship. Banting also met Lawren Harris around this time, Harris nominating him to membership in the Arts and Letters Club in 1926. His work was exhibited in a retrospective at Hart House, University of Toronto in 1943, at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Queen’s University, and the Art Gallery of Alberta. He is represented in both public and private collections in Canada.