The First Geisha

About The First Geisha

A figure dressed in a flowing kimono robe exploding in dashes, swipes and lines of colour -- orange, lime, mauve, blue, lemon yellow -- is fragmented and partially integrated with the landscape. Cubism intersects with American abstract expressionism in the allover pattern of this vibrant canvas.

Graham Metson was born and grew up in London during the Blitz and studied at the College of St. Mark St. John in London in the 1950’s. He has had a long and prolific artistic career, having exhibited widely since the 1960’s. In 1972, Metson came to Nova Scotia to teach at NSCAD and in 1986, he moved to Montreal where he taught at Concordia University for 18 years. He has also been as Summer Head of the Visual Arts programme the Banff Center for the Arts. Since 2003, Metson has lived and worked in Prince Edward County, Ontario.

Metson’s work is held in private, corporate and public collections in the United Kingdom, the United States and in Canada including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, University of London, UK, Carleton University, Ottawa, Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Charlottetown, Dalhousie University Art Gallery. In 2009, Metson was honoured by a 50-year retrospective of his work at the Gibberd Gallery in Harlow, England, and Oeno Gallery (Parrott Gallery) in Belleville, Ontario. public collections.

Metson is also the author of several books including “The Halifax Explosion” and “Alex Colville, Diary of a War Artist.”