Rita Briansky Explained

Rita Briansky
Birth Date:	25 July 1925^[1]
Birth Place:	Grajewa, Poland
Nationality:	Polish-born Canadian
Known For:	Painter, teacher
Spouse:	Joseph Prezament

Rita Briansky (born July 25, 1925) is a Polish-born Canadian painter and printmaker.^{[2] [3]} Briansky is associated with the Jewish Painters of Montreal.

Early life

Briansky emigrated to Ontario, Canada with her mother and two sisters in 1929.^[4] The year they arrived, the family moved to Ansonville in northern Ontario,^[5] then Val d'Or, Quebec in 1939, and then to Montreal in 1941.^[3] She studied with Alexander Bercovitch at the Y.W.H.A. (1941-1942); the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts with Jacques de Tonnancour (1942-4); the Montreal School of Fine Arts with M. Carpentier (1944-1946); and the Art Students League, New York with Jan Carbino, Louis Bosa, H. Sternberg and V. Vytlacil (1946-1948) in New York City.^{[3] [6]}

Career

Briansky has a wide range of work: paintings, drawings, watercolours, pastels and prints. She held solo shows at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (1957), (1962); and the Glenhyrst Arts Council, Brantford, Ontario (1965) (now the Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant) as well as many commercial galleries. Her group shows have included the Second International Biennial Exhibition of Prints, Tokyo and Osaka, Japan (1960-1961) and the United Nations, N.Y. (1965). In 1995, following travels in Poland to her birthplace and memorial sites, Briansky created the Kaddish Series, reflecting on the tragedy of the Holocaust. This series (the Jewish Prayer for the Dead) is on permanent display at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal.

Her work is included in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada,^[7] theMusée national des beaux-arts du Québec,^[8] the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the Burnaby Art Gallery^[9] the Cape Breton University Art Gallery,^[10] the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and many others. She also illustrated an anthology of children's short stories for the Gage Publishing Company called Rubaboo 4.

Briansky was a member of the Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers Society, and the Canadian Society of Graphic Art.A full-length feature film The Wonder and Amazement - Rita Briansky on Her Life in Art was made by Janet Best and Dov Okouneff on her life and art in 2018.^[11]

For more than 45 years, she has worked as a teacher, both of art history and studio art.

Notes and References

1. Book: Who's Who of American Women . 1973 . Marquis Who's Who . 105 . 9780837904092 . 17 January 2023.
2. Web site: Rita Briansky (BBHS '42) | Baron Byng High School Museum.
3. Web site: Rita Briansky. January 12, 2017.
4. Book: North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. Jules. Heller. Nancy G.. Heller. December 19, 2013. Routledge. 9781135638894. Google Books.
5. Web site: Azrieli. Sharon. A Painter for All Ages . athomeincanada.ca . At Home in Canada, YouTube, 2020 . 2021-09-25.
6. A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 (online only), by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada
7. Web site: Rita Briansky. www.gallery.ca.
8. Web site: Briansky, Rita. Collections | MNBAQ.
9. Web site: Playground II | Art Gallery Collections. collections.burnabyartgallery.ca.
10. Web site: Cape Breton University: Individual: Rita Briansky [Rita Briansky ]]. www.cbuagcollection.ca.
11. Web site: Wonder and Amazement - Rita Briansky on Her Life in Art . filmfreeway.com . FilmFreeway . 2021-09-25.