Tom Forrestall's Toronto Star review of his McMichael Museum retrospective show

Dear dad's wonderful retrospective at The McMichael Musuem of Art in Ontario garners an astute and thoughtful review in The Toronto Sun. 

In the review below, the visual arts reporter for the Toronto Sun, Peter Goddard focuses on a tiny painting by dad of a tin of opened sardines. This painting is owned by a Saint John collector and well known business owner, who bought this delicate homage to a simple meal, because he himself ate sardines every day for lunch. And when this wee painting isn't touring the country, I was told by my dad that it hangs in his kitchen. Much like Warhol's ubiquitous can of tomato soup (his daily lunch) this can of sardines is a permanent reference to a time, a place and a memory.


There is a sardine plant in New Brunswick, where dad lived and we all grew up. Then sardines' were a pantry staple and something my dad enjoyed eating. When dad would take a can from the cupboard it was always a treat, and the fun of the opening of the can with the special key you needed to unroll the tin top added to the pleasure of this eating experience. 


Mr. Goddard hits the nail on the head, when he notes that dad's work is his strongest when he stays true to his vision. When you walk through his show, you are seeing a part of the maritime provinces that shows it's unique and best qualities through the mastery of someone who truly loves the simple land and the people he grew up with. 

"It's when Forrestall is unquestionably on his own that "Tom Forrestall" is at its best. Take Cold Lunch (no date given). Done in egg tempera – a time-consuming process requiring the patience of a monk and the hands of a concert violinist – it's both the smallest and best piece in this show of some 60 works, a snap shot of contemporary loneliness drawn as if by an old master." (P. Goddard Feb 13th, 2010, The Toronto Star).

Tom Forrestall's review of his retrospective in The Toronto Sun 


http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/764100--goddard-trying-to-capture-the-hand-of-god

--Monica Forrestall