The Art Gallery of Burlington honours Trinidadian artist Sybil Atteck

 

Keith Atteck with a painting by his aunt

The Art Gallery of Burlington is hosting an exhibition of the work of Trinidadian visual artist Sybil Atteck.

The exhibition which opened on October 20 last and runs until January 7, includes Atteck’s paintings, drawings, and archival materials ranging from the 1930s to the 1970s.

Atteck who died in 1975, was a founder and early leader of the Trinidad Art Society (now known as the Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago). She studied art in England, Peru and the United States and taught art at several secondary schools in Trinidad.

Keith Atteck, a nephew of the artist, who lives in Burlington and has been researching the history of his family, said he had approached the art gallery and talked to the curator about “the possibility of an exhibition of Sybil’s work.

“The curator was interested and the gallery decided to host the exhibition.”

Belmont 1960
Bele Dancers 1956

He said the work of his aunt “spanned the era of pre-independent Trinidad and Tobago, through the push for independence, and after it was achieved.”

She had created more than a thousand works of art, he noted.

A biography of the artist written by Helen Atteck, his mother, has been published.