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Steven Rhude was born in Rouyn Noranda, Quebec in 1959. His father was a Royal Canadian Air Force Pilot and traveled extensively throughout Canada before settling his family in Scarborough, Ontario. In Scarborough, Steven was raised, educated and studied civil engineering at Centennial College. After one year he switched to the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto where he studied fine arts and graduated in 1983 with honors in drawing and painting. It was at OCAD that Steven was introduced to the pantheon of draughtsmen from Ingres to American modernists like de kooning. Teachers such as Fred Hagen, John Gould and John Newman instilled in Steven the relevance of drawing as a complete form of expression in itself. Steven also attended the colleges off campus program in Florence, Italy for one year which included an intensive study of the Italian and Northern European renaissance. This year of study was made possible by receiving the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation award. Afterwards, he met Simone Labuschagne and they were married in 1986. Over a period of three years Steven worked at the Art Gallery of Ontario as a technician installing exhibitions, an experience he still recalls with appreciation due to first hand contact with master works of all kinds. In 1990, Steven began to devote himself to drawing and painting full time. He and his wife Simone, moved to Fox Island Main, Guysborough, County, Nova Scotia. It was there, in relative isolation , that Rhude developed the realistic and colorful style he is known for today. In 2007, he exhibited a 10 year retrospective of his work at Argyle Fine Art, Halifax, NS. Art critic Elissa Barnard stated "In this body of work Rhude has grappled with and further developed his subject matter, maintaining his engaging style but deepening his ideas and calling on the viewer to put more thought into the work and the plight of coastal communities in Atlantic Canada". Up to the present, Steven Rhude has had numerous exhibitions in commercial galleries. He continues to have long term representation with Argyle Fine Art, in Halifax, NS. and is also represented by Gallery 78 in Fredericton, NB. and North Shore Canadian Art in Lunenburg, NS. In his work, Rhude continues to explore his passion for themes which evoke the ethos of coastal communities in Atlantic Canada , their social conditions and iconic character. Since moving to Lunenburg, NS. with his family, the town has been a primary source of subject matter and pride. Steven also played a role in the creation of The Art Galleries Association of Lunenburg which currently has seventeen gallery members, and is a board member of The Lunenburg Arts Council. His work can be found in numerous private, public and corporate collections around the world. |
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