Personal papers, artwork and other items from Allan Robb Fleming—creator of iconic logos for the Canadian National Railway, Ontario Hydro, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and many other Canadian institutions—have been donated to York University. The collections offers fascinating insights into an important period in the creation of Canada's visual identity.
Toronto (PRWEB) November 25, 2009 -- The work of the late Allan Robb Fleming—creator of iconic logos for the Canadian National Railway, Ontario Hydro, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and many other Canadian institutions—will live on at York University.
Fleming’s family has donated his extensive personal papers and other items to York, including new and original artwork, correspondence, photographs, typographic research files, audio recordings and other items. These items provide tremendous insight into the life’s work of a man who influenced Canada’s national identity and visual culture during a formative period in Canada’s history.
The papers, which are managed by York University Libraries’ Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections, have been designated as cultural property of outstanding significance and national importance by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board.
Born in 1929 in Toronto, Fleming was an internationally respected, influential and award-winning graphic designer, teacher, and administrator. His logo design for Canadian National Railway was commissioned in 1959 and launched in 1960, and is still used today. Other logo designs for government and for important Canadian institutions in this period include: Trent University (1964), Ontario Hydro (1965), Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1965), Hudson’s Bay Company (1969), TVOntario (1970) and Gray Coach Lines (1971).
Fleming began his career in Toronto the late 1940s in the mail order catalogue illustration department of the T. Eaton Company. He moved on to advertising firms and started his own freelance practice before his fascination with the letterform took him to Europe and England to study with master typographers and book designers.
“We are delighted to be the recipient of Allan Robb Fleming’s documentary legacy, which will be a significant resource for researchers interested in the history of Canadian design,” says University Archivist and Head of Archives and Special Collections Michael Moir. “The papers provide fascinating insights into a crucial time period during which Canada was beginning to shape its visual identity as a nation.”
For his outstanding contributions, Flemings was awarded the Medal of the Royal Canadian Academy and also received the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal just a few months before his death in 1977.
More information about Fleming’s life and his work can be found within a two-part series written by his daughter Martha Fleming, published in issues 62 and 63 of The Devil’s Artisan, a journal devoted to the printing arts (www.devilsartisan.porcupinesquill.ca).
More information about York to the Power of 50 can be found at www.yorku.ca/foundation. Information about the Arch Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections can be found at www.library.yorku.ca/ccm/ArchivesSpecialCollections.
This donation falls within the Innovate50 priority to advance pioneering programs and research, one of four University priorities supported by York to the Power of 50, York’s 50th anniversary fundraising campaign. This donation is also in keeping with the policy of York University’s Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections, which authorizes acquiring research materials such as private papers of fine art practitioners to support the University’s mission of research and teaching.
###
