Anna Reesen is a Canadian artist whose work will be featured at the forthcoming exhibition, “The Nationality of the World: A Celebration of Difference”, which is to be organized by the Museum of Canadian Ethnicities in Toronto. The term “nationality” was first used in adjective form by writer Alexander Smith in his book Nationality. It was intended to define the superiority of “a group of people” over “a nation.” According to Smith, nationality “represents the ideal of a common cultural identity and a sense of community that can be understood and felt by all citizens of a state, regardless of size or race.” Nationality is a concept with two components: a feeling and a reality.
When discussing her art, Anna Reesen draws upon her own experience as an artist to explain her concept of nationality. In her first major painting entitled As an Indian Depicting the Falls of Niagara (1940), she demonstrates her frustration with the racism and sexism of Canadian society. After the painting is complete, Reesen exclaims: “I feel that I belong to Canada more than to any other nation in the world.” In later paintings, such as The Black Man in the Tree (1958), Reesen depicts workers building large oil-powered turbine generators as well as other workers in various trades who are building a new bridge across the Niagara River. These paintings describe the everyday experiences of life in Canada, highlighting its cultural and social differences as well as the human relationship with nature.
Following a marriage to an Englishman, Anna Reesen spent much of her time traveling and living in England. Following the death of her husband, Reesen decided to return to Canada and opened a studio in London. However, when the Second World War broke out, she had to temporarily move to Canada. When that happened, Anna Reesen’s career took off again, and she began creating art as well as painting for many others as well. She is currently painting contemporary subjects, such as the ever-popular Rees Eagle series, which was inspired by Reesen’s childhood love of hawks.