This is the first major study of Maxwell Bates, a western Canadian artist and architect who is now recognized as one of the major figurative artists in Canada. This book confirms the power and influence of his work. Kathleen Snow has used Bates's notes and journals as well as memories and observations of his colleagues and friends to record his career as an artist, architect, and poet. The author and her husband, artist John Snow, enjoyed a long friendship with Maxwell Bates. The biography will become the standard reference on this reticent, driven artist who is best known for his evocative, sometimes haunting, depictions of the human figure.

Seventy-eight reproductions, of which forty are colour plates, illustrate the range of Maxwell Bates's work. This book includes an extensive index and a chronology of Bates's life and a list of exhibitions.

The late Kathleen Snow was a librarian and later a professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Calgary.

Kathleen M. Snow's profile page

• Winner, BPAA Book Design Award
• Commended, Alcuin Citation for 3rd Prose Excellence in Book Design in Canada

"Snow has written the definitive text on one of Western Canada's best-loved artists (with a superb bibliography and index) and it is extensively illustrated. This is a very readable contribution to our art history and I recommend it." Robert Amos, Victoria Times-Colonist