(b. 1960)

Chris Bacon has established an international reputation for his delicate and luminous renderings of birds. A highly disciplined artist who chooses to work in near isolation in order to sustain his own vision, Bacon creates distinctive paintings that underscore his enduring fascination for his subject matter.

An Englishman by birth, Chris grew up in the visually rich worlds of Fiji, Ascension Island and Bermuda and not surprisingly, began drawing at a very early age. He and his family emigrated to Canada in 1974, settling in Burlington, Ontario. With the support and encouragement of his parents, Chris continued to draw and paint in his spare time. He made his artistic debut at the age of nineteen, exhibiting twenty-two watercolors at the Alice Peck Gallery in Burlington in 1980. The show, which sold out in three minutes on the preview night, marked an auspicious beginning. He has worked at his painting on a full-time basis ever since.

Bacon exhibits his work throughout North America, Europe and Japan. He has participated in the exhibitions of the Society of Animal Artists and the ‘Birds in Art’ annuals at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin. He has received six ‘Awards of Excellence’ from the Society of Animal Artists (1992-94, 1996-98) in addition to that organization’s Elliot Liskin Memorial Award for painting (1996). Chris was honored to receive the prestigious ‘Master Wildlife Artist’ Award from the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in 2004. His work can be found in public and private collections in Canada, the United States, England and Australia.