What is needed then ... is to set the whole subject matter of art free and not just the landscape part of it. It is the human subject, the human face, the human figure whether alone or in groups or in crowds, in town and country, in war in peace, in life and death, that is the real and central subject of art ....

(from "What is Wrong with Canadian Art" Canadian Art magazine, Autumn 1948)

Barker Fairley (May 1887-October 1986) was a British-born painter, writer, and educator. He lived most of his long life in Canada.

He was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire and died in Toronto, Canada.

He was educated at Leeds, and in 1907 was granted a Ph.D. from Jena University in Germany. His first academic appointment was at Jena. In 1910, he joined the faculty at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. He joined the University of Toronto's German department in 1915 where he taught until the end of his career as a professor.

His first wife, Margaret Fairley, was a notable Canadian political activist.

External links

• The People vs. Barker and Margaret Fairley