Keep in Touch: The Serendipitous Life of Canadian Arts Icon David Silcox - Softcover

Silcox, Nancy; Fraser, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 145975641X ISBN 13: 9781459756410

Publisher: Dundurn Press, 2026

Synopsis

A devoted and powerful champion of Canadian arts and culture, David Silcox has a life story that dazzles with tales beyond the easel and canvas.

“An affectionate portrait of a man who ― through enthusiasm, charm and an unparalleled network ― had an extraordinary impact of Canada’s cultural evolution.” ― Charlotte Gray, author of The Massey Murder

Son of a Prairie Dust Bowl preacher, David Silcox rose through the ranks of the Canadian cultural establishment to promote Canadian artists internationally.

From his early days as the first Arts Officer of the Canada Council in the mid-1960s, to his position as Deputy Minister of Culture for the province of Ontario in the late 1980s, to his command of Sotheby’s Canada in the last decade of the century, David Silcox supported the successes of visual artists such as Tom Thomson, Christopher Pratt, Harold Town, and David Milne. With the eye of a practised treasure seeker, he was responsible for the return of a number of Canadian art gems by artists such as Paul Kane and Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven back to native soil.

This first-ever biography of David Silcox showcases a champion of Canadian art through his life and efforts to elevate artists from home around the world.

About this title

About the Authors

Nancy Silcox, a former academic and university disability counsellor, turned to biography writing in her retirement years. Fascinated by the stories of “ordinary folk” who grew into Canadian trail-blazers, she has written 18 biographies from her rural home west of Kitchener Waterloo.

Master Emeritus, Massey College, University of Toronto

Edition details

• Publisher: Dundurn Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 145975641X
• ISBN 13: 9781459756410
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 312