(1918 - 2003)
A lifelong resident of Lunenburg County, Cyril Hirtle took up painting around 1990, at which time he was in his early 70's. His paintings, which are immediately recognizable for their distinct lack of perspective, relate primarily to his memories of fishing and farming scenes from his earlier years. In 2000 Cyril moved from Hirtle's beach, where he had lived all of his life, to a seniors' residence, where he continued to paint for the next year or so on a limited basis.Although he has become one of Nova Scotia's most highly regarded folk artists, Cyril was not very prolific, and in his most productive year completed only 15 paintings. It is estimated that his entire body of work totals fewer than 100 paintings. A painting by Cyril Hirtle was on the Lunenburg Nova Scotia Folk Art Festival poster.
Ref: Upper Canadian (Jan/Feb 1993); Nova Scotia Folk Art Festival Society (Cover Photo), A Joyous Vision - Contemporary Folk Art in Nova Scotia (1995); McKendry, An Illustrated Companion to Canadian Folk Art (1999).
