A. J. Casson Award


The A. J. Casson Award is given to an artist whose work is considered the best submission to the annual "Open Water" competition organized by the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour. It is named after Alfred Joseph Casson, painter. and a member of Canada's "Group of Seven". It is officially given "for outstanding achievement in watercolour painting" and is considered Canada's most significant award in this most challenging medium.
"Open Water" is as implied open to any artist working in watercolour. The juried exhibitions have over the years been held in a number of notable exhibition venues including The National Gallery of Canada, The Art Gallery of Ontario, The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, The University of Alberta, The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, The Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives and the John B. Aird Gallery.
The competition has attracted a distinguished series of jurors and entries from not only Canada but from many other countries.
The award consists of a bronze medal created by Dora de Pedéry-Hunt which carries an image inspired by one of Casson's most iconic landscapes. The naming of the award in honour of a beloved CSPWC member and the longest surviving founder of the Society was approved by Casson himself shortly before his death. He was actively involved in the selection of the image and in approving the first sculpted maquette.
Accompanied by a cash award the medal was first presented in 1991 when it replaced the CSPWC's Honour Award, a diploma, which had been presented annually from 1956 onwards to the "outstanding watercolour of the year". During a transition period 1991 to 1997 the medal was accompanied by the Honour Award diploma but the latter was phased out in 1998.

Winners

1956-1990Honour Award Recipients1991-2011A. J. Casson Award Winners
1956Tom Hodgson1991Michael Dobson
1957Maxwell Bates1992Sam Black
1958Ethel Raicus1993June Selznick Drutz
1959Marion Greenstone1994John Inglis
1960William Roberts1995Neville Clarke
1961Bobs Cogill Haworth1996Anthony J. Batten
1962Peter Kolisnyk1997June Selznick Drutz
1963Herbert Ariss1998David Ladmore
1964Goodridge Roberts1999Neville Clarke
1965Ray Cattell2000Daniel Barkley
1966D. Mackay Houston2001Marilyn Blumer Cochrane
1967John Henry Martin2002Vivian Thierfelder
1968Bobs Cogill Haworth2003Chow Jian Sheng
1969Harriet Manore Carter2004Karen Wilson
1970Eric Freifeld2005David McEown
1971Ray Cattell2006Jennifer Annesley
1972Tom Lapierre2007Joanne Lucas Warren
1973John Newman2008Linda Kemp
1974Dainis Miezajs2009William Rogers
1975Ray Cattell2010Josy Britton
1976June Selznick Drutz2011Pat Fairhead
1977Les Tait2012Daniel Barkley
1978recipient unknown2013Andrew Kish III
1979Janet Mitchell2014Lisa O'Regan
1980Tom Lapierre2015Jansen Chow
1981Osvald Timmas2016Fan Zhang
1982Sam Black2017Inge Kjeldgaard Tajik
1983Dainis Miezajs2018David McEown
1984Ann MacIntosh Duff2019Fucai Zhao
1985Sam Black2020Karen Mai
1986Bobs Cogill Haworth2021Richard Tiejun Chao
1987Vivian Thierfelder2022Marie-Françoise Ingels
1988Pat Clemes2023Karen Mai
1989June Selznick Drutz2024Richard Tiejun Chao
1990Susan Leopold