Perfect Red : The Life of Paraskeva Clark

Artist. Activist. Canadian. There is only one Paraskeva Clark. The proud daughter of Russian peasants, Paraskeva Plistick was born in St. Petersburg in 1898 and was educated in art during the revolutions that led to the creation of the Soviet Union. She took this creative sense, steeped in social awareness, with her when she married Canadian accountant Phillip Clark and accompanied him back to Toronto. It was not long before Paraskeva attracted attention from the Toronto art community, her landscapes in particular garnering an invitation into the Canadian Group of Painters. But it was during the 1930s that Clark came into her own. Inspired by the war in Spain and the rest of Europe, she reflected the turmoil around her on canvas, culminating in Petroshuka, a work based on a 1937 incident that left five Chicago strikers dead at the hands of police. And yet for all her commitment to the world at large, Clark's is a classic immigrant story, of someone who had to adjust to unfamiliar customs and rules. Perfect Red tells the story of a woman who left an indelible mark on the Canadian art and society.