Robert Nelson Markle (Hamilton, Ontario, 1936-Holstein, Ontario, 1990) was a Canadian artist, writer, educator and musician. He began his studies at the Ontario College of Art (OCA) in 1954, but was expelled before graduation. While at OCA, he met Marlene Shuster, a fellow student, whom he married in 1958. The focus of Markle’s work from his early days was the female nude, particularly burlesque dancers, and Marlene became his primary model and muse. In 1962 Markle had his first group exhibition at The Isaacs Gallery in Toronto, becoming one of the “Isaacs Group” of artists. In 1965, Markle paintings shown in the exhibition Eros ’65 at the Dorothy Cameron Gallery were seized on a charge of obscenity, drawing considerable media attention. In the mid-1960s Markle began to write for magazines such as the Toronto Telegram Showcase, Maclean’s, and Toronto Life, publishing widely on topics as diverse as striptease, hockey, childhood Christmases, and Gordon Lightfoot. Markle also worked extensively as an illustrator, contributing images to magazines and literary journals. His work as an educator included terms at The New School of Art (1966-1977) and Arts’ Sake (1977-1982) as well as OCA and the University of Guelph. From the early 1960s, Markle played tenor saxophone and piano in the Artists’ Jazz Band. In 1970 the Markles moved to a farmhouse outside of Holstein, Ontario, although Robert re-established a studio in Toronto from 1979 to 1982. In 1979, he won a commission to decorate a Toronto hamburger restaurant, which was named Markleangelo’s in his honour. His other large-scale commissions include wall-sculptures for the Ellen Fairclough Building in Hamilton, Ontario, and the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. He executed painted outdoor murals in Owen Sound and Mount Forest, Ontario. Markle was killed in a traffic accident in 1990. Of Mohawk ancestry, Markle used his mother’s spelling of his surname, although it was spelled “Maracle” on his birth certificate. Markle worked primarily in painting and ink drawing, and also explored photography, collage, printmaking, wooden sculpture and neon. He collected folk art, which inspired a number of whirligig works later in his career. His work is in numerous public and private collections, including the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of Canada.
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Edward P. Taylor Library and Archives, Art Gallery of Ontario
Series consists of unpublished manuscript, typescript and computer printout writings by Robert Markle, including elements of journalistic writing, fiction, poetry, stream of consciousness, letters and journal-writing. Unless otherwise indicated, writings have been filed by Markle, usually according to topic or the nature of writing. File titles have been taken from Markle’s file labels, except for those in square brackets, which have been supplied by the archivist. Series also includes a sketchbook containing manuscript writing by Markle (and others?), with occasional pen drawings.
Further accruals are expected.
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Copyright of material in this fonds is held by the heirs of the creator. Copyright belonging to other parties, such as that of photographs, may still rest with the creator of these items. It is the researcher’s responsibility to obtain permission for the reproduction of any part of the fonds.
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Notes and drafts of screenplay for "Iroquoian Confederacy", apparently intended as a Heritage Minute program. Copy of Council Fire: A Resource Guide (Brantford: Woodland Cultural Centre, 1989)
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Notes and drafts
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Drafts of article re: stereo equipment / performing / AJB / Carnegie Hall. Related to material in folder 5-8.
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Drafts of article
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Drafts of various articles, titles or first lines as follows: "Chips and Gravy", "the up and down challenge
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Drafts for review of Tom Wolfe's The Painted Word
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Drafts of article re: favourite records. Related to material in folder 5-3.
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Drafts of article re: greasy spoon restaurants, fast food. Photographs and drawings for illustrations
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Notes and drafts re: travel to visit Michael Sarrazin
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Copy of invoice to Toronto Life re: drive-in movie article
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Draft of "The Radio Show" / Jack Farr / Andrea Marantz
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Drafts of article re: artist model "Virginia"
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Drafts of article re: hockey
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Notes, prose and poetry, stream of consciousness writing (3 cm)
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Manuscripts of poetry collections by Andy Wainwright; correspondence between Wainwright and Markle re: publication, illustrations, design; correspondence with George Laszloffy, editor at Prentice-Hall
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Draft writings
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Drafts of article (fiction?) re: artist on Draper Street
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3 computer printout copies of essay "On Portraiture"
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Computer printout of article re: Butch (a Budgerigar) - by Patrick Watson? *contains floppy disk, 3
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