Arnold Saper

Arnold Saper was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1933. He received his early education in Winnipeg’s North End, attending Luxton School and St. John’s High School. He went on to study at the University of Manitoba, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1961. Following his graduation, he obtained a Certificate in Education and taught at various high schools in rural Manitoba and Winnipeg, including Transcona Collegiate Institute.

In 1963, Saper was awarded a Canada Council grant to pursue advanced studies in the United States. He relocated to Iowa City to study under the renowned printmaker Mauricio Lasansky at the State University of Iowa. During his tenure there, he held a graduate assistantship and developed a specialized proficiency in intaglio printmaking techniques. He completed his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1966 before returning to Winnipeg to join the faculty at the University of Manitoba.

Saper had a distinguished thirty-year career as a professor at the University of Manitoba School of Art, where he taught printmaking and drawing from 1966 until his retirement in 1996. He was appointed to a full professorship in 1979 and was instrumental in developing the school’s printmaking department. Throughout his professional life, Saper’s work remained focused on the psychological and emotional aspects of the human condition. He was particularly noted for his figurative works, self-portraits, and series such as "Personae" and "Refugees," which utilized intricate etching and drawing techniques to explore internal narratives.

The artistic contributions of Arnold Saper are documented through numerous institutional exhibitions and public collections. He was the subject of several solo exhibitions at the University of Manitoba’s Gallery One One One (now the School of Art Gallery) and a major retrospective titled "Face to Face" at the North Dakota Museum of Art in 2014. His work is represented in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and the Province of Manitoba. Saper remained an influential figure in the Canadian arts community until his death in Winnipeg on May 27, 2019.