Corrida #2, 1976
Saul Field (1912-1987)
Corrida #2, 1976, Saul Field (1912-1987)
A renowned printmaker, painter, and filmmaker, Saul Field employed a medium known as acidless Compotina plate, a printmaking technique that he co-invented with his wife, Jean Townsend, in 1963. This technique is ideal for expressing Field’s unique colourful and exuberant style as demonstrated in the fiery tones and dynamic silhouettes of matador and bull.
Of his style, Field states, “My work is figurative – I am fascinated by the many ways to use distortion, colour, texture to better express a given theme, and to use abstract expressions in my backgrounds to heighten the mood or tempo of that theme.1
Corrida, the Spanish word for ‘bullfight’, is a depiction of Canada’s first and only bullfight, which took place in Lindsay, Ontario. this piece captures the tension and memorialises this colourful and historic event.
In August of 1958, almost 5000 people gathered in the old Lindsay fairgrounds to watch the fight. Conceptualized by the local Chamber of Commerce to bolster tourism, the impending event divided the town as to the suitability of this type of ‘entertainment’. The town council, Kiwanis Club of Lindsay, The Lindsay Daily Post, and the provincial Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) were among those in opposition. Despite objections, the four matadors arrived in Lindsay on schedule. The bulls, however, were detained at the US- Mexico boarder for after one was found to be carrying a tick.
Following a series of setbacks, the event finally took place. At this point, there were only three out of six bulls, and three out of four matadors taking part in the spectacle. The bullfight opened to a Caribbean calypso band while the crowd, who had each paid the equivalent of between $33 - $73, in today’s currency, for the privilege of attending.
The first bull entered the ring and could not be persuaded to fulfill his role in the spectacle, much to the crowd’s consternation. Screams of “hamburger!” and “Kill it!” were directed at the armed SPCA agents in attendance that they might shoot the bulls in the case that the animals were suffering.
The second bull refused to leave the ring at the end of his stage time and could not be lured from the ring. The Linday police chief, John Hunter, attempted to lasso the enraged bull, who smashed Hunter to the ground and then into the boards. The crowd feared Hunter had been killed but he was miraculously unharmed. The final bull entered the ring and fulfilled all expectations for his performance.
In the end, the event was gleefully reported by the Lindsay Post to have lost $9,000, the equivalent of more than $98,000 today. Overall, the event was widely reported throughout the province and put Lindsay on the map as the home of this notorious spectacle.2
Whether Field made the journey north from his home in Toronto and was in the audience on that fateful day in August or simply read about it in one of the local Toronto newspapers, this art is a piece of Lindsay history and marks a day that should be remembered.
Artists With Their Work – Saul Field.” Art Gallery of Ontario. 1977.
2 Hutchinson, Trevor. “Olé! Canada’s First-Ever Bullfight 60 Years Ago Was in Lindsay.” Lindsay Advocate, Roderick Benns, 10 July 2018, lindsayadvocate.ca/ole-canadas-first-ever-bullfight-60-years-ago-was-in-lindsay/.
