George Campbell Tinning was a Canadian painter, graphic designer, muralist, and illustrator. He was an Official Canadian War Artist in World War Two; the only one born in Saskatchewan. Post-war, he resided in Montreal but travelled extensively and painted in every Canadian province, the United States, Jamaica, Italy, France, England and Scotland. In 1970, he was elected a full member of the RCA – Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
After serving in the Reserves, Tinning enlisted in the Black Watch in 1942 as a private. In 1943, he was appointed official war artist with the Historical Section of National Defense Headquarters as a Lieutenant. Posted to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, he painted east coast military installations throughout 1943. He was sent overseas and served in England, Italy, and the Netherlands. He was promoted to Captain in 1945 and returned to Canada where he was honorably discharged in 1946. He completed over 500 pieces as a Canadian War artist which are now in the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
Post-War
Tinning settled in Montreal where he established his studio. In 1949, he travelled and painted in Newfoundland for two months. He exhibited these watercolours at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and published an article on his experiences in Canada's newest province. From 1948 to 1953, Tinning illustrated travel articles for the Lincoln-Mercury Times, a magazine published by the Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan. Notably, one of these was written by Aldous Huxley on Lydiard Tregoz, a village in Wiltshire, England. In the 1950s and 1960s, Tinning completed graphic designs for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montreal. Apart from some prestigious patrons of the English Montreal establishment, many banks, hotels, stores, and factories commissioned works by Tinning. A series of template watercolours inspired by a French-Canadian legend was designed for rooms at the Manoir Baie Comeau, Quebec, in the 1960s; they were later destroyed by fire. Tinning’s 1960 mural for the Jenkins Valve Company in Lachine, Quebec, was destroyed during demolition of the factory in 2004, though photos of the mural are available and . Sketches for this mural are preserved at the Lachine Museum in Lachine, Quebec. In 1960 the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montreal commissioned Tinning to design the Maritime Bar. The hotel, renovated and reopened in 2012, still owns about 60 of his works. In 1953 he was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and he became a Full Member in 1970. Although Montreal remained his home and was his constant inspiration, Tinning also enjoyed rural Quebec – especially the Eastern Townships around Lake Memphramagog. He frequently visited family in the Okanagan and painted in this region of British Columbia. In the 1970s Tinning experimented with abstract compositions. He painted floral still life throughout his career and it was his most popular genre. Tinning died in Montreal on February 28, 1996.
