Edward Burtynsky
Edward Burtynsky
1955 -
OC RCA
The large-format photographs of Canadian artist Edward Burtynsky document the tenuous relationships between industry and nature. Born in St. Catherines, Ontario in 1955, Burtynsky began experimenting with photography at an early age, having received his first 35mm film camera at age eleven. He studied graphic arts at Niagara College in Welland, Ontario and later received his BAA in Photography and Media Studies from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Toronto Metropolitan University) in 1982. In 1985 Burtynsky founded Toronto Image Works, a photography printing studio offering darkroom rentals and digital media courses.

The impact of humanity upon the natural environment is an enduring theme within Burtynsky’s landscapes and it has inspired an extensive body of work. From expansive networks of barren Californian oil fields and gestural streams of toxic nickel tailings in Ontario, to systematic grids of factory workers in China and abandoned monolithic cargo ships in Bangladesh, Burtynsky’s landscapes transcend an isolated geographical locale, and illustrate the immensity, diversity and universality of human industry, consumerism and waste. Despite the unsettling subject matter, Burtynsky’s photographs are often serene, vibrantly coloured and unexpectedly beautiful; a style which he refers to as an “inverted sublime.”

Alongside Canadian filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier, Burtynsky’s distinct visual style and environmental concerns evolved into two award-winning feature-length documentary films: Manufactured Landscapes (2006), which explored the visual imprints of modern civilization on the natural world, and Watermark (2013), an insightful survey on the diverse connections we have to the presence and absence of water. In 2003 the National Gallery of Canada exhibited a mid-career retrospective, Manufactured Landscapes: The Photography of Edward Burtynsky, which traveled to the Art Gallery of Ontario, and in 2014, A Terrible Beauty: Edward Burtynsky, was organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Burtynsky’s photographs are housed in prominent Canadian and international public collections, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Tate Modern (London), the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of Canada in 2006, Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts (2016), a TED Prize (2005), has received honorary doctorates from several Canadian universities, and has been a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts since 2003.
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Nickel Tailings #39, Sudbury, Ontario by Edward Burtynsky sold for $64,900
Edward Burtynsky
Nickel Tailings #39, Sudbury, Ontario
40 x 60 in, 101.6 x 152.4 cm
chromogenic colour print
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CDN
Sold for: $64,900 CDN (premium included)
Spring 2016 - 1st Session on Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Manufacturing #10a & #10b, Cankun Factory, Xiamen City, China by Edward Burtynsky sold for $43,250
Edward Burtynsky
Manufacturing #10a & #10b, Cankun Factory, Xiamen City, China
48 x 120 in, 121.9 x 304.8 cm
digital chromogenic print diptych
Estimate: $30,000 - $50,000 CDN
Sold for: $43,250 CDN (premium included)
Editions & Multiples on Thursday, January 30, 2025
Rice Terraces #2, Western Yunnan Province, China, 2012 by Edward Burtynsky sold for $43,250
Edward Burtynsky
Rice Terraces #2, Western Yunnan Province, China, 2012
48 x 64 in, 121.9 x 162.6 cm
chromogenic colour print
Estimate: $15,000 - $25,000 CDN
Sold for: $43,250 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Stepwell #5, Nagar Kund Baori, Bundi, Rajasthan, India by Edward Burtynsky sold for $34,250
Edward Burtynsky
Stepwell #5, Nagar Kund Baori, Bundi, Rajasthan, India
39 x 52 in, 99.1 x 132.1 cm
digital chromogenic print
Estimate: $12,000 - $16,000 CDN
Sold for: $34,250 CDN (premium included)
Prints Multiples & Sculptures on Thursday, November 29, 2018
Glacial Runoff #1, Skeidararsandur, Iceland by Edward Burtynsky sold for $20,000
Edward Burtynsky
Glacial Runoff #1, Skeidararsandur, Iceland
39 x 52 in, 99.1 x 132.1 cm
digital chromogenic print
Estimate: $12,000 - $16,000 CDN
Sold for: $20,000 CDN (premium included)
Prints Multiples & Sculptures on Thursday, November 28, 2019
Rice Terraces #5, Western Yunnan Province, China by Edward Burtynsky sold for $18,750
Edward Burtynsky
Rice Terraces #5, Western Yunnan Province, China
39 x 52 in, 99.1 x 132.1 cm
digital chromogenic print
Estimate: $12,000 - $16,000 CDN
Sold for: $18,750 CDN (premium included)
Prints & Multiples on Thursday, September 27, 2018
Shipbreaking #27 with Cutter, Chittagong, Bangladesh, 2001 by Edward Burtynsky sold for $17,500
Edward Burtynsky
Shipbreaking #27 with Cutter, Chittagong, Bangladesh, 2001
40 x 50 in, 101.6 x 127 cm
chromogenic colour print
Estimate: $8,000 - $12,000 CDN
Sold for: $17,500 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Iberia Quarries #3, Cochicho Co., Paradais, Portugal by Edward Burtynsky sold for $17,500
Edward Burtynsky
Iberia Quarries #3, Cochicho Co., Paradais, Portugal
34 x 27 in, 86.4 x 68.6 cm
digital chromogenic print
Estimate: $7,000 - $9,000 CDN
Sold for: $17,500 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Thursday, November 25, 2021
Iberia Quarries #8, Pardais, Portugal by Edward Burtynsky sold for $17,500
Edward Burtynsky
Iberia Quarries #8, Pardais, Portugal
39 x 49 in, 99.1 x 124.5 cm
chromogenic colour print
Estimate: $12,000 - $16,000 CDN
Sold for: $17,500 CDN (premium included)
Prints & Multiples on Thursday, November 30, 2017
Shipbreaking #4, Chittagong, Bangladesh by Edward Burtynsky sold for $16,520
Edward Burtynsky
Shipbreaking #4, Chittagong, Bangladesh
40 x 50 in, 101.6 x 127 cm
chromogenic colour print
Estimate: $9,000 - $12,000 CDN
Sold for: $16,520 CDN (premium included)
Spring 2016 - 1st Session on Wednesday, May 25, 2016