Philip Surrey (1910-1990) was a Canadian artist known for his figurative scenes of Montreal.
A founding member of the Contemporary Arts Society, and Montreal Men's Press Club (now Montreal Press Club), Surrey was part of Montreal’s cultural elite during the late 1930s and 1940s.
In recognition of his artistic accomplishment he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, awarded a Canadian Centennial Medal in 1967 and was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1982.
Painting scenes of city life, his early work featured solitary figures on street corners and in cafes or taverns during the Great Depression.
His work in the 1940s and 1950s is characterized by "their sombre colours, their mysterious shadows, their eeriness, and the loneliness and secrecy of their subjects." From the 1960s on, his work became more stylized and luminous with young women or gregarious urban dwellers as subjects.
Throughout his career, Surrey worked in watercolours, oils, ink, charcoal as well as lithography, and his oeuvre also includes Canadian landscapes.