Set of 9 works on paper

Peter Winchell Sager was born in Vancouver in 1920 and received his high school education at Lord Byng Secondary School, where he studied under Beatrice Lennie. He continued his artistic training at the B.C. College of Arts and the Beatrice Lennie School of Sculpture, though he was largely self-taught. Sager worked primarily as a sculptor and printmaker, specializing in linoleum block prints and creating works that were noted for their abstract design approach.

Sager began exhibiting professionally at a remarkably young age, having his first solo exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1937 when he was only seventeen years old. He participated in the Seattle Art Museum's annual Northwest Artists exhibitions in 1937 and 1939, and was a member of the Northwest Printmakers organization. His work was also shown with the Canadian Society of Graphic Artists and in several annual B.C. Artists exhibitions between 1935 and 1939. He had a second solo exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1940, featuring eighteen linoleum cut prints.

In 1947, Sager received a French Government scholarship that allowed him to establish a studio in Paris for five years. During his European period, he expanded his artistic practice to include theatrical work, creating decor for a London Ballet Company. He exhibited his work in Paris, Copenhagen, Cannes, and London during this time. After returning to Canada in 1952, he worked as the Canadian representative for Roosen Silk firm, designing prints for silk and Sea-Island cotton materials, combining his artistic skills with commercial design work.

Sager's work is held in several significant public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Fogg Museum at Harvard University, the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Museum, the University of Michigan, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He was awarded a Canada Council senior fellowship and continued to work on commissions throughout his career. Sager died in Toronto in 1985, having established himself as an early practitioner of abstract printmaking in Canadian art.