#canadianarthistory

[artanddesignmatters]

Ivan Eyre Born 1935 Close Up Detail Lady Love, 2010 Bronze Gift of Ivan Eyre Don d’Ivan Eyre Photo Credit: Alice Lowe for the Canada Art Crawl at The McMichael Canadian Art Collection | Kleinburg, ON, Canada Ivan Kenneth Eyre, CM OM (born 15 April 1935 in Tullymet, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian artist best known for his prairie landscapes and compositionally abstract, figurative paintings. In addition, Eyre is a Professor Emeritus of painting and drawing at the University of Manitoba where he taught for 33 years, from 1959 until his retirement in 1992. He has been described as a "visual philosopher" and "a true outsider and visionary". Ivan Eyre's paintings and drawings have been exhibited internationally and are featured in numerous galleries across Canada. His sculptures are prominently displayed at Assiniboine Park and the McMichael sculpture garden in Kleinburg, Ontario. REF: wikipedia The McMichael Canadian Art Collection stands alone as the only publicly funded fine art gallery in the nation that focuses on Canadian art and the Indigenous art of Canada, both historical and contemporary. The permanent collection consists of over 6,500 artworks by Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven, their contemporaries, and First Nations, Métis, Inuit and contemporary artists who have contributed to the development of Canadian art. The McMichael is also the gallery of record for works on paper from the Inuit community of Cape Dorset, as they are the custodians for the Cape Dorset archive, totaling more than 100,000 artworks. REF: The McMichael Canadian Art Collection #ArtandDesignMatters #VisitOntario #VisitKleinburg #VisitCanada #CultureTrip #CultureTravel #CultureTraveler #McMichaelCanadianArtCollection #CanadaArt #CanadianArtHistory #ArtHistorian #IvanEyre #admMuseumSupport #admSupportsTheArts #admCanadaArtCrawl #bronzesculpture #sculpture #adventuretravel #artenthusiast #artappreciation #KleinburgCanada #Canada #sculpturegarden #letsgotothemuseum #museumexhibit #CanadianArt #CanadianArtists #CanadaArtCollection #ArtCollector #artCollection (at McMichael Canadian Art Collection) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-TJEDYAy-t/?igshid=1esa89vxbco5e

[wenchesahoy]

Happy Valentine's Day, snoggers! 💋 💋 💋 💋 Joyce Wieland, "Reason over Passion," 1968, quilted cotton, National Gallery of Canada/Musée des Beaux-Arts du Canada, Ottawa . . . . . . . . . #canadianart #canadianarthistory #arthistory #feministart #feministarthistory #joycewieland #nationalgalleryofcanada #quilting #popart #pierreelliotttrudeau #trudeaumania #reasonoverpassion #lapassionavantlaraison #ottawa #canada (at National Gallery of Canada) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt2jtlUnAQp/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1cvnrs2aejn5h

[yegarts]

The Woman’s Gaze - Undaunted at the Art Gallery of Alberta

Study of a Head - Mary Hiester Reid c. 1874-1921; Art Gallery of Alberta Collection, purchased in 1982 with funds donated by the Women's Society of The Edmonton Art Gallery.

Her head is turned, gazing at an unknown object, or into an uncertain future. What is certain is that the woman wielding the brush, Mary Hiester Reid, is an unsung brick in the foundation of Canadian art history.

Reid, the artist behind the “cover image” for Undaunted; Canadian Women Painters of the 19th Century now on at the Art Gallery of Alberta, was one of Canada’s most prominent and prolific women artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She is one of the 30 artists featured in the exhibition, says curator Laura Ritchie who is also the AGA Exhibitions Manager. “This study of a head excited me as it is so married to the exhibition title and the women in the exhibition. She is setting her own path, her own gaze – she is in control. So often the female gaze and women’s bodies are submissive in the historic context of art”.

Ritchie is fascinated by storytelling through objects; placing the past in conversation with the present, “I have done a lot in collections management and had the opportunity to look at many collections across the country. I’ve always found I have an affinity for the small collections that exist within the larger institutions. Works by women especially, are often relegated to the background, but many were created or donated by early members of those institutions – for example, women artists who were part of the women’s auxiliaries.”

Laura Muntz Lyall, Mother and Child, c. 1895. Art Gallery of Alberta Collection, gift of The Ernest E. Poole Foundation, 1975.

Many of the artists in Undaunted, such as Florence Maud Mortimer were transplants to western Canada by marriage or circumstance. Mortimer was an early president of the Edmonton Museum of Arts, forerunner to the AGA and was a prolific artist. “We have a beautiful, exquisitely crafted watercolour landscape by her. It’s very much in the British tradition but depicts her homestead. It really depicts the time – women working at technically high level in northern Alberta, in extremely remote settings. Looking at a work like that magnifies how in Alberta at the time there were a lot of women in that situation practicing their art in a hobby or amateur vein, who had aspirations – and a newly western perspective - that were steps towards the professional art world.”

The aspirational aspect of the artworks shown underscores how technique and talent, often overlooked or dismissed as “lesser,” is part of a larger historical context. The women in Undaunted fought to study in art schools and defied social conventions dictating that only men could be serious artists. Their efforts to excel in the professional art world were part of the fight for suffrage, equitable living and working conditions, as well as access and admission to post-secondary institutions. In addition to their art, many of the women founded, or were active in social organizations.

Emily Carr. Strait of Juan de Fuca, c. 1936. Art Gallery of Alberta Collection, gift of Mrs. Max Stern, Dominion Gallery, Montreal, 1973.

Laura Ritchie also points to a spirit of mentorship and sharing that flowered and continues to blossom within women’s artistic communities. Most institutions did not accept women. Many that did barred them from life drawing classes, relegating women to still life studies and domestic scenes. Women who benefited from professional opportunities taught and trained those who followed. “We have greater access to forums and venues now for professional development and practice. However, we still need to be intrepid to reach them and we also need networks and encouragement as well. There continue to be very clear relationships between women artists and the women who teach them. The conversation is still going on.”

Sophie Pemberton, John O’Dreams, 1901. Collection of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Gift of the Artist. Sophie Pemberton was the first woman to receive the Prix Julian from Académie Julian in Paris.

Undaunted is part of that conversation; “This exhibition represents one perspective – women pioneers opening opportunities for themselves. There are stories we still don’t know,” Ritchie continues. “There are no women of colour or Trans or Indigenous perspectives here. Each of those perspectives merits its own exhibition. There had to be a starting place – and no one perspective will achieve the goal of a complete narrative. I hope this is the beginning of a conversation that will get bigger with each exhibition.”

The AGA is looking for stories of undaunted women who have contributed to art in Edmonton. Please email info@youraga.ca if you know a story, possess an artwork, or have a family history.