Canada - Ontario

Mirondella
on line art gallery

The Women of Beaver Hall:
Canadian Modernist Painters
by Evelyn Walters

The Beaver Hall Group was an association of Quebec artists which officially began its existence in 1920. Under the leadership of A.Y. Jackson, the group attracted and fostered the work of artists interested in the newest European trends and unconcerned about the consequences of cold-shouldering traditional approaches to subject representation. Remarkably, unlike its Ontario counterpart, the Group of Seven, the Beaver Hall Group had a large contingent of female artists, and though the Group prided itself on its eschewal of any bias-related to class, gender, or artistic preference-it seems to have been especially hospitable to women and proved an excellent springboard for their careers. The work of ten of its most successful women is celebrated in this book with colour plates and short but not uninformative biographies. The book is therefore of some historical value in addition to being a beautifully produced "art book" richly exhibiting works that deserve to be known and admired. The ten women on view here are Nora Collyer, Emily Coonan, Prudence Heward, Mabel Lockerby, Henrietta Mabel May, Kathleen Morris, Lilias Torrance Newton, Sarah Robertson, Anne Savage, and Ethel Seath. All ten were born in the last quarter of the 19th century. Kathleen Morris was the last to pass away in 1986. The Art Association of Montreal, which evolved into the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, was the art school of note in early 20th-century Montreal, and provided a thorough grounding in drawing and painting, supplementing technical studies with frequent lectures and a library of books and catalogues. The Beaver Hall elite begun their education there, but were later encouraged to break free of conventional ideas concerning both art and the role of women in society and the professions. I'm greatly taken with the portraits of Emily Coonan (Italian Girl, c. 1921, Girl in Dotted Dress, c. 1923), Prudence Heward (At the Theatre, 1928, Girl in the Window, 1941, and At the CafT, n.d.), and Lilias Torrance Newton (Portrait of Madame Lily Valty, n.d.), Self-Portrait, c. 1929, Lady in Black, c. 1936). These works are phenomenal-timeless, existing outside of any period or style, despite the modernist label. Coonan's and Heward's work is often haunting; the women portrayed are in a space of their own, looking inward and sad. Lilias Torrance Newton's models are beautiful, confident, and look to be nearly within reach of the personal liberty and independence North American women enjoy today. There are superb landscapes here. When Henrietta Mabel May didn't allow herself to be overly influenced by European impressionists, she did unique work (In the Laurentians, n.d., Melting Snow, c. 1925, Summertime, c. 1935). Every reproduction of Anne Savage's work in this book is gorgeous and original (Yellow Days, Lake Wonish, 1960, La Maison Rouge, Dorval, c. 1928, Northern Town, Banff, c. 1938). The same can be said of the distinctive, illustrative paintings of Ethel Seath (The White Barn, Eastern Townships, c. 1941, Pears in a Window, before 1944, Undergrowth, 1954). I don't have room here to prTcis the careers or personal histories of these talented, dedicated women, many of whom served their communities as volunteers or educators, and accomplished a great deal besides their art. I would encourage readers interested in fine Canadian art to seek this book out and get to know the works and the women who painted them. Olga Stein (Books in Canada)

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The State of the Arts: Living With Culture in Toronto
by Christina Palassio & Jonny Dovercourt

Freakier rich people. More suburban art. A venue for new music. Better staplers. An infrastructure for hip-hop. Laneway art. More wi-fi. A more understanding marriage between art and business. Affordable live-work spaces. What would make Toronto a better place for the arts? City Hall proclaimed 2006 the Year of Creativity. ‘Live With Culture’ banners flap over the city. And across the city, donors are ponying up millions for the ROM and the AGO. Culture’s never had it so good. Right? The State of the Arts explores the Toronto culture scene from every angle, applauding, assailing and arguing about art in our fair burg. The essays consider the big-ticket and the ticket-free, from the CNE to unintentional art. In between, you'll find thoughts on the ’creative city’ and photobloggers, Toronto on film and the fine line between part and art. Taken together the thoughts of these writers, artists and city-builders create a snapshot of culture in T.O. as it grows from ’Toronto the Good’ to ’Toronto the Could’ to ’Toronto the Can-Do.’ Includes sixteen colour pages of eye-level Toronto, and cover art by Susan Szenes. With essays by Sandra Alland, Jason Anderson, Anna Bowness, Stephen Cain, Kate Carraway, Hanna Cho, Brendan Cormier, Natalie De Vito, Liz Forsberg, Mark Fram, Marc Glassman, Katarina Gligorijevic-Collins, Brenda Goldstein, Amy Lavender Harris, Karen Hines, Sarah B. Hood, Christopher Hume, Sam Javanrouh, Dory Kornfeld, Adam Krawesky, More Or Les, John Lorinc, James MacNevin, Claudia McKoy, Brian McLachlan, Ryan McLaren, Shawn Micallef, Jill Murray, Matt O'Sullivan, Christopher Pandolfi, Michael Redhill, Dylan Reid, Damian Rogers, Stuart Ross, Lisa Rundle, Dana Samuel, Nadja Sayej, Susan Szenes, Kevin Temple, Pablo Torres, Gayla Trail, Rannie Turingan, Jason van Eyk, Adam Vaughan, RM Vaughan, Stéphanie Verge, Lisa Whittington-Hill and Carl Wilson. About the Author Alana Wilcox, author of A Grammar of Endings, lives in Toronto, where she works as a freelance writer and editor. She is currently the managing editor at Coach House Books. Her fiction has appeared in several magazines, including Quarry, Tessera, Paragraph, and Queen Street Quarterly.

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Quilt of Belonging: The Invitation Project
by Esther Bryan

A cultural milestone. Canada is home to immigrants from every nation in the world. Quilting artist Esther Bryan wanted to celebrate this fact, to promote a sense of greater belonging among these diverse groups. A quilt would be a collaborative, community-based project to celebrate cultural diversity. Each cultural group contributed one 11-inch square pieced into a giant quilt named the Quilt of Belonging. The quilt is approximately 120 feet long by 10 feet high (36 m by 3.5 m). It consists of 263 squares representing 71 Aboriginal groups and 192 immigrant nationalities found in Canada. The quilt includes fabric that has been appliqued, beaded, cross-stitched, embroidered, and hand-woven. The many cultural decorations include: Abalone shells Lithuanian amber Bobbin lace A brooch from Poland English wool Kente cloth from Ghana Porcupine quills, rabbit fur, sealskin, and smoked caribou hide 200-year-old German linen Worry dolls from Guatemala.

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