Posts by Grace Jackson

Kathleen Moir Morris (1893-1986) was a Canadian painter renowned for her urban and rural Quebec scenes. She is best known for being an active member of the Beaver Hall Group, a collective of Canadian modernist artists, and exhibited widely across Canada and internationally. Although Morris was born with cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder which impacted her speech and motor skills, she embraced both life and art with joy. There is some speculation as to whether Morris had cerebral palsy or another more rare neurological disorder. 

Snow Carts, Lower Town, Quebec, c 1925, oil on panel by Kathleen Moir Morris

Ivan Kenneth Eyre (1935-2022) is recognized as one of Canada’s leading modernist painters, known for his panoramic landscapes and figure silhouettes. Over a career spanning more than six decades, Ivan Eyre has developed a distinctive artistic style, blending elements of realism, abstraction, and personal symbolism to depcit the Canadian landscape and the human figure. Eyre’s paintings and drawings have been shown in exhibitions around the world and are represented in many major public collections across Canada. He was referred to as both a “visual philosopher” and a “true outsider and visionary”.

High Valley, acrylic on canvas by Ivan Eyre

Albert Henry Robinson (1881–1956) is recognized as one of Canada’s foremost early 20th-century painters, known for his landscapes of Quebec’s countryside and villages. He was a guest exhibitor in the 1920 inaugural Group of Seven exhibition, and he continued to exhibit with the Group for 8 more exhibitions. He was also a founding member of both the Beaver Hall Group in 1920 and the Canadian Group of Painters in 1933. His compositions often reflected the flowing, horizontal structure similar to the terrain seen in A.Y. Jackson’s work, his frequent sketching companion. He distinguished his paintings through distinctive colour choices such as coral tones, soft pinks, and deep blues. He has been described as a “Painter’s Painter” and painted with square brushes.

Helen McNicoll (1879–1915) is recognized as one of Canada’s most accomplished female Impressionist painters of the early 20th century. McNicoll was instrumental in introducing and popularizing Impressionism in Canada, creating luminious paintings of sunlit outdoor scenes, children at play, and contemporary women that helped bring Impressionism to a wider audience. Today, her paintings are held in major public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

The Apple Gatherer, c 1911, oil on canvas by Helen McNicoll

Cornelius Krieghoff (1815–1872) is one of Canada’s earliest and most recognized painters, known widely for his paintings of 19th-century rural and Indigenous life in Quebec. His detailed and often romanticized genre scenes of habitant farmers, First Nations communities, and winter Canadian landscapes have become iconic representations of early colonial life in Canada.

Breaking Up of a Country Ball in Canada, Early Morning, 1857 by Cornelius Krieghoff. The Thomson Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Edward John (E.J.) Hughes (1913–2007) is know as one of the most skilled British Columbia landscape painters of the mid-20th century. Hughes is recognised for his distinctive paintings of BC's coastal landscapes, small towns, and harbours. He is reffered to as a folk realist, where his paintings and watercolours were executed in a controlled manner, with flattened space and a graphic sensibility. His paintings remain highly sought after by collectors and institutions across Canada.

Houses, Qualicum Beach, 2000 by E. J. Hughes

Jean Paul Lemieux (1904–1990) is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century Canadian art. Lemieux is best known for his paintings of Quebec landscapes and solitary figures, where he developed a distinct style of minimalism, simplified forms, and overarching themes of introspection. His work played a major role in shaping modern art in Quebec and continues to be highly influential in Canadian art history.

Jean Paul Lemieux, Summer of 1914 (L’été de 1914), 1965, oil on canvas