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Women to Love and Collect: International Women’s Day

I recently saw a question posted to X (Twitter) from the National Gallery of Canada asking the question, can you name five women artists? I thought to myself, absolutely! Who couldn’t, but then I remember I am an Artist, so it should be easier for me than a non-artist. I have written about my favourite historical women painters, and I could write about many more, in Canada and beyond. On this International Women’s Day I am looking at five of my favourite contemporary women artists, from Canada. These women make art I would gladly exhibit mine alongside.

Canadian Women Artists

When I take a deep dive and think about which female Canadian painters we will be talking about twenty years from now, my list is short, and I am not sure if this is because there is a lack of representation in commercial galleries in Canada, or if it is because there are so few very strong voices amongst the contemporary women painters in Canada today. In any case the following five female painters are significant, offering strong contributions to contemporary Canadian Art, that will be heard for generations to come. Here are five female Canadian painters to love on International Women’s Day and beyond.

Canadian pop art painting showing toque and plaid shirt

LAURIE PAPOU, British Columbia – I first became aware of Laurie Papou’s figurative paintings during an exhibition of a body of work titled, ‘A Group of Seven’ which presented the artist fully nude alongside her partner in various poses and locations in nature. It was quite the statement the artist was making about our forests, clearcutting and herself as a female artist in a male dominated profession. The ultimate self-portrait series. She is an artist, a warrior and a nature lover.

International Women's Day Artists

JANICE INISKIM-AKI TANTON, Alberta – I remember standing in the Glenbow museum, I think it was 2013, I turned a corner and walked into a room that held this immense painting, a comment on being Canadian, from an Indigenous perspective. The painting titled ‘Undercurrents’, featured a canoe hovering above a lake, on this red canoe were 9 people. Children with a Hudson’s Bay blanket, a lumberjack or fisherman in plaid jacket, a construction worker, a hockey player, a young woman in a Christian wedding dress and another seated below. At the helm, a Blackfoot chief. A beautiful figurative painting filled with symbolism and narrative.

International Women's Day Artists

CAROL WAINIO, Ontario – It may have been 2007 and I was standing inside Trepanier Baer gallery in Calgary. On view was an immense Carol Wainio painting. A somewhat dreamy and dirty landscape, with limited contrast and mostly muted pastels, garbage and pop culture strewn around a landscape that made me think of landfills. Repetitious short strokes and earthy tones. I was captivated by the underlying narrative that you had to search for to find. Weaving a story using abstraction and flatness, I kept trying to find the light in this murky ferrytale. It was unlike any painting I had ever seen before. I was captivated.

International Women's Day Artists

JENN MANN, Ontario – figurative, pop culture, self-portaits and candy colors – I was at the 2016 Toronto Art Fair when I first laid eyes on Mann’s paintings in person. They were candy coated goodness, with warrior heart. Pop culture masterpieces that glowed of pink and veils of light. I wanted to lick these paintings and find out how they tasted. A young artist with much to say, and I was listening. Mann captures youthful passion and enthusiasm and screams, ‘I’m Here to Steal Your Soul’.

DEE BARSY, Manitoba – I see so many things in this Indigenous Winnipeg artists work. I see Janvier, Bush and automobile decals. Her paintings are graphically pleasing and her designs executed precisely. Her signature teal backgrounds are distinctive and brand her work immediately. I sometimes see patterns for future beadwork in her compositions. She is a young Canadian Artist on the rise, and the stars aren’t the limit. Can’t wait to see where her work takes her next.

International Women's Day Artists

So head out in the world to your local art galleries and museums and find some women artists to love, and share what you love with your friends. Word of mouth is still the best way to discover new artists to love, collect and share with the next generation. Here are few more women painters to know right now.

Celebrating the Contributions of Women Painters

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8th to recognize the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. It is a day to celebrate women’s achievements and reflect on the progress that still needs to be made towards gender equality. One area where women have historically faced barriers is in the world of art, where male artists have often been more celebrated and recognized. However, there have been many talented women painters throughout history who have made significant contributions to the world of art. In this post, we will highlight some of the women painters we should know about.

Women Painters to know

Let Your Backbone Rise, Acrylic painting, 2016 Brandy Saturley

  1. Frida Kahlo – Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist known for her self-portraits and surrealism. Her work explored themes of identity, gender, and class, and she is regarded as one of Mexico’s greatest painters.
  2. Mary Cassatt – Mary Cassatt was an American painter known for her depictions of the lives of women and children. She was one of the few female Impressionists and her work often depicted intimate moments of everyday life.
  3. Artemisia Gentileschi – Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter who is best known for her depictions of strong and powerful women from mythology and the Bible. Her work challenged the male-dominated art world of the time.
  4. Georgia O’Keeffe – Georgia O’Keeffe was an American painter known for her vibrant depictions of flowers, landscapes, and bones. Her work was often considered feminist for its focus on women’s bodies and sexuality.
  5. Yayoi Kusama – Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist known for her polka-dot and infinity room installations. Her work explores themes of identity, femininity, and the relationship between the individual and the universe.
  6. Leonora Carrington – Leonora Carrington was a British-born Mexican artist known for her surrealist paintings and sculptures. Her work often featured hybrid creatures and explored themes of transformation and the unconscious.
  7. Berthe Morisot – Berthe Morisot was a French Impressionist painter and one of the few female members of the Impressionist movement. Her work often depicted scenes of domestic life and women’s daily routines.
  8. Alice Neel – Alice Neel was an American painter known for her portraits, particularly of people living in poverty and those from marginalized communities. Her work challenged the norms of portraiture and the portrayal of the human form.
  9. Tamara de Lempicka – Tamara de Lempicka was a Polish Art Deco painter known for her portraits of wealthy and glamorous women. Her work was often sexually suggestive and challenged traditional notions of femininity.
  10. Prudence Heward was a Canadian figure painter, known for using acidic colour, a sculptural treatment, and giving an intense brooding quality to her subjects. One of the Beaver Hall Group of painters, she was also a charter member of the Canadian Group of Painters, the Contemporary Arts Society and the Federation of Canadian Artists.

Personally, the portraiture and landscape paintings of O’Keeffe, Lempicka and Heward have made significant impressions on my work as an artist, including this homage to the famous painting, ‘Saint Moritz’ by Lempicka.

Women Painters to know

Saint Kanata, Acrylic painting, 48 x 36 x 1.5 in, 2011, Brandy Saturley

These are just a few of the many talented women painters who have made significant contributions to the world of art. On International Women’s Day, let us celebrate the achievements of women artists throughout history and continue to support and uplift the voices of women in the arts.

Women in Canadian Art – Celebrating International Women’s Day

For many of us our first mentors are our parents. As our world’s grow and change we look to our teachers, our elders and the heroes and heroines in the stories we read and even see on the movie screens. For me, my first mentor in art was my mother, an artist herself as was my grandmother. As my interest in the Arts grew, so did my investigation into those who came before me, and those whose work I admire. From that first art teacher in high school to my instructors in college, there were many women who paved the way and nudged me forward into a career as a professional visual artist. To celebrate International Women’s Day, here are five women artists, who inspired me to add my voice to the Canadian Art landscape.

Emily Carr – the first woman artist who captured my attention was Emily Carr. I was born in the city that was the final home of the iconic female painter who was an adventurous and independent spirit. Her home now a museum called ‘Emily Carr House’ on Government Street in Victoria BC. Emily Carr was one of the first painters in Canada to adopt a Modernist painting style, Carr did not receive widespread recognition for her work until late in life. Carr had a very ‘rough’ life and was thought to be somewhat crazy by her Victorian neighbors. I recall my uncle telling a story of walking around the neighborhood and passing Carr’s house, he was just a little boy and recalls how badly she was treated by passersby. She was known to keep a monkey as a pet and would often trade paintings for handiwork around her home. The subject matter of her painting shifted from aboriginal themes to landscapes—forest scenes in particular. As a writer, Carr was one of the earliest chroniclers of life in British Columbia. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes her as a “Canadian icon”. Lawren Harris says of her: “The work of Emily Carr and the circumstances in which it was achieved are unique in Canada. She was a passionate, powerful and creatively determined individual who turned fully to her beloved woods and skies and Native Villages. From the earliest work of her girlhood and on into the work of her last years, in hundreds of paintings and sketches, there unfolds the inner story of a vital adventure, full of intense struggle to achieve and the reward of the living embodiment in paint of her love.” The Indian Church(renamed Church at Yuquot Village in 2018 by the Art Gallery of Ontario) 1929.  Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris bought the painting to showcase it in his dining room, and called it Carr’s best work.

International women's day

Prudence Heward – I first enjoyed a Heward original portrait up close and personal at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. I was struck by her provocative depictions of the everyday woman, against soft and idealized backgrounds. Her palette choices were bold as were her strokes. I am drawn to the simplicity and abstract quality of the forms in the background juxtaposed with the more realistic portraits in the foreground. Heward was a frail child and she suffered from asthma her whole life, the frequent attacks forcing her to cease painting for various lengths of time. This part of her story I could relate to very well, as I too suffered with childhood asthma and experienced many hospital visits and sick days for the first 25 years of my life. Perhaps this is one of the reasons I find myself drawn to her brooding portraits. Her work inspired some of my choices when painting the portraits for the People of Canada Portrait Project. She was a member of the Beaver Hall Group and a co-founder of the Canadian Group of Painters and the Contemporary Arts Society. This is ‘Rollande’ painted in 1929 – National Gallery of Canada collection.

PrudenceHeward_Rollande_CanadianArtBlog

Molly Lamb Bobak – Bobak was a Canadian teacher, writer, printmaker and painter working in oils and watercolours. During World War II, she was the first Canadian woman artist to be sent overseas to document Canada’s war effort, and in particular, the work of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps, as one of Canada’s war artists.  In one of the first generations of Canadian women who earned their livings as artists, Bobak became known for her paintings, drawings, and watercolours. For her role in the Second World War and many other accomplishments she was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1973 and presented with the Order of Canada. I must admit I was not that familiar with Bobak’s work as Canada’s war arist, Alex Colville eclipsed any other work of the time. Bobak’s work is sublimely feminine and energetic, there is much movement in her work much like the impressionists, looking at her work is more like taking in a film at the cinema than staring at a sedentary 2-dimensional canvas.

MollyLambBobak_canadawarartist

Mary Pratt – Pratt is an icon of Canadian realism. Her paintings of everyday domestic life make you feel like you are in your grandmothers kitchen watching her work. Her hyperealist paintings of fruit are overflowing with juicy realism, ready for plucking and eating right off the canvas. An internationally-recognized Newfoundland-based Canadian artist, Pratt recently passed away at the age of 83. Canadian film maker Kenneth Harvey is currently working on a film about her. The way she captures the light in her paintings, it’s electric and brings feelings of being in my mother’s kitchen watching her bake while waiting patiently to lick the spoon. Pratt attended Mount Allison University, studying Fine Arts under Alex Colville, Ted Pulford, and Lawren P. Harris.

International Women's Day

Myfanwy Pavelic – also hailing from my hometown of Victoria BC, Pavelic was known for her portraiture. Born in Victoria, British Columbia to an upper-class family, her first interests in fine art came after meeting with Emily Carr on Vancouver Island who later gave a brief series of instruction to Pavelic. I recall her portrait of Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, father of our current Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. A copy of the award-winning portrait hangs in my Giclee print makers shop in Vancouver BC, Zhee Clay Fine Arts. The painting went on to be featured on a Canada Post postage stamp in 2000 after his passing. She was one of the few Canadian artists to be shown at the National Portrait Gallery in London, and her official portrait of Trudeau was unveiled in the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa in 1985.

pierretrudeau_myfawnypavelic

A remarkable group of women, from all walks of life, who painted from their distinctly Canadian perspective, they leave quite the legacy for those of us who are working to fill their shoes and lead the next generation of Canadian artists. Here are a few contemporary paintings created by a woman in Canadian Art.

Sincerely Yours,

Brandy Saturley