Mabel May
Henrietta Mabel May | |
---|---|
Born | Art Association of Montreal | September 11, 1877
Notable work | Women Making Shells (1919), Three Sisters (1915), Melting Snow (1924) |
Movement | Beaver Hall Group, Canadian Group of Painters |
Elected | Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, associate |
Henrietta Mabel May (or H. Mabel May as she was sometimes known) (September 11, 1877 – October 8, 1971) was a Canadian artist in the early 20th century. She helped organize two significant groups of Canadian artists and extended collegiality to women within those groups.
Career
Henrietta Mabel May was born in Montreal and grew up in Verdun and Westmount. As a teenager, May showed an interest in art; however due to a sense of family responsibility, May, the fifth of ten children, postponed academic studies until her mid-twenties to look after her younger siblings. She enrolled at the
May was based in Quebec early in her career, then worked as a teacher from her studio in Montreal, at the Elmwood School in Ottawa. She was associated with the
One art critic referred to May as the "Emily Carr of Montreal"[1] due to her interest in landscape and nature. Her art was originally influenced by her avid interest in French Impressionism, but her mature style owed much to the Group of Seven and more international modernist trends.[2]
Early life
May was born to Evelyn Henrietta Walker and Edward May. Her date of birth is often reported as 1884, but she was in fact born on September 11, 1877. Her father, Edward May was a
Education
Though Henrietta displayed an active interest in art throughout her early years, she did not pursue formal education until she was in her mid-twenties. She delayed her education in order to help take care of her nine younger brothers and sisters while her parents worked trying to provide for them.[4] In 1902 she became one of the first female students enrolled in the Art Association of Montreal (AAM) (1909 – 1912) under teachers Alberta Cleland and William Brymner. There she was awarded scholarships twice.[5] During this time, she exhibited small watercolours as part of the 1910 Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition.[6] Cleland was a woman artist from Montreal who worked with a broad range of subjects and tools. Brymner was an important influence on Mabel's style of art and taught her from 1909 until the end of her studies in 1912. May was influenced by Brymner's teachings of French modernism, including Impressionism and Post-Impressionism and his encouragement for students to find their own individual style.[7] These influences took her and her friend fellow artist Emily Coonan to France, England and Holland after her graduation in 1912.[8] There she travelled, visited galleries, studied and painted until her return to Montreal in 1913 where she opened a studio. During her travels, she studied with James Wilson Morrice, who strongly influenced her style of painting.[9] Her family owned a second home in the countryside of Hudson, Quebec, where she frequently retreated to paint.
Career
The years following her education brought May a series of remarkable achievements and work opportunities. In 1913 the National Gallery bought three of her art works and would eventually buy two more before 1924. In 1916, after May returned to Montreal, she joined other female artists who worked on commissioned pieces specifically about women's involvement in the
Beaver Hall Group
In 1920, May was a founding member of the
In the winter of 1924, May travelled to
Canadian Group of Painters
Shortly after the Beaver Hall Group dissolved, May founded a new group: the Canadian Group of Painters, which officially began in 1933. The group had their first exhibition the same year of their founding in Atlantic City, New Jersey, followed by another exhibition in Toronto a few months later. The group was the successor of the Group of Seven and the Beaver Hall Group. May's involvement with the Canadian Group of Painters lasted a few years, but while she was in that group, the problems of the Great Depression affected her and her family's finances. She moved to Ottawa, Ontario, where she taught in a private school. In 1938 she was appointed leader of children's classes at the National Gallery of Canada.[15] She taught for 12 years until 1950, when she returned to Montreal, before later moving to Vancouver, British Columbia.
Artistic style
Henrietta Mabel May's primary medium was painting in oil. Initially, she followed the Impressionists. Her main focus was landscapes,[16] although she also painted human figures. Her paint strokes were very strong and pleasing to the eye as the colours flowed together softly. The colours she used were not straight from the tube but blended for more of a naturalistic approach.[17] While May travelled to Europe, she was inspired by the culture of Paris, which was incorporated into her work.
During the time she spent in Hudson every summer, she painted the views around her, creating some of her most successful works. In 1913 her paintings began garnering a lot of recognition and attention. She won the
Once she became a member of the Beaver Hall Group, her style began to deviate from its impressionistic origins.[17] As the years went on, May's naturalistic approach of applying colour in soothing, rhythmic brushstrokes developed greatly. Her art exhibited more realism, and showed a greater understanding of light and the atmosphere in her landscapes. She began to take on the style of the Group of Seven by whom she was heavily influenced. May's Melting Snow (1925) was a reflection of the dancing waters and lyrical mountains surrounded by flat colours and hills. In addition, she used loose brushstrokes in the sky.
Her palette was further modified by the influence of a religious group she joined in the late 1930s. An offshoot of the theosophists, the I AM group believed that dark colors produce negative effects.
Collections
- The Market under the Trees (1912-3),The Regatta (1914), Street Scene, Montreal (1914), Boats on the St. Lawrence (1916), In the Laurentians (1925), The Village (1925), and Melting Snow (1925) are part of the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada.[9]
- Été (about 1935) and Paysage d'automne (about 1930) are both part of the permanent collection at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.[19]
- Three Sisters (1915) is part of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery collection.[20]
- Snowflakes, Studio Window (1925) is part of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
- Autumn in the Laurentians (1925) is part of the permanent collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery.[21]
Exhibitions
May exhibited frequently. She participated in the
Personal life
May never married, but was immersed in the family life of her nine brothers and sisters. After the dissolution of the Beaver Hall Group's studios, she retained close personal friendships with the remaining female artists, including Lilias Torrance Newton, Mabel Lockerby, Anne Savage, Sarah Robertson, and Nora Collyer.[14] Savage remembered her as both a painter and a person:
She was a brilliant figure at the gallery. She painted with such vigour and strength - gay, rhythmic colour using the impressionist's technique of scintillating colour. She spent some time in France, came back radiant - loved life - painted in the landscapes of the Eastern Townships, where she built up her singing happy pictures.[25]
References
- ^ Walters, Evelyn (2005). The Women of Beaver Hall: Canadian Modernist Painters. Dundurn Press. p. 71.
- ^ "Biography of Henrietta Mabel May". Jean-Pierre Valentin Gallery. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
- ^ Walters, Evelyn (2005). The Women of Beaver Hall: Canadian Modernist Painters. Toronto: Dundurn Press. p. 62.
- ^ Skelly, Julia (November 2015). "Beaver Hall Group". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
- ^ a b c "Henrietta Mabel May Biography". projects.vanartgallery.bc.ca. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- ^ Watson, William R. (April 13, 1910). "Notable Canvases in Art Exhibit. But Tone Would Have Been Improved by Elimination of Many Pictures. Review of Chief Features. What Morrice, Cullen, Brymner and Other Leaders in Canadian Art Offer This Year. ( April 05, 1910))" (PDF). Montreal Gazette. p. 4. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- ^ "May Henrietta Mabel". Canadian Women's Art Initiative. 6 June 2013.
- ^ Skelly, Julia (30 Nov 2015). "Beaver Hall Group". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
- ^ a b "The Regatta. H. Mabel May c. 1914". www.gallery.ca. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- ^ Shearer, Lynda (2006). "The Canadian Group of Painters". The Canadian Art Group. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-4871-0271-5.
- ^ "Canadian Women Artists History Initiative : Artist Database : Artists : MAY, Henrietta Mabel". cwahi.concordia.ca.
- ^ Walters, Evelyn (2005). The Women of Beaver Hall:Canadian Modernist Painters. Toronto: Dundurn Press. p. 62.
- ^ a b Skelly, Julia. "Beaver Hall Group". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- ^ Walters, Evelyn (2005). The Women of Beaver Hall: Canadian Modernist Painters. Toronto: Dundurn Press. p. 71.
- ^ "May, Henrietta Mabel". Canadian Women Artist's History Initiative. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
- ^ JSTOR 1358252.
- JSTOR 1358252.
- ^ "Henrietta Mabel May". www.collections.mnbaq.org. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
- ISBN 0-920674-47-X.
- ^ "75 Years of Collecting, The Vancouver Art Gallery". Yumpu. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
- ^ A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 (online only), by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada
- ^ Kollar, Kathryn L. Women painters of the Beaver Hall Group. Montreal: Concordia University.
- ^ "August 5, 2016". Carleton University Faculty of the Arts and Social Sciences. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
- ^ "Henrietta Mabel May, Important Canadian Artists, Sotheby's Catalog". Sotheby's. 2011. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
Further reading
- War Art in Canada: A Critical History, by Laura Brandon published by the Art Canada Institute.