NORA COLLYER, (1898 - 1979)
Nora Collyer was born in Montreal. She studied at the Art Association of Montreal, one of the few art institutions that admitted female students at the time. The school was directed by RCA president, William Brymner. At the AAM (which later became the Montreal Museum of Fine Art), she received professional instruction from Brymner and landscape artist, Maurice Cullen. In 1921 she joined fellow AAM graduates at their studio at 305 Beaver Hill Hall. This association of artists called themselves the Beaver Hall Group. The three story house offered the artists inexpensive studio space and A large room on the ground floor, which served as their exhibition gallery. Nora shared a studio in fellow AAM colleague, Anne Savage. The group was connected to the Group of Seven by A.Y.Jackson, who was a member of both groups and they were invited to exhibit together. The group had disbanded after only two years, but the women in the group continued to associate together.
In the years that followed, Nora taught drawing at Trafalgar School and at the AAM with Sarah Robertson. She participated in the Spring Exhibitions of the AAM from 1919 to 1955. Her choice of subject matter included potraits, still life and landscapes portrayed in different seasons of the year. She also exhibited with the RCA from 1922 to 1942 and with the Canadian Group of Painters. She held solo shows at the Dominion Gallery (1946) and at the Walter Klinkhoff Gallery (1964). Nora Collyer was a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists. The women of the Beaver Hall Group were honoured with an exhibition of their work at the National Gallery of Canada in 1967. Nora Collyer died in Montreal at the age of 81.
MABEL LOCKERBY, (1882 - 1976)
Born 1887, in Montreal, Mabel Lockerby studied at the Art Association of Montreal under William Brymner. Her talent was recognized there and she won a scholarship for drawing in 1903. She exhibited at the AAM Spring Exhibition for the first time in 1914 and the following year at the Royal Canadian Academy's Annual Exhibition. She became a founding member of the Beaver Hall Group, exhibiting in their 1921 Exhibition. After the original Beaver Hall Group disbanded, Mabel Lockerby found artistic comraderie and support among the other remaining Beaver Hall women. Between 1925 and 1928, two of her paintings were acquired by the National Gallery of Canada for their permanent collection.
Mabel Lockerby was elected member of the Canadian Group of Painters in 1939 and the Contemporary Arts Society in 1940. She participated in a four woman exhibition with Kathleen Morris, Pegi Nicol MacLeod and Marian Scott at The Print Room of the Art Gallery of Toronto in 1941. This exhibition was followed a few years later by a six woman exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art along with Kathleen Morris, Anne Savage, Ethel Seath, Nora Collyer and Beatrice Hampson. She exhbited for the last time at the Art Association of Montreal in 1956, but continued to paint. She died in Montreal in 1976.
SARAH ROBERTSON, (1891 - 1948)
Born 1891, in Montreal, Sarah Robertson received a Wood Scholarship and began her art studies at the Art Association of Montreal in 1910. There she studied under William Brymner and Maurice Cullen and fellow Wood Scholarship winner, Randolph Hewton. She exhibited at the AAMs annual Spring Exibition for the first time in 1912. She became fast friends with fellow AAM student, Prudence Heward, spending time each summer at the Hewards summer home on the St.Lawrence River. The two young artists sketched together and were often joined by other artists, including close friend, A.Y. Jackson. Sarah became a member of the Beaver Hall Group, and kept the women artists together after the original group disbanded. Jackson recognized her status as unofficial leader of the group, encouraging her to, Stir your gang on!.
She won the Womens Art Society Scholarship twice,in 1919 and 1923 and exhibited for the first time at the Royal Canadian Academys annual exhibition in 1920. She traveled to Bermuda with Nora Collyer on a sketching trip at the end of the 1920s. She became a founding member of the Canadian Group of Painters in 1933 and participated in a three woman show with Prudence Heward and Isabel McLaughlin the following year. As she was unable to afford a studio for most of her career, she was often forced to work under less that favourable conditions. However, she was pleased to have her paintings represented in the collection of important Canadians such as the Hon. Vincent Massey, H.S. Southam, and A.Y. Jackson. Robertsons work was also included in international exhibitions abroad, including Wembley, England. In 1940, she participated in a four woman exhibition at Art Associan of Montreal, together with Prudence Heward, Anne Savage, and Ethel Seath. When Prudence Heward died in 1947, she was called upon to help organize her Memorial Exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada. Her own health had begun to decline and she died in December of 1948. Her paintings are represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
EMILY COONAN, (1885 - 1971)
Emily Coonan was born in the Point St. Charles area of Montreal in 1885. Although her family was not wealthy, her parents nurtured her artistic talent, sending her for art training at the Conseil des Arts et Manufactures. She attended twice weekly classes there for several years. In 1905, Emily enrolled at the Art Association of Montreal under William Brymner, who recognized her talent. She won first prize at the annual student exhibition in 1907. She exhibited in the AAM Spring exhibition for the first time the following year. She began to exhibit regularly at the RCAs annual exhibition in 1910.
Brymner taught appreciation of the French Impressionists, and in 1912, Emily traveled to Europe with fellow student, Mabel May. She returned the following year and exhibited , once again, in the AAMs annual Spring Exhibition. Her work in that exhibition was harshly criticized by the anti-impressionist art critic, S. Morgan-Powell. Later, that same year, she was awarded a traveling scholarship by the National Gallery of Canada. Sadly, she and the other winners were unable to make use of it until after World War I. Following the war, she traveled to Florence, Venice and other parts of Europe, painting landscape. Having spent a year in Europe, she returned to Montreal where she rented a studio at 305 Beaver Hall. She kept the studio at Beaver Hall from 1922 to 1924, and exhibited with other Beaver Hall members. During this time she focused on figure and portrait painting. One of the paintings she exhibited at the 1925 RCA Exhibition was purchased by the National Gallery of Canada. Over the years the NGC acquired three of her works for its permanent collection.
Emily Connan exhibited with the RCA and AAM for the last time in 1933. It is not clear why retired from public exhibition at the height of her powers, however, she continued to paint privately, away from the artistic community. She died in Montreal in 1971.
MABEL MAY, (1884 - 1971)
Mabel May was born in Westmount, Montreal in 1884. Although she displayed
an early talent for painting she did not enter art school until her twentyfifth
year. She enrolled in classes at the Art Association of Montreal then directed
by RCA president, William Brymner. She excelled there, earning two annual
scholarships. May received much encouragement from Brymner, and expressed
lifelong gratitude for his support.
Following studies at the AAM, she and fellow graduate, Emily Coonan, traveled to France to study art. While in France, she became a devotee of the Impressionists, Claude Monet and Renoir. She was also strongly attracted to the work of Matisse. She and Coonan traveled widely in Europe, visiting galleries, museums and sketching. She returned to Montreal with her European paintings, one of which was acquired by the National Gallery of Canada in 1913. During the war, she received a commission from the Canadian War Memorial to paint women working in a munitions factory. She completed several canvases on this theme. She was elected an associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1916.
With the intention of finding inexpensive studio space, May and fellow AAM graduates, Randolph Hewton, Edwin Holgate, and Lilias Newton rented a three-story house at 305 Beaver Hall Hill in 1920. Asking several colleagues from their AAM years to join them, they formed the Beaver Hall Group. They elected fellow Montrealler and friend, A.Y.Jackson to be their president. He exhibited with them and, in turn, invited them to participate in Group of Seven exhibitions. The Beaver Hall Group disbanded after only two years, but a core group of women artists continued to associate together for many years to come.
In 1933, Mabel May became a founding member of the Canadian Group of Painters, an offshoot of the Group of Seven. In 1938, she was appointed superintendant of Children's Classes at the National Gallery in Ottawa. While in Ottawa, she exhibited at James Wilson & Co gallery. She returned to Montreal in 1947. Before she retired to Vancouver in 1950, she held a retrospective exhibition and sale of over 100 works at the Dominion Gallery. She continued to be active in Vancouver, where she died in 1971. Her work is found in the collections of many fine Canadian institutions such as the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, N.B., the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
Ref:
A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, by Colin s. MacDonald, Published by Canadian Paperbacks, Ottawa, 1979
ANNE SAVAGE, (1896 - 1971)
Anne Savage was born in Montreal, a descendant on her mothers side, of Sir Alexander Galt, one of Canadas Fathers of Confederation. The family spent summers at Lake Wonish, Quebec, which belonged to the Savage family. In 1914, she began studies at the Art Association of Montreal (later the Montreal Museum of Fine Art), under the direction of William Brymner. She proved to be an excellent student, winning an AAM scholarship in 1915. She was devastated when her twin Brother, Donaldson, was killed in the battle of the Somme in 1916. As twins, they had been very close, sharing each others hopes and dreams for the future. His death was a defining moment for Anne and she decided that she must now succeed for both of them.
She continued studies at the AAM, exhibiting work in the Spring Exhibition of 1917. AAM director, William Brymner, was President of the Royal Canadian Academy (1909-1918), and Anne was also able to exhibit at the RCA Annual Exhibition the following year. After completing studies at the AAM, she worked for a time as a medical artist in Military hospitals in Montreal and Toronto. She continued to work as a medical artist in Minneapolis, Minnesota, while studying at the Minneapolis School of Design in 1919/20. Returning to Montreal, she became one of the founding members of the Beaver Hall Group. Group of Seven member, A.Y. Jackson was a member of both groups, and She participated in Group of Seven exhibitions. He became a lifelong friend. Although the Beaver Hall Group survived only two years, the women artists of the group formed a strong bond which lasted decades.
In 1922, she began to teach high school art at Baron Byng School. She had not planned to be a teacher, but found that she had an aptitude for it and made it her second career. She developed her own teaching methods based on her belief in the inherent creativity of children. She taught at Baron Byng School until 1948 while pursuing her personal artistic ambitions. She became a founding member of the Canadian Group of Painters (1933), and participated in sketching trips with A.Y. Jackson and other artists. Her early experiences at Lake Wonish contributed to her love of landscape painting. She was elected as vice president of the Canadian Group of Painters in 1939.
Throughout the 1940s she often exhibited with other women of the Beaver Hall Group. She received several awards for excellence as an art educator in Quebec, and traveled to Alberta for the summer to teach at the Banff School of Fine Arts. She taught a course in Art Education at McGill Univeristy between 1954 and 1959. During the 1950s, it became more difficult for her and other members of the Beaver Hall Gang to be accepted for juried exhibitions at the RCA and the CGP. Portraiture and and landscape painting and representational work in general fell out of favour. She continued to actively pursue painting, however, and exhibited at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Her students organized a retrospective exhibition of her work at Sir George Williams University in 1969, two years before her death in Pierrefonds, Quebec in 1971.
PRUDENCE HEWARD, (1896 - 1947)
Born in 1896, to a prosperous Montréal family, Prudence Heward received her formal art training at the Art Association of Montreal (AAM). One of the few art institutions which admitted female students at the time, it was run by RCA president, William Brymner. There, she received instruction in drawing from Brymner and landscape painting from Maurice Cullen. Prudence won an AAM scholarship in 1912 and exhibited her work, for the first time, at the AAM spring exhibition, in 1914. In 1916, Prudence moved to England to serve with the Red Cross with her mother and sisters, in order to be near her brothers who were in the armed forces. Upon her return to Montreal, she resumed her studies at the AAM in 1918.
Following her graduation from the AAM she studied in Paris, where she met fellow artist, Isabel McLaughlin, who would become her lifelong friend. Considered by critics and collectors to be either dilettantes or hobbyists, female artists were extremely marginalized at the time. This prejudice made it difficult for women to be recognized as serious artists. It was, therefore, advantageous to associate with like-minded women artists. In the 1920s, Heward was invited by women of the Beaver Hall Group, (Mabel May, Anne Savage, Mabel Lockerby, Sarah Robertson, Lilias Newton, and Nora Collyer), to be part of their unofficial artists society. In 1933, she was also co-founder of the Canadian Group of Painters, and served as co-vice-president along with A.Y. Jackson. (Lawren Harris was president). In 1939, Heward was a founding member of the Contemporary Arts Society. The first solo exhibition of her work was at the Scott Gallery in Montréal, in 1932. She continued to exhibit with the Beaver Hall women in 1934, (in Toronto and Montréal); in 1940, (in Toronto) and in 1945, (in Windsor). The increased opportunities for showing her work and the recognition accorded it, led to increased sales and prices. Works by Heward can be found in several Canadian galleries including the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, as well as private collections.
Heward had never been of robust constitution, and an automobile accident exacerbated the asthma she had
suffered from since childhood. She died in March of 1947, in Los Angeles where she had traveled for medical treatment. A memorial exhibition of Hewards work was shown at the National Gallery in March of 1948.
KATHLEEN MORRIS, (1893 - 1986)
Kathleen Morris was born in 1893, to a middle-class family in Montreal. She stayed for a time in the home of her mothers cousin, the artist Robert Harris. During her stay with them, he did a drawing of her which sparked an interest in drawing. She received encouragement from Harris and she enrolled at the Art Association of Montreal in 1907. She also participated in Maurice Cullens summer landscape painting classes. She exhibited for the first time at the AAMs annual Spring Exhibition in 1914. Two years later she began to exhibit with the Royal Canadian Academy.
The First World War intervened in the studies of AAM students. Kathleen left the AAM in 1917, and her brother,Jim, served overseas with the the Black Watch regiment. She moved to Ottawa with her mother in 1923, but returned to Quebec for annual winter sketching trips in Berthierville. Through her friends and fellow AAM alumni, Morris was invited to become part of the Beaver Hall women group. She was elected an Associate of the RCA in 1929, the same year she returned to Montreal permanently.
She exhibited extensively. Her first solo exhibition was at the Art Association of Montreals Print Room, in 1939. Two years later she participated in an exhibition with Mabel Lockerby, Pegi Nicol-Macleod and Marian Scott at the Art Gallery of Toronto. Another solo exhibition followed in 1945, at the Harris Memorial Gallery, in Charlottetown. Another Beaver Hall women group exhibition came in 1950, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art. Her last solo exhibition took place in 1976, at Walter Klinkhoff Gallery.
On seeing her work in a 1962 exhibition at the Arts Club, Montreal, Dorothy Pfeiffer, arts writer for the Montreal Gazette, wrote, No one could observe this cheery work without feeling a sense of participation, as if watching the scene from a hidden window. Such painting...is technically authoritative, the personal expression of the joy of life...by a gifted, forthright, fearless artist. Elected a member of the Canadian Group of Painters in 1940, her work is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada; the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ont; and the UofT to mention a few. She died in 1986 at the age of 93.
ETHEL SEATH, (1879 - 1963)
Born 1879 in Montreal, PQ, Ethel Seath studied drawing as a child with Miss Stone. She joined the staff of the Montreal Witness newspaper as an illustrator in 1895. While working, she continued her art studies at the Conseil des Arts et Manufactures. She joined the staff of the Montreal Star in 1901, continuing her illustration career. With the money saved from her newspaper work, she enrolled at the Art Association of Montreal under William Brymner and Maurice Cullen. She exhibited at the AAM Spring Exhibition for the first time in 1905 and at the Royal Canadian Academys Annual Exhibition for the first time in 1906. She also studied with Charles Hawthorne in Provincetown, Massachusetts. She was a member of the Beaver Hall Group and participated in their first exhibition in 1921. Seath was elected a member of the Canadian Group of Painters in 1939 and a member of the Contemporary Arts Society the following year. In the years between 1940 and 1952, she exhibited five times with fellow members of the Beaver Hall Group women.
She taught childrens art classes at the Art Association in Montreal during the Depression. She exhibited with the RCA in 1906-1938, and the AAM in 1905-1956, and her work is in the collections of the AGO and NGC. Robert Ayre, reviewing her 1962 show at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts for the Montreal Star says,Miss Seaths first concern is with colour and design. She gets them both from the earth and the fruits of the earth...But while she clings to the things which she knows and loves, she has a strong sense of their abstract qualities, which she emphasizes especially in some of her still life compositions. She died in Montreal at the age of 84.
Biographical Reference:
A Dictionary of Canadian Artists - Volumes 1-7, by Colin s. MacDonald, Published by Canadian Paperbacks, Ottawa, 1967 - 1997
Painting Friends, The Beaver Hall Women Painters, by Barbara Meadowcroft, Véhiclue Press, Montreal, 1999
LILIAS TORRENCE NEWTON, (1896 - 1980)
Born in Lachine, Quebec, Lilias Torrance Newton exhibited an early talent for painting. She attended the junior elementary class at the Art Association of Montreal, winning two scholarships over her years there. She exhibited at the annual exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1916, for the first time, at the age of twenty. During the First World War, she and her mother traveled overseas to serve in the Red Cross. Three of her brothers fought at the Front, one did not return. Before her return to Canada, she studied for a time in London, under the artist, Alfred Wolmark.
She exhibited in the Spring Exhibition at the Art Association of Montreal upon her return to Canada. In 1920, she founded the Beaver Hall Group of artists along with Edwin Holgate, Randolph Hewton and Mabel May. In 1921, two of her paintings were acquired by the National Gallery of Canada. Following her marriage to Fred Newton, she traveled to Europe for further studies in Paris. She exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1923, where her portrait painting of Denise Lamontagne recieved honorable mention. A founding Member of the Canadian Group of Painters in 1933, by this time Newton had begun to make a name for herself as a leading portraitist. Her portraiture style was refreshing and informal. Over the years she painted many noted Canadians, including politicians and businessmen and socialites. In 1957, with her portait of HRH Queen Elizabeth II, she became the first Canadian to paint an official portrait of the reigning monarch. she also painted many of her artist colleagues, such as A.Y. Jackson, Lawren Harris, Andre Bieler and many others. These were her most powerful works, owing to the warmth her connection to her friends. In time she was recognized as Canadas most celebrated portraitist.
Lilias Torrance Newton was also an art educator. For several years, she taught with Edwin Holgate at the Art Association of Montreal. She had many exhibitions with her distinguished colleagues, including a four woman show at the Print Room, with Prudence Heward, Anne Savage, and Ethel Seath. Her last solo exhibition was ath Victoria College in Toronto in 1958. She died in Cowansville, Quebec in 1980.
An important group of early twentieth
Canadian artists was largely forgotten until 1966 when the National
Gallery of Canada mounted a traveling exhibition entitled The Beaver Hall Hill Group. In the 1960s, when
feminism was growing in strength, the exhibit focused attention on a group of women artists who had formed
an association in Montreal. The title of the exhibition was somewhat of a misnomer, as the Montreal group
which formed in 1920 called themselves the "Beaver Hall Group", (referring to the address of the their
shared studio at 305 Beaver Hall Hill). The group, at its inception, included both men and women, most of
whom had studied under William Brymner at the Art Association of Montreal,(now the Montreal Museum of Fine
Arts).
The notoriety of the all-male Group of Seven overshadowed the Montreal group in early art history books.
There was, however, a connection between the famous Group of Seven and the lesser-known Beaver Hall Group.
Montreal born, A.Y. Jackson was a member and voted President of the Beaver Hall Group. He, in turn invited
Beaver Hall Group members to exhibit with the Group of Seven. The original Beaver Hall Group survived only
two years, though some of them maintained studio space there until 1924. A nucleus of 6 women from the
original group, Mabel May, Anne Savage, Mabel Lockerby, Sarah Robertson, Lilias Newton, and Nora Collyer
were joined by Prudence Heward, Kathleen Morris and Ethel Seath to form a support network that lasted for
over thirty years.
For the most part, in the early years of the Twentieth Century, women were excluded from participation in
professional art academies and associations. The Art Association of Montreal, under the direction of
William Brymer was one of the few art institutions which were open to female students. Classes began at
the elementary level and continued to advanced courses in painting, drawing, portraiture and composition.
William Brymner was president of the Royal Canadian Academy and maintained a very high standard of
instruction, based on the art schools in Paris. Brymner was himself a graduate
of the Académie Julian. It
was his primary goal to prepare his students for a professional career in art.
Unlike other distinguished art institutions of the time, women made up the majority of students at the Art
Association of Montreal. This was because male students had many more options for study, and classes at
the AAM were very expensive. The cost of tuition limited enrollment to the middle and upper classes.
Highly motivated, but less wealthy students, such as Ethel Seath had to work in order to afford classes.
While young men could further their art studies abroad or at other institutions, the professional art
training of most female students began and ended at the AAM.
Training at the Art Association of Montreal included landscape painting with the distinguished painter,
Maurice Cullen. Cullen's course of study included sketching trips into the countryside of rural Quebec
each spring. Kathleen Morris, Prudence Heward and Ethel Seath, along with fellow students, Jack and Robert
Pilot took part in these excursions. The habit of sketching together was a valuable experience which
became a lifelong practice among the Beaver Hall women.
The First World War interrupted studies and the female artists served in many ways. Mabel May participated
in Lord Beaverbrook's "Canada at War" program to commemorate Canada's participation in the war effort. She
received a commission to paint women working in a munitions factory. Prudence Heward and Lilias Newton
traveled to England to serve with the Red Cross. Many were touched by the loss of close family members
during the war years.
The important role that Canada played in the war effort had a profound effect on the Canadian psyche.
Canadians began to view themselves as an independent nation, separate from Britain. This new nationalism
had a profound influence on the direction of art in Canada. It was still a struggle, however, for Canadian
artists to get their work represented in important commercial galleries, whose
clientéle still viewed
Canadian art as inferior. Female artists, in addition, had to deal with the prejudice of a conservative
public, which continued to view women artists as dilettantes and hobbyists. In order to promote their work
and develop new markets, artists felt the need to join forces in artist societies. The years following WWI
saw the formation of two important art groups, the Group of Seven in Toronto and the Beaver Hall Group in
Montreal.
A.Y. Jackson, a founding member of the Group of Seven, was also a member of the Beaver Hall Group. Members
of each group were invited to exhibit with the other. The house at 305 Beaver Hall Hill offered, much
needed, inexpensive studio space. The founding members were Mabel May, Lilias Newton, Edwin Holgate, and
Randolf Hewton, who then invited friends, Anne Savage and Mabel Lockerby to join. They held their first
exhibition in 1921. Among those exhibiting with them were, Randolph Hewton, Edwin Holgate, A.Y. Jackson,
Mabel Lockerby, Mabel May, Lilias Newton, H.R. Perrigard, Robert Pilot, Anne Savage and Adam Sheriff Scott.
The exhibition prompted a reaction in the press. Jackson spoke at the exhibition's opening, emphasizing
that "Schools and 'isms' do not trouble us; individual expression is our chief concern".
Two years and four exhibitions later, the Beaver Hall Group disbanded, perhaps due to financial problems.
The studio space was maintained for a further two years. During that time, it was frequented by women
artists. Lilias Newton and Mabel May taught art classes for women on Saturday mornings. Emily Coonan
rented a small studio there, and Nora Collyer shared studio space with Anne Savage. In that brief time,
305 Beaver Hall Hill was more that just a place to paint, it became a club, a friendly place to meet and
discuss ideas. In 1924, when the artists could no longer afford the studio space, the remaining Beaver
Hall women were Mabel May, Lilias Newton, Mabel Lockerby, Anne Savage, Sarah Robertson and Nora Collyer.
They formed a network which expanded to include Prudence Heward, Kathleen Morris and Ethel Seath. The group
continued without an official name. They maintained separate studios but kept in close contact, often
traveling and painting together.
In 1933, several women of the Beaver Hall Group were instrumental in founding the Canadian Group of
Painters. This new art society was created in response to the economic crisis of the Depression. It can
also be considered an expansion of the Group of Seven. Among the founders were Prudence Heward, Sarah
Robertson, Anne Savage, Mabel May and Lilias Newton. Lawren Harris was elected president, and A.Y. Jackson
and Prudence Heward shared the post of Vice President. The new group continued to promote a Canadian
nationalism in art. All the women of the Beaver Hall Group participated in the debut exhibition of the CGP
at the Art Gallery of Toronto in 1933.
It was a struggle for a woman to be recognized as a serious artist at that time in history, so the CGP
could not take the place of the Beaver Hall women's own unofficial artist's "society". They continued to
actively seek each others company and support. A.Y. Jackson recognized Sarah Robertson as the unofficial
leader of the group. In 1928, he encouraged her to "Stir your gang on!" Among themselves, they called
themselves simply, "our little group". Jackson called them alternately the "Gang", or the "Montreal
Group". However unofficial, the group had a cohesiveness that spanned decades. It was Norah McCullough,
of the National Gallery of Canada, who designated them with the title of "Beaver Hall", for the National
Gallery of Canada's traveling exhibition in 1966.
Bibliography: Painting Friends: The Beaver Hall Women Painters, by Barbara
Meadowcroft, published 1999 by Véhicule Press, Que.
Suggested Reading
Painting Friends, The Beaver Hall Women Painters, by Barbara
Meadowcroft, Véhiclue Press, Montreal, 1999 The Women of Beaver Hall - Canadian
Modernist Painters, by Evelyn Walters, Dundurn Pres, Toronto, 2005
