Helen McNicoll, Impressionist Painter
Gifted Woman Artist in Era of Neglected Canadian Art History
Jul 5, 2008
Applying delicate and subtle brush strokes, the young artist imbued her canvas with light ,dancing across fields and flora. She studied under European artists to become one of Canada’s finest impressionist painters, yet her name is not renowned.
The daughter of well-to-do parents, Helen Galloway McNicoll was born in Toronto, Ontario on December 14, 1879. Her father was part of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, and the family moved to Montreal, Quebec when she was one year old. At age two Helen was struck with scarlet fever, a streptococcal infection that was considered serious in the time before penicillin was introduced. The illness left her deaf, unable to hear the world around her. She was not daunted though - Helen learned to lip-read, said Collections Canada.
Arts Training in Europe
As she grew up, Helen’s family encouraged her artistic ability. At 20 years old, she attended classes at the Art Association of Montreal, with professional artist William Brymner as her instructor. She continued her artistic training abroad, enrolling in the Slade Art School of the University of London, in England, transferring to the coastal artist’s colony of St. Ives in Cornwall after a short stint in France. Helen’s impressionist style was formed while in Europe, especially during her training with famed impressionist painter Algernon Talmage at St. Ives, according to Cybermuse Gallery. While at St. Ives, Helen met Dorothea Sharp, who was to become her long-time friend and colleague in bringing women’s art to light in what was considered a man’s world.
Not required to sell her paintings for living expenses since she was supported by her family, Helen sent her paintings home to be enjoyed by relatives. Her paintings were displayed in Canadian exhibitions of the Art Association of Montreal and the Royal Canadian Academy in 1906. The AAM awarded the 1908 Jessie Dow Prize to both Helen McNicoll and W. H. Clapp for “excellence of work in oil or watercolour.” Helen’s work was included in the exhibits of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1913, and, stated Collections Canada, she was also elected to their membership. A year later, the Women’s Art Society recognized Helen with their Prize. The Royal Canadian Academy of Art also made her part of their Associate membership in 1914.
Talented Impressionist Painter
Helen McNicoll was viewed as a talented impressionist painter known for “capturing the evocative nature of light and its effects on the environment.” Her art featured women and children, flowers and nature. The author of Helen McNicoll: A Canadian Impressionist (1999, published by Art Gallery of Ontario), Natalie Luckyj said “McNicoll’s radiant women, children and sunlit landscapes distill the essence of an epoch largely neglected in Canadian art history.”
At the young age of 36, Helen died from diabetes in Swanage, England on June 28, 1915. Though previously not recognized as one of the prominent artistic elite (and what a shame that is), Helen McNicoll gradually became known as Canada’s impressionist jewels. In 1925, the Art Association of Montreal displayed over 140 of her fine paintings and sketches, and later, her work was exhibited in Toronto. Her wonderful work has since been exhibited at art museums across Canada. Gaining in popularity, one of Helen’s paintings was expected to sell for $35,000 to $45, 000 this year. The painting, entitled Orchard, circa 1910, sold for $92,000 at the Spring 2008 Live Auction, according to Heffel, Canada’s National Fine Art Auction House.
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