This artwork 'Landscape" c.1950, is a watercolor on paper by noted British/Canadian artist Hilda Stewart, 1892-1978. It is signed at the lower right corner by the artist. The artwork (image) size is 9 x 13 inches, framed size is 17.5 x 21.5 inches. Custom framed in a brown wood frame, with brown/red color velvet liner and brown wood bevel. It is in excellent condition, the velvet liner has a small rub, see picture #1.
About the artist:
Hilda Stewart was born in 1892 in London, England. She was exposed to art an an early age, as both of her parents were artists who had studied at the Royal Academy of Art. Stewart learned drawing and painting on ivory from her mother, and completed her first portrait at the age of 12. She attended anatomy lectures at the Royal Academy of Art at age 16, studying life drawing under Harry Watson and watercolour under W.T. Wood. In 1910 at the age of 18, Stewart had a miniature accepting into the Royal Academy's annual exhibition.
Stewart taught art at London's Regent Street Polytechnic Art School (1908-1921) and showed her work in several exhibitions before she married and moved to Canada in 1921. Settling in the small community of Luseland, Saskatchewan, Stewart overcame initial feelings of isolation to become an active participant in Saskatchewan's art community. She also spent much of 1933 the Rocky Mountains, painting 82 watercolours of the scenery in three national parks.
Stewart returned to Saskatchewan to teach at the University of Saskatchewan, first at the Regina College from 1935 to 1936, and then in Saskatoon from 1937 to 1948. She also taught art and pencil portraiture through the Art Association of Saskatoon (1940-1947). Stewart exhibited her work — miniatures, still lifes, portraits, and landscapes — in Saskatchewan as well as in Vancouver, Toronto, and London England. Stewart, along with her contemporaries, including many other artists who had also immigrated from Europe (Ernest Lindner, Stanley Brunst, Leslie Saunders, and Robert Hurley), helped to organize the Saskatoon Art Association in 1937.
Stewart was commissioned by the Government of Saskatchewan to paint a portrait of the former Lieutenant Governor Dr. H.E. Munroe, and by the University of Saskatchewan to paint portraits of Chancellor Bishop Hallam, Justice Donald MacLean, Dr. Arthur S. Morton, and Dr. Stapleford.
Stewart's work is represented in the collections of the Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon), Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors, Engravers (London), MacKenzie Art Gallery (Regina), Vancouver Art Gallery, and the University of Saskatchewan.
Hilda Stewart died in Vancouver in 1978. In 1987, artists Beth and Mac Hone created a sculpture and batik panel to honour Stewart as part of their work “Saskatchewan Foremothers: A Tribute,” and in 1990 an exhibition at the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon showcased nearly 100 of Hilda Stewart's miniatures.
Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
Artexte Information Centre, QC - Documentation Centre
London Art Gallery, ON
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
Bibliograpy
Art in Saskatchewan is Subject of Section." The Gazette 18 Apr. 1942: 3.
"I know you by Heart: Portrait Miniatures opens at the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon." Marketwire 22 Mar. 2013.
"Mendel's Summer Season starts." Star - Phoenix 19 Jun. 2009: C2.
"Vigor of Design in Group of Paintings by Saskatoon Artist." The Leader Post (Regina) 3 Nov. 1938.
Bell, Lynne. Hilda Stewart R.M.S.: An Essay in Retrieving History. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Mendel Art Gallery, 1990.
Glenn, Elinor. "Miniature Artist got an Early Start..." Star-Phoenix (Saskatoon) 16 May 1946.
Gray, Sara. The Dictionary of British Women Artists. Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2009.
Heller, Jules and Nancy. North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century. New York: Garland, 1995..
MacDonald, Colin S. The Dictionary of Canadian Artists. (Volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker) Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2009..
Newman, Marketa. The Biographical Dictionary of Saskatchewan Artists, Women Artists. Saskatoon: Fifth House, 1990.
Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery. Saskatchewan: Art and Artists. Regina: Regina Public Library Art Gallery, 1971.
Petteys, Chris, et al. Dictionary of Women Artists: An International Dictionary of Women Artists Born Before 1900. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1985.
Rees, Ronald. Land of Earth and Sky: Landscape Painting of Western Canada. Western Producer Prairie Books, 1984.
Robertson, Sheila. "Art Pairs reflect Changing Times." Star - Phoenix 14 Jun. 1997: D9.
Robertson, Sheila. "Mendel Show reflects 'Strong Tradition' of Art in Saskatoon." Star - Phoenix 01 Aug. 1998: C12.
Sparling, Mary, et al.. Art Gallery, Mount Saint Vincent University: Annual Report 1991-92. Halifax, Nova Scotia: The Art Gallery, Mount Saint Vincent University, 1992.
Swanson, Jean. "A Glimpse of the Lives of Two Painters." Star-Phoenix (Saskatoon) 11 Aug. 1944.
Teitelbaum, Mashel. "Miniatures by Mrs. Stewart." The Sheaf Saskatoon: University of Saskatchewan, 20 February 1940.
Walsh, Meeka and Robert Enright. "Dance with Steel: the Sculpture of Robert Murray." Border Crossings 18.2 (May 1999): 30-43..
