Emily Coonan
Emily Coonan (March 25, 1885 – June 23, 1971) was a Canadian artist.[1]
The daughter of William Coonan, a machinist for the Grand Trunk Railway, and Mary Anne Fullerton, she was born in the Pointe-Saint-Charles neighbourhood of Montreal and was educated at the nearby St. Ann's Academy for Girls.[2] She went on to study at the Conseil des arts & metiers and then at the Art Association of Montreal with William Brymner. In 1912, she visited France, Belgium and Holland with Mabel May. In 1914, Coonan received a travel grant from the National Gallery of Canada and, in 1916, she received a scholarship from the Montreal Women's Art Society which allowed her to return to Europe. She became a member of the Beaver Hall Group in 1921.[3]
Unlike the other members of the Beaver Hall Group who were members of Montreal's Protestant upper class, Coonan was a devout Roman Catholic from a working-class background. She took inspiration from the French impressionists and James Wilson Morrice.[2] Although she continue to paint later in life, Coonan stopped participating in public exhibitions after 1933.[3]
She died in Montreal at the age of 86.[1]
Her works are included in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.[2]
References
- 1 2 "Emily Coonan". National Gallery of Canada.
- 1 2 3 Walters, Evelyn (2005). The Women of Beaver Hall: Canadian Modernist Painters. Dundurn. pp. 27–36. ISBN 1550025880.
- 1 2 "Coonan, Emily". Canadian Women Artists History Initiative. Concordia University.