Unity Bainbridge
| Unity Bainbridge | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1916 Victoria, British Columbia |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Education | Vancouver School of Art 1932-1936 |
| Known for | Drawing, Painting, Writing |
| Movement | Modernism, Contemporary Realism |
| Awards | Order of British Columbia 1993 |
Unity Bainbridge Order of British Columbia, (b. 1916) is a Canadian artist and writer of poetry inspired by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and its landscape.
Early life
Unity Bainbridge was born in Victoria, British Columbia, 1916.[1]
Education
Bainbridge studied in Vancouver at the then newly formed Vancouver School of Art from 1932-1936 under Grace Melvin and Charles H. Scott. "She regrets not having the Group of Seven's Frederick Varley as a teacher and wishes that she had known Emily Carr. "[2]
Career
Bainbridge, in the early 1930s trekked through a vast area of British Columbia's remote wilderness. She preferred to work alone and shunned most art groups. She was invited to join the Canadian Portrait Academy as a Founding Academician, but declined this offer.
Throughout her career she continued to work in graphite and watercolours as her primary medium often adding poetic titles if not full poems about the subjects she was depicting.
She met Lawren Harris in Vancouver in the 1930s and met A.Y. Jackson in Toronto. They were both impressed with her trekking to remote places in B.C. to work.[3] "In 1976 and 1977 she gathered together images she had made on repeated trips to communities between Pemberton and Lillooet. The works comprise Songs of Seton and Lullaby of Lillooet, two small books Bainbridge published in limited editions."[2]
Exhibitions
Royal Canadian Academy Exhibition, 1938[2]
Seymour Art Gallery, July 2 - August 15, 1986[4]
Seymour Art Gallery, October 25 - November, 1989[4]
Seymour Art Gallery, 1990[4]
Heffel Gallery, Early British Columbian Woman Artists, June 1995.[2]
West Vancouver Museum and Archives, Generations: Five Decades of Art in West Vancouver, 1999.[5]
Collections
Buckingham Palace[3]
Canada House, London[3]
Awards
Bainbridge received the Order of British Columbia in 1993.[6]
Publications
Artists' Books
- Songs of Seton (1975–76)
- Lullaby of Lillooet (1977)
Group Exhibition Catalogue
- Seymour Art Gallery: A North Shore Beginning (1990)
References
- ↑ Carolan, Trevor (June 25, 2007). "A Portrait of North Shore Painter Unity Bainbridge". Vancouver Art Scene. Vancouver Art Scene. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 Clark, Michael (1996). "Unity Bainbridge: Vancouver Artist". Visions in the making (the official publication of the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design). Vancouver, British Columbia: Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. 2 (2): 7.
- 1 2 3 Jacob, Evelyn (November 25, 1992). "The right stuff: WV painter Unity Bainbridge". NOW Weekly Dining and Entertainment Section. North Shore News. North Vancouver, British Columbia. pp. 25, 35, 48.
- 1 2 3 Seymour Art Gallery: A North Shore Beginning. North Vancouver, British Columbia: Seymour Art Gallery. 1990. p. 23.
- ↑ "Straight Choices". Georgia Straight. Vancouver, B.C. September 2, 1999. p. 6.
- ↑ Province of British Columbia (1993). "O.B.C. Biography - Unity Bainbridge". protocol.gov.bc.ca.