Western University Scholarship@Western McIntosh Gallery Campus Units and Special Collections 2017 The Art of London: 1830-1980 Nancy Geddes Poole Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/mcintoshpub Part of the Fine Arts Commons, and the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Recommended Citation Poole, Nancy Geddes, "The Art of London: 1830-1980" (2017). McIntosh Gallery. 1. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/mcintoshpub/1 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Campus Units and Special Collections at Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in McIntosh Gallery by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. The ART of LONDON 1830-1980 by Nancy Geddes Poole. e-Book Published by: Nancy Geddes Poole 2017 Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Poole, Nancy Geddes, 1930- The Art of London, 1830-1980 Bibliography: p. ISBN 978-0-9959283-0-5 1. Art, Canadian – Ontario – London – History. 2. Art, Modern – Ontario – London – History. 3. Artists – Ontario - London. I. Title. N6547. L66P6 1984 709’.713’26 C85-098067-4 II Table of Contents Forward ......................................................................................................................III Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................ IX Chapter 1 The Early Years 1830-1854 ........................................................... 1 Chapter 2 Art in the Young City ....................................................................... 19 Chapter 3 Judson and Peel ................................................................................. 38 Chapter 4 Art Flourishes in the 1880s ........................................................ 56 Photograph Collection One ..................................................................................... 73 Chapter 5 London Women and Art ................................................................ 97 Chapter 6 The Turn of the Century ............................................................ 113 Chapter 7 Two Art Galleries for London ................................................. 123 Photograph Collection Two ..................................................................................... 142 Chapter 8 A New Era Begins ........................................................................... 158 Chapter 9 London Artists in the 1960s .................................................... 179 Photograph Collection Three .............................................................................. 202 Chapter 10 The First Steps Toward a New Gallery .............................. 218 Chapter 11 The Gallery Versus the Library Board ............................... 239 Chapter 12 The Struggle for the New Gallery Continues .................. 259 Chapter 13 The Dream Comes True ............................................................. 276 Photograph Collection Four ............................................................................... 292 Chapter 14 A Summing Up ................................................................................. 306 Chronology of Committees ................................................................................... 312 Footnotes .................................................................................................................. 314 Selected Bibliography ............................................................................................. 344 Index of Names of Artists and Art Supporters 1830-1980 ................... 350 Photographic Credits .............................................................................................. 408 II Forward On August 1, 1981, the day after I had completed my contract as the interim director of the London Regional Art Gallery, I began exploring the idea of writing a history of art in London. Barry Fair, Registrar at the Gallery, was the first to challenge me with this suggestion, and others confirmed that a record of this segment of London's history should, indeed, be written. Believing that my friend the late Lenore Crawford was the person best qualified for the task, I tried to convince her to write the story. Even after she stated firmly that she was not interested, I still was not sure that I should undertake this task. Only after Or. A. M. J. Hyatt, Chairman of the History Department at the University of Western Ontario, declared that he would accept me as a candidate for a Masters Degree, did I seriously consider doing such a project. In fact, it was Dr. Hyatt who urged me to spend the next three years writing a history of art in London, rather than a dissertation. I had two principal aims when I began to write this history of art in London from 1830 to 1980. The first was to discover what had occurred in art circles in the nineteenth century, and the second was to set down the sequence of events which led up to the opening of the London Regional Art Gallery. I wanted to know once and for all exactly what had happened in my community. So, I began a new adventure, learning to find and then to organize essential material. I read several faded diaries for the use of which I am indebted to R. C. Chapman, Emily Elliot, and the Harris family. I also received important material from Dougie Betts, Marion Bice, Lenore Crawford, Irene Dewdney, Emily Elliott, Elaine Hagarty, William Heine, Barbara Ivey, Ann Kemp, Ann Lowry, Jake Moore, Jamie Reaney, Larry Russell, Elizabeth Spicer, Albert Templar, and Tony Urquhart. I am deeply indebted to Edward Phelps who is in charge of the Regional Collection in the Weldon Library at the University of Western Ontario. Mr. Phelps was always very generous. He has given me a great deal of assistance, encouragement, and advice over the past three years. On numerous occasions, he found new and important material for me, and also generously shared his editorial experience. No request, great or III small, seemed to trouble Mr. Phelps and his staff of John H. Lutman, Sheila A. Johnson, Stephen Peters, Isabel Campbell, Clarke Leverett, and Guy St. Denis. I am indebted to Beth Miller and her able assistant Molly Farmer for their enthusiastic support and assistance. Also, the wise advice of Professor J. J. Talman was essential, not only to my research but also to my writing. Professor Peter Neary, Professor James Reaney, Maurice Stubbs, Kate Virtue, Lynne DiStefano, Barbara Langtvet, David Falls, Susan Skaith, Catherine Elliot, and Alexandra Haldane all supplied me with important material. I am also grateful to E. Stanley Beacock,A the Director of the London Public Library and Historical Museums and his Secretary, Pat Pane, who arranged for me to have access to the minute- books of the Mechanics Institute, the Western Art League, the London Public Library Board, the Art Museum Board of Trustees, and their various committees. Mr. Beacock and his staff made sure that I had quiet, comfortable office space at the Library for the many weeks that it took to examine all the documents. Curator Christopher Severance granted me permission to work in the archives of the London Historical Museums where the assistance and knowledge of Joanne Reynolds was indispensable. At Eldon House, Brigitte Laforce provided much material, as did Glen Curnoe at the London Room, and Janet Hunten at Fanshawe Village. I am also indebted to members of the Harris family for their permission to use pictures and material from the Harris Collection. Evan McGugan and his staff were extremely cooperative in providing the minute-books of the Western Fair Board and its committees. Since the first two volumes of minutes are missing, their records only begin in 1897. Jan Delaney supplied me with all the minute-books of the London Art Gallery Association and the Director of the London Regional Art Gallery, Brenda Wallace, arranged that the archives of the Gallery be available for my research. Also at the gallery, Paddy O'Brien and Becky Boughner gave continued assistance, and especially Barry Fair who was helpful in so many ways. My thanks also must be extended to Josephine Wilcox, Dorothy Heron, Paddy Hammond, Barbara Hyatt, and Doris Goddard, as well as Bernice and Don Vincent, for their cooperation and assistance. Orlo Miller was an indispensable adviser and L. W. Bronson, Daniel Brock, Eugene Lamont, and Raymond Crinklaw also gave assistance. I am very grateful to A. K. Adlington and Jane Bigelow who A E. Stanley Beacock retired in the summer of 1984. IV gave me their extensive records from the 1970s pertaining to the development of the Art Gallery. I wish to thank Ken Smith and Edythe Cusack from the London Free Press, and to acknowledge my debt to the late George Hutchison, a reporter for the London Free Press , who wrote so fairly on the issue of the building of the new Art Gallery. I am also grateful to Martin Edwards for his technical advice, and to Jane Heron and Linda Mclntyre who were excellent research assistants. I am especially indebted to Martha Alien who gave me sound counsel as well as so much time and care editing my copy. My thanks also go to Gary Michael Dault for his editorial skills and wisdom, as well as to my daughter, Andrea, and my husband, W. R. Poole, for their advice, assistance, and sympathetic support over the past three years. In Toronto, I received support and assistance from Mary Allodi at the Royal Ontario Museum, from John Crosswaite at the John Ross Robertson Collection