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ABBOTT, Isabella Mary (Plummer)
- Born
- Montreal, Quebec, 1890
- Died
- ?, 1955
- Biography synopsis
- Isabella Mary Abbott was the granddaughter of Sir John Abbott, third Prime Minister of Canada (1891-92). She came from a cultured and wealthy Senneville (Quebec) family. John Bethune Abbott, son of the Prime Minister and possibly Isabella's father or uncle, was himself a landscape painter and the director of the Art Association of Montreal (1900-1919). As a young artist, Abbott exhibited twelve watercolors at the Art Association of Montreal (1919-1925). She also exhibited one oil and one watercolor at the Royal Canadian Academy in 1922 and 1923 before coming to work at the Canadian Handicrafts Guild the following year. In 1929, she left the Guild to marry Mr. Plummer from Toronto. Their son is Christopher Plummer, the well-known actor. In the 1950's, Abbott worked again at the Guild until her death in 1955.
- Media used
- Painting
- Watercolour
- Education
- Art Association of Montreal (under William Brymner, Randolph Hewton)
- Private study (under Wilfred M. Barnes, Montreal)
- Private study (under Maurice Cullen, Sketch Class)
- Memberships
- Canadian Handicrafts Guild
- File & Archive locations
- Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
- Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- "Art Association's Spring Exhibition: Private View Ushered in Showing of Representative Assemblage of Work." Gazette (Montreal) 3 Apr. 1925
- "Fewer Paintings, Higher Standards: Thirty-Eighth Annual Exhibition of Art Association of Montreal." Gazette (Montreal) 1 Apr. 1921
- "High Standard Set by R.C.A. Pictures: Forty-Fourth Exhibition Opened With Private View Last Night." Gazette (Montreal) 17 Nov. 1922: 9
- "Le canadian handicrafts guild: Interessante exposition de travaux domestiques." La Presse (Montreal) 20 Oct. 1925: 4
- "Meritorious Work At Spring Exhibit: Mural Paintings in R.C.A. Competition Part of Entries at Art Gallery." Gazette (Montreal) 28 Mar. 1924
- "Montreal Artists Well Represented: High Standard Set at Spring Exhibition of Art Association." Gazette (Montreal) 16 Mar. 1923: 6
- Bertrand, Magdeleine. Les Femmes artistes du Québec de 1875 à 1925. Montreal: Université de Montréal, 1990
- Harper, J. Russell. Early Painters and Engravers in Canada Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1970
- McLeod, Ellen Mary Easton. In Good Hands: The Women of the Canadian Handicrafts Guild. Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1999
- McMann, Evelyn de Rostaing. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Formerly Art Association of Montreal: Spring Exhibitions, 1880-1970. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988
Full text pdfs of exhibition reviews- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, ) "Fewer Paintings, Higher Standards. Thirty-Eighth Annual Exhibition of Art Association of Montreal. Private View Last Night." Gazette (Montreal) . p.11. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, ) "Exhibits Drawn From Wide Area. Growing Importance of Spring Art Exhibition More Generally Recognized." Gazette (Montreal) . p.5. Full-text pdf
- Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, ) "High Standard Set by R.C.A. Pictures. Forty-Fourth Exhibition Opened With Private View Last Night." Gazette (Montreal) . p.9. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, ) "Montreal Artists Well Represented. High Standard Set at Spring Exhibition of Art Association." Gazette (Montreal) . p.6. Full-text pdf
- Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Toronto, ) Hector Charlesworth. "Royal Canadian Academy. Probably the Finest Display in its History With Montreal Much to the Fore." Toronto Saturday Night . p.5. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, ) "Meritorious Work at Spring Exhibit. Mural Paintings in R.C.A. Competition Part of Entries at Art Gallery." Gazette (Montreal) . p.15. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, ) "Art Association's Spring Exhibition." Gazette (Montreal) . p.6. Full-text pdf
