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KEENE, Violet (Perinchef)

Born
Bath, England, 1893
Died
Oakville, Ontario, 1987
Biography synopsis
Keene was the daughter of Minna Keene, pictorialist and portrait photographer, and it was in her mother's studio in Montreal that Keene first learned to use a camera. The family later moved to Toronto where Keene began her own distinguished career in portrait photography, keeping "Keene" as her working name when she married Harold Edgar Perinchief. Keene photographed many important artists and statesmen, including the Governor General of Canada, Aldous Huxley, and George Bernard Shaw. She was also the manager of Eaton's College Street Portrait Studio. During her lifetime Keene's work was exhibited widely in Europe and North America.
Media used
Photography
Education
Private study (under Minna Keene)
File & Archive locations
Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, ON
National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
University of Toronto Libraries, ON
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
"Many Fine Pictures in New Collection." Globe (Toronto) 16 Oct. 1934: 8
"PERINCHIEF, Violet Keene A.R.P.S." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 12 May 1987: A15
"Violet Keene's Artistic Photographs." Globe (Toronto) (11 Oct. 1932): 16
Bassnett, Sarah and S. Bassnett. Photography in Canada, 1839 to 1989 Toronto, On.: Art Canada Institute, 2023
http://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/photography-in-canada-1839-1989/preface/
Boston Camera Club, and Boston Art Club. Catalogue of the Third (First International) Salon. Boston: Boston Art Club, 1934
Cercle photographique de Charleroi. Catalogue du IIme salon Albert Ier: Exposition internationale de photographie d'art. Brussels: Cercle photographique de Charleroi, 1935
Jones, Laura. Rediscovery: Canadian Women Photographers 1841-1941, May 13th-June 27th, 1983. London, Ontario: London Regional Art Gallery, 1983
McMann, Evelyn de Rostaing. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Formerly Art Association of Montreal: Spring Exhibitions, 1880-1970. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988
Roseborough, Everett. "Recollections and a Chronology of Violet Keene." Photographic Canadiana 15.4 (Jan. - Feb. 1990): 5-8
Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. The Illustrated Catalogue: The Royal Photographic Society's 80th Annual International Exhibition. London: Royal Photographic Society, 1935
Skidmore, Colleen. Rare Merit: Women in Photography in Canada, 1840-1940 Vancouver, B.C.: UBC Press, 2022

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