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Scope

The database is intended to provide a research tool that brings together the growing body of literature about women artists who worked in Canada and who were born before 1930. It covers women who worked in diverse mediums, ranging from painting and sculpture to photography, craft, textiles and architecture. In addition to a brief biographical sketch, their educational background, and art association memberships, each entry includes a bibliography of writings relevant to the artist. Locations for institutions holding artists’ files are also indicated.

Completeness

In 2025 the database included 650 entries including primarily women artists born during the 19th and 20th centuries as well as a small number from the 17th and 18th centuries. In addition to annual updates, new entries are being added on an ongoing basis. Please contact us if you would like to suggest an entry or a correction. E-mail – cwahi@concordia.ca

Coverage

The biographies provided here include basic information about the life, education, and professional career of each artist. They are not intended to be comprehensive. For each artist, citations were compiled from: Canadian and international sources including library catalogues such as Worldcat, published reference works, periodical databases, and major monographs covering women artists and library catalogues relevant to Canadian art history and history as well as sources related to feminist and women’s art history and history, including women’s studies. In addition, some bibliographies include citations compiled on an ad hoc basis from supplementary sources, notably the artists’ files in our Documentation Centre.

List of Sources Consulted

  • A Dictionary of Canadian Artists. Colin S. MacDonald (Ottawa, 1967–).
  • Biographical Dictionary of Women Artists in Europe and America since 1850. Penny Dunford, ed. (New York and Toronto, 1990).
  • By A Lady: Celebrating Three Centuries of Art by Canadian Women. Maria Tippett (Toronto, 1992).
  • Early Painters and Engravers in Canada. J. Russell Harper (Toronto, 1992).
  • First Nations Artists in Canada: A Biographical-Bibliographical Guide, 1960 to 1999. Joan Acland (Montréal: Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art).
  • North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. Jules and Nancy G. Heller (New York, 1995).
  • Society of Women Artist Exhibitors, 1855–1996: A Dictionary of Artists and Their Works. Charles Baile de Laperrière, ed. (Calne, Wiltshire, 1996).
  • A Biographical Index of Artists in Canada. Evelyn McMann (Toronto, 2003).
  • Art and Architecture in Canada: A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature to 1981. Loren R. Lerner (Toronto, 1991).
  • An Annotated Bibliography of Inuit Art. Richard C. Crandall and Susan M. Crandall (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2001).
  • Canadian Art and Architecture: An Annotated Bibliography of Theses and Dissertations. Diane E. Peters (Lanham, Md., 2003).
  • Canadian Periodical Index. Canadian Library Association (Ottawa, 1920–2002).
  • Concordia University Art Index to Nineteenth-Century Canadian Periodicals. Hardy George (Montréal, 1981).
  • Femmes artistes du XXe siècle au Québec: Œuvres du Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. Esther Trépanier (Québec: Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec / Publications du Québec, 2010).
  • Women Artists: An Historical, Contemporary, and Feminist Bibliography. Sherry Piland (Metuchen, N.J., 1994).
  • Women Artists and Designers in Europe Since 1800: An Annotated Bibliography. Penny McCracken (New York and London, 1998).

A wide range of periodical and newspaper databases covering Canadian Art and Architecture and Women Studies as well as relevant interdisciplinary databases are used to identify pertinent literature.

Credits

Melinda Reinhart, Senior Art Librarian Emerita, (former Visual Arts Librarian), and Janice Anderson, (Visual Resources Curator, Retired) at Concordia University, began collaboration on Historical Canadian Women Artists: A Bio-bibliographic Database in 2002, when a review of Canadian art and women artists reference/research sources revealed that there was no single up-to-date and comprehensive source covering women artists.

The first version of the database was created by Peter Pagé, web database designer, who joined the project in 2004. As part of the first stage, he completed all aspects of the database design, using MySQL, and in 2005 he created the user-end search module. This was subsequently revised and integrated into the Canadian Women Artists History Initiative website by Alexander Jerabek in 2008. Melinda Reinhart and Janice Anderson were assisted in the initial biographic and bibliographic research by Kathryn Beattie, Alena Buis, Avery Larose, Alexandra Mills, Sharon Murray, Pat Quill, and Erandy Vargas.

This first project was made possible through funding from the Concordia Library Research Grants, and the participation of Kristina Huneault through the Concordia Research Development Grant program. It was also made possible thanks to Peter Pagé who generously gave of his time and expertise. Between 2015 and 2024 the security and functionality of the database were ensured by Valentin Eidelman, Programmer & Analyst / Centre for Digital Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts.

In 2025 Brendan Reed redesigned and updated all aspects of the database using Airtable software. This phase of the project was funded by Kristina Huneault through a Concordia University Research Development grant program.