Home > Artist Database > Bio-bibliographic Database > CHENEY, Anna Gertrude Lawson (Nan)
Artist Database
CHENEY, Anna Gertrude Lawson (Nan)
- Born
- Windsor, Nova Scotia, 1897
- Died
- Vancouver, British Columbia, 1985
- Biography synopsis
- Nan Lawson Cheney (née Anna Gertrude Lawson) studied at Newcombe College Art School, Tulane in about 1917-18, at the School of Medical Illustration, Johns Hopkins, with J.W. Beatty, at the Ontario College Summer School, with Franklin Brownell, at the Art Association of Ottawa (1926), with Aldro Hibbard in Massachussetts, with Lilias Torrance Newton at the Art Association of Montreal (1934) and with Alexandre Iacovleff at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1936). From 1921 to 1924, she worked as a medical illustrator at McGill University, Montreal and then in 1937 she moved to Vancouver, where she became the University of British Columbia's first medical artist. She was friends with Emily Carr, and she spent most of her working life in British Columbia.
- Media used
- Painting
- Education
- Newcombe College Art School, Tulane, 1917 - 1918
- School of Medical Illustration, Johns Hopkins
- Ontario College of Art Summer School (under J.W. Beatty)
- Art Association of Ottawa, 1926 (under Franklin Brownell)
- Private study (under Aldro Hibbard)
- Art Association of Montreal, 1934 (under Lilias Torrance Newton)
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1936 (under Alexandre Iacovleff)
- Memberships
- British Columbia Society of Artists, 1950
- Federation of Canadian Artists
- File & Archive locations
- Vancouver Public Library, BC - Fine Arts and History Department
- University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
- Vancouver Art Gallery, BC - Library
- 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
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
- British Columbia Archives
- Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
- University of British Columbia - Rare Books and Special Collections
- University of British Columbia - Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences
- Canadian Museum of Civilization Archives, QC
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- "B.C. Artist's Picture Bought by Easterner." Vancouver Sun 29 Jul. 1941
- "B.C.'s First Medical Artist Dies at 88." Vancouver Sun 7 Nov. 1985
- "Has Fine Display Oil Paintings." Ottawa Journal 15 Mar. 1933
- "La Galérie Eaton: L'exposition des artistes de la province de Québec." La Patrie (Montreal) 21 Oct. 1927: 14
- "Le Salon du Printemps." La Patrie (Montreal) 26 Mar. 1928: 17
- "On Display at Art Centre." Saskatoon Star Pheonix 11 Apr. 1949
- "Ottawa Artist, Native of Windsor, Has Exhibition." Tribune (Windsor, Nova Scotia) 24 Mar. 1933
- "Well-Known Artist Paints Local Landscapes." Cranbrook Courier (British Columbia) 6 Sept. 1945
- E.W.H. "Nan Lawson Cheney Oil Paintings." Ottawa Citizen 15 Mar. 1933
- Girard, Henri. "Exposition des artistes de Quebec." Revue Moderne (Montreal) (Jul. 1929): 13
- MacDonald, Colin S. The Dictionary of Canadian Artists. (Volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker) Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2009
- Morin, Leo-Pol. "Le Salon du Printemps à la 'Art Association'." La Patrie (Montreal) 28 Mar. 1928
- Palette. "Persian Miniatures Feature Gallery Show." Vancouver Province 23 Feb. 1953
- Palette. "Women Artists Prove Ability in New Show." Vancouver Daily Province 4 Jan. 1949
- Pazdro, Roberta. "BC Women Artists 1920-1950." British Columbia Women Artists 1885-1985 Victoria, British Columbia: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1985: 15.
- Scott, Andrew. "Cheney - Alive With the Legends of Painting in British Columbia." Vancouver Sun 11 Aug. 1978
- Scott, Andrew. "Emily Carr." Arts West 4.6 (Nov-Dec 1979): 24-30
- Walker, Doreen, ed. Dear Nan: Letters of Emily Carr, Nan Cheney and Humphrey Toms. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1990
Full text pdfs of exhibition reviews- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 24, 1927) "Over 300 Exhibits in Spring Art Show. Forty-fourth Exhibition Opened with Private View Last Night. Will Close April 18. Landscapes and Marines Predominate - Some Prominent Artists and Several of Younger Group Unrepresented." Gazette (Montreal) March 25, 1927. p.6. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 22, 1928) "Spring Exhibition at Art Galleries. Younger Men and Women Encouraged by Jury of Selection." Gazette (Montreal) March 23, 1928. p.8. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 21, 1929) "Spring Exhibition at Art Galleries. Jury Selection Sympathetic to Sincere and Normal Work - Promise Shown by New Exhibitors." Gazette (Montreal) March 22, 1929. p.12. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 21, 1929) Henri Girard. "Le salon du printemps." La Revue Moderne May 1929. p.10. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 21, 1930) "Spring Exhibition Has Private View." Gazette (Montreal) March 22, 1930. p.3. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 20, 1931) "Art Association 48th Spring Show High In Interest." Gazette (Montreal) March 21, 1931. p.16. Full-text pdf
- Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 19, 1931) "Wide Range of Art In R.C.A. Exhibition." Gazette (Montreal) November 20, 1931. p.10. Full-text pdf
- Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 1933) "Governor-General Opens Annual Art Exhibition. His Excellency Recalls Tradition of Predecessors-Stresses Art's Part in Renaissance of National Taste." Montreal Star November 17, 1933. p.20. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 19, 1936) "Spring Exhibition on Generous Scale. Show at Art Gallery Opened Last Night Contains 621 Items." Gazette (Montreal) March 20, 1936. p.2. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 19, 1936) "Annual Spring Exhibition at Art Association." Montreal Star March 20, 1936. p.8. Full-text pdf
