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LOVE, Lady Mary Heaviside
- Born
- Saint-John, New Brunswick, 1806
- Died
- London, England, 1874
- Biography synopsis
- Little is known about this artist, perhaps the first Canadian to make lithographs drawn on stone in Canada. Educated in England where she also studied art, in 1825 Mary Heaviside married Lieutenant-Colonel James Frederick Love while he was stationed in New Brunswick. It was after marriage that she took an interest and started developing her skill in drawing and watercolour. In 1830, two of her sketches were lithographed by John B. Pendleton of Boston, Massachusetts: "A view near St. Andrews, New Brunswick (Chamcook)" and "A view on the St. Croix River, New Brunswick." There is evidence that Pendleton published a set of four of her sketches, but the only other extant examples of her work are illustrations for "The British Dominions in North America" (2 vols., London, 1832), a book by Joseph Bouchette. Although simply signed "By a Lady," these sketches, "New Government House, Fredericton, N.B." and "Barracks and Market Square, Fredericton, N.B." are considered to be Love's work. Another series of illustrations often attributed to her are those for a book of poetry entitled "A Peep at the Esquimaux" (London, 1825), but this remains uncertain. Love seems to have continued her work as an artist while her husband pursued his military career, being posted to Great Britain and the Mediterranean before returning to Lower Canada. While he was gone, she completed watercolour sketches of the Eastern Townships and the area for which H.J. Morgan expressed admiration, and may have had them published. She journeyed to London to be with her husband, who was knighted in 1856, and was with him at the time of his death in 1866.
- Media used
- Drawing
- Watercolour
- File & Archive locations
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
- National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
- Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- "Jan 13" Gentleman's Magazine (Mar. 1866): 442
- "Library finds clue to artist's identity." Ottawa Citizen 11 Feb. 1963: 25
- Arthur, Sir George. "Arthur to Col. J. F. Love." The Arthur Papers Toronto, ON: Toronto Public Libraries and University of Toronto Press, 1957
- Bouchette, Joseph. The British Dominions in North America: or, A topographical and statistical description of the provinces of Lower and Upper Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, islands of Newfoundland, Prince Ed London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, 1832
- Harper, J. Russell. Early Painters and Engravers in Canada Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1970
- 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
- McKenzie, Ruth. "Fanny Amelia Bayfield (Wright)." Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online Ottawa: Libraries and Archives Canada, 2008
http://www.biographi.ca/en/ - Morgan, H. J., ed. Types of Canadian Women and of women who have been connected with Canada Toronto: W. Briggs, 1903
- New Brunswick Museum. "Early New Brunswick Lithographs." Art Bulletin, New Brunswick Museum 5.10 (Sept. 1960)
- Petteys, Chris, et al. Dictionary of Women Artists: An International Dictionary of Women Artists Born Before 1900 Boston: G. K. Hall, 1985
- Ryder, Huia. "Early New Brunswick Lithographs." Art Bulletin, New Brunswick Museum 5.1 (Sept. 1960)
- Ryder, Huia. "M. Love, the Artist." Art Bulletin, New Brunswick Museum 5 (Sept. 1960)
- St. John, Judith. "A Peep at the Esquimaux through early children's books" Beaver 296 (Winter 1965): 38-44
- Stephen, Leslie and Sidney Lee, eds. Dictionary of National Biography London, England: Smith, Elder and Co, 1901
- Tweedie, R. A., et al., eds. Arts in New Brunswick Fredericton: Brunswick Press, 1967
Writings by- Love, Lady Mary Heaviside. A Peep at the Esquimaux; or, Scenes on the Ice: To which is annexed, A Polar Pastoral. London, England: H. R. Thomas, 1825
