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OILLE, Ethel Lucille
- Born
- Toronto, Ontario, 1912
- Died
- Collingwood, Ontario, 1997
- Biography synopsis
- After attending the Ontario College of Art, where she studied sculpture under Emanuel Hahn, Lucille Oille continued studies at the Royal College of Art in London, England. In addition to sculpture, she studied woodcuts, wood engraving and scratchboard illustrations. Her works were shown in a number of Canadian exhibitions including the Royal Canadian Academy and Ontario Society of Artists in the 1930s and early 1940s. In 1938 her work was shown at the Sculptors Society of Canada Exhibition. Oille moved to the countryside In 1937 where she and her writer husband Kenneth Wells lived in a pioneer home. Her art production was focused on woodcut illustrations of her husband's publications about their life in the country. They collaborated on six publications between 1947 and 1969, including "Owl Pen," the name of their country home, which became a highly popular book. Oille later abandoned her art practice while she and her husband travelled. After the couple returned to Canada in the early 1990s, her woodcut illustrations were shown in a number of exhibitions. The Art Gallery of Ontario, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and Art Gallery of Windsor, among others, hold her work.
- Media used
- Graphic design
- Sculpture
- Education
- Ontario College of Art & Design (formerly Ontario School of Art) (under Emmanuel Hahn)
- Royal College of Art, London, England
- File & Archive locations
- University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
- Winnipeg Art Gallery, MA - Clara Lander Library
- Hamilton Public Library, ON - Local History and Archives Department
- 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
- Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, QC - Media Centre
- University of Calgary Library, AB
- Detroit Institute of Arts
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- Lucille Oille: Treasures from Owl Pen Midland, Ontario: Huronia Museum, 1995
- "The Owl Pen Wellses entertain Once More." (1951, Nov 17). The Globe and Mail 17 Nov. 1951: 10
- Deacon, William A.. "Toronto Couple realize Dream of Country Life." The Globe and Mail 22 Nov 1947: 8.
- Huneault, Kristina, et al. The Owl Pen Prints: Illustrations by Lucille Oille Windsor, Ontario: Art Gallery of Windsor, 1992
- Kerr, Eileen. "Back to the Land: Charm and Substance: The Owl Pen." The Gazette (Montreal) 06 Dec. 1947:24
- 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
- Maw, Betty. "Observations on a Decade... 1938-48 Canadian Printmaking." Journal Royal Architectural Institute Canada 25.1 (Jan. 1958): 25
- McCarthy, Pearl. "Art and Artists." The Globe and Mail 07 Mar. 1938:8
- Oille Sinclair, J.. "Lives lived: LUCILLE OILLE WELLS." The Globe and Mail 04 Feb. 1997: A16
- Olanick, Natalie. Routine Activity Windsor, Ontario: Art Gallery of Windsor, 1998
- Purser, M.. "The Homemaker: Beekeeper-author Guest at Literary Luncheon. The Globe and Mail 24 Nov. 1953: 13
Writings by- McArthur, Peter, illustrated by Lucille Oille. Pastures Green. Edited by Kenneth McNeill Wells 1948
Full text pdfs of exhibition reviews- Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Toronto, November 1932) "Horrors and Experiments Deck Walls at R.C.A. Show. Usual Formality of Treatment and Subject Enlivened by Strange Painting and Sculpture." Evening Telegram (Toronto) November 08, 1932. p.13. Full-text pdf
