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MCKIEL, Christian

Born
Pictou, Nova Scotia, 1889
Died
Sackville, New Brunswick, 1978
Biography synopsis
Christian McKiel (née Harris) was born in 1889 in Pictou, Nova Scotia, to Emma Ives Harris and Sheriff Joseph Simpson Harris. From 1908 to 1911 McKiel attended Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, graduating from the Ladies’ College with a teaching diploma in drawing. McKiel continued her studies at the Art Students’ League in New York from 1911 to 1912. In 1913 McKeil returned to Mount Allison where she began teaching in the fine arts department. While in Sackville, McKiel met George McKiel whom she married in 1917. Beginning in 1920 McKiel spent her summers developing her abilities as a painter, studying under Vincent DuMond for three years in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, as well as one summer spent studying with Charles W. Hawthorne in Provincetown, Massachusetts. During her time as professor at Mount Allison University, McKiel taught drawing, pottery, china painting and general painting classes. In 1938 McKiel became the head of the Department of Applied Arts at Mount Allison University. During her artistic career McKiel exhibited with the Nova Scotia Society of Artists, the Maritime Art Association, the Art Association of Montreal, the Royal Canadian Academy and the British Empire Society of Arts (1937).
Media used
Drawing
Oil painting
Painting
Pastels
Printmaking
Education
Art Students' League, New York, 1911 - 1912
Private study (under Vincent Dumond (Cape Breton, Nova Scotia), and Charles W. Hawthorne (Provincetown, Massachusetts))
Mount Allison Ladies' College, Sackville, NB, 1908 - 1911
Memberships
Canadian Society of Painters, Etchers and Engravers
Maritime Art Association
Nova Scotia Society of Artists
Sackville Art Association
File & Archive locations
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
Mount Allison University Archives, NS
Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
"Agenda" Telegraph-Journal (Saint John) Saint John, NB: May 23, 2009: G7
"Art Association 48th Spring Show High in Interest." Gazette (Montreal) 21 Mar. 1931
"Le 56e Salon de l'Académie." La Presse (Montreal) 25 Nov. 1935
"Spring Exhibition Marked by Variety." Gazette (Montreal) 10 Mar. 1939
Halifax City Hall. Diamond Jubilee: Nova Scotia Society of Artists Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 1997
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
Maritime Art Association. Paintings by Artists of the Maritimes: Seventh Annual Exhibition Halifax: Maritime Art Association, 1942
Nova Scotia Society of Artists. The Twenty-Sixth Annual Exhibition, 1952 Nova Scotia: 1952
Prakash, A. K. Independent Spirit: Early Canadian Women's Art Buffalo, New York: Firefly Books, 2008
Reid, John G.. Mount Allison University, 1914-1963, Vol. 2 Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1984
Robson, Scott. Nova Scotia Women Artists in the Collection of Tony Saulnier Halifax: Dalhousie University Art Gallery, 1993
Townsend-Gault, Charlotte, et al.. Atque Ars: Art From Mount Allison University, 1854-1989 Sackville, NB: Owens Art Gallery, 1989

Full text pdfs of exhibition reviews
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 18, 1920) "Art of Canadians Well Represented."  Gazette (Montreal)  November 19, 1920.  p.9.   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
Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 17, 1932) "Art Association Has Forty-Ninth Annual Spring Exhibition."  Montreal Star  March 18, 1932.  p.7.   Full-text pdf
Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 17, 1932) "Art Association's Spring Exhibition Is 49th of Series. Some Five Hundred Works Greet Invited Guests at Private View."  Gazette (Montreal)  March 18, 1932.  p.6.   Full-text pdf
Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 17, 1932) "Pictures at Art Association Have Wide Variety in Theme."  Montreal Star  March 23, 1932.  p.12.   Full-text pdf
Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 21, 1935) "Spring Exhibition of Art Association Opened on Thursday."  Montreal Star  March 22, 1935.  p.17.   Full-text pdf
Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 21, 1935) "Nearly 500 Works at Spring Exhibit. Variety in Show at Galleries of Art Association of Montreal. 1,080 Items Submitted. Judges Reveal Open Minds and 52nd Annual Contains Much to Meet Differing Tastes."  Gazette (Montreal)  March 22, 1935.  p.3.   Full-text pdf
Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 21, 1935) Lucien Desbiens.  "Le salon du printemps 1935."  Le Devoir (Montreal)  March 29, 1935.  p.3.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition.: (Montreal, November 21, 1935) "The Fifty-Sixth Exhibition of the Canadian Academy."  Montreal Star  November 22, 1935.  p.13.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition.: (Montreal, November 21, 1935) Reynald.  "Le 56e Salon de l'Académie. A défaut de révéler des tendances neuves, le Salon garde une allure distinguée et une belle tenue d'ensemble. Plus de "bon ton" que de vitalité. Maints portraits."  La Presse (Montreal)  November 22, 1935.  p.19.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition.: (Montreal, November 21, 1935) "Art Gallery Scene of R.C.A. Exhibition. Paintings and Other Works from Various Canadian Points Total 444. Much Good Portraiture."  Gazette (Montreal)  November 23, 1935.  p.19.   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
Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 18, 1937) "Nearly 500 Works at Spring Exhibit. Art Association's 54th Annual Show Opens with Private Views. Judges Open-Minded."  Gazette (Montreal)  March 19, 1937.  p.13,17.   Full-text pdf
Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 18, 1937) "The Spring Exhibition of the Art Association."  Montreal Star  March 19, 1937.  p.17.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 18, 1937) "Royal Canadian Academy Show is Opened at Art Association. Portraiture Represented by Good Examples and Landscapes as Usual Predominate."  Gazette (Montreal)  November 19, 1937.  p.12.   Full-text pdf
Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (, November 18, 1938) Graham McInnes.  "But They Have Nice Frames!"  Toronto Saturday Night  November 26, 1938.  p.22.   Full-text pdf

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