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KINSMAN, Kay (Katherine Bell)

Born
Los Angeles, California, USA, 1909
Died
Sherbrooke, Quebec, 1998
Biography synopsis
Kay Kinsman was born in Los Angeles, California in 1909. Both her parents had died by the time she was nine, and she was raised by her grandmother in Cuba and Jamaica until, at twenty-one, she moved to France. While studying at the Parsons School of Applied Art and later in Paris under Ozenfant she met her husband Ronald D.L. Kinsman. Together they moved to Switzerland and in 1939 to Montreal where she studied with Anne Savage and Arthur Lismer at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts School. Kinsman was noted for her watercolors representing the city, especially parts of Old Montreal. She published three books of her art: Broadway Sketchbook (1974), Montreal Sketchbook (1967) and Lennoxville Sketchbook (1990). When her husband died in 1965 Kinsman moved to England, but in 1980 she returned to Canada, settling in Lennoxville. She later earned a Master of Arts degree in Medieval History from McGill in 1986. In 1989, she received an honorary doctorate (D.C.L. Honoris Causa) from Bishop's University. Kinsman's work is collected internationally in Spain and England.
Media used
Painting
Pen and Ink
Watercolour
Education
Parsons School of Applied Art, 1930 - 1932
McGill University, ? - 1985
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, School of Art and Design, 1945 - 1949 (under Anne Savage; Dr. Arthur Lismer)
Bishop's University, Lennoxville, QC
Royal Toronto Conservatory
L'Ecole Amedee Ozenfant, Paris, France, 1932 - ? (under Ozenfant)
File & Archive locations
University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, QC - Media Centre
Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
Bishop's University, QC - Centre de recherche des Cantons-de-l'Est
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
Eby, Jack. "Facts & Arguments: Lives Lived: Katherine Bell Kinsman." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 4 Nov. 1998
Eby, Jack. "Kay Kinsman and Bishop's: The Kinsman Papers." Journal of Eastern Townships Studies 13 (Fall-Winter 1999): 101
Hicks, Lawrence. "Artist Tries to Preserve Old Montreal in Paintings." Star (Montreal) 30 Sept. 1963
Hustak, Alan. "Kay Kinsman was a Talented Eccentric." Gazette (Montreal) 10 Aug. 1998: B6
Loverseed, Helga. "Learning All About Lennoxville's Charms." Gazette (Montreal) 22 Feb. 2003: I6
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.
McMann, Evelyn de Rostaing. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Formerly Art Association of Montreal: Spring Exhibitions, 1880-1970. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988
Nadeau-Saumier, Monique. Kay Kinsman: Spontaneous Visions. Lennoxville, Quebec: Centre d'artistes, Bishop's University, 1994
Nadeau-Saumier, Monique. The Joy of Art: Kay Kinsman Sherbrooke, Quebec: Sherbrooke Museum of Fine Arts, 1987

Writings by
Doheney, Penelope Ann and Kay Kinsman. The Adventures of Janey. Baldwin's Mill, Quebec: Editions Topeda Hill, 1995
Kinsman, Kay. Broadway Sketchbook. Broadway: Kay Kinsman, 1974
Kinsman, Kay. Lennoxville Sketchbook. Sherbrooke, Quebec: Metrolitho Inc, 1990
Kinsman, Kay. Sing Cuccu Nu. Montreal: McGill University, 1986
Kinsman, Kay and Kathleen F. Earle. Montreal Sketchbook. Montreal: Kay Kinsman, 1967

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