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Artist Database
ALEXANDER, Wilhelmina (Mina)
- Born
- Hamilton, Ontario, 1871
- Died
- Hamilton, Ontario, 1962
- Biography synopsis
- Wilhelmina Alexander (a.k.a. 'Mina') was born on July 2nd, 1871 in Hamilton, Ontario. She studied art at the Hamilton Art School with S. John Ireland, privately with J.S. Gordon, and later in Montreal with G. Horne Russell. She was president of the Women's Art Association of Canada, Hamilton Branch, from 1925 to 1927. Alexander exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy in 1929 and 1930, with the Women's International Exhibition in Detroit, at their invitation, in 1929, and with the Art Association of Montreal in 1931 and 1935. Alexander held regular widely-attended exhibitions in her home both to show her own work, a collection of still-life, landscapes, marines and flower studies, and to support younger artists. She also raised money in this way for charity, including such organizations as the YM/YWCA and the Red Cross during the wars.
- Media used
- Oil painting
- Education
- Hamilton Art School (under S. John Ireland, John Sloane Gordon, Miss F. Howell)
- Private study (under G. Horne Russel, R. C. A.)
- Memberships
- Art Association of Montreal
- Women's Art Association of Hamilton, served as president 1925-1927
- File & Archive locations
- National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
- Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- "Some Pictures in the Spring Exhibition" Toronto Star 22 Mar. 1935
- Hamilton Spectator. "Mrs. S. H. Alexander Helped Found Gallery" Hamilton Spectator Hamilton, Ontario: 7 Nov. 1961
- Hubbard, R. H.. Some Artists Who Have Lived and Worked in Hamilton Hamilton, Ontario: Art Gallery of Hamilton, 1967
- 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
- McCuaig, Stuart. Climbing the Cold White Peaks: A Survey of Artists in and From Hamilton 1910-1950. Hamilton, Ontario: The Hamilton Artists' Inc, 1986
- Prakash, A. K. Independent Spirit: Early Canadian Women's Art Buffalo, New York: Firefly Books, 2008
Full text pdfs of exhibition reviews- Royal Canadian Academy Annual Exhibition: (Montreal, November 21, 1929) "R.C.A. Show Opened with Private View. Fifty-first Annual Exhibition Housed in Art Association Galleries." Gazette (Montreal) November 22, 1929. p.18. 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
- 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 16, 1933) "Spring Exhibition of Art Association Was Opened on Thursday." Montreal Star March 17, 1933. p.19. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 16, 1933) "50th Spring Show Opened to Public. Jury Shows Open Mind. From Over 1,000 Entries, 543 Works Representative of Various Schools Have Been Selected." Gazette (Montreal) March 17, 1933. p.6. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, March 16, 1933) "Spring Exhibition of the Art Association of Montreal" Montreal Star March 22, 1933. 17. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, April 15, 1934) "Art Association Spring Show Opens. Private View Inaugurates Exhibition Containing Over Five Hundred Works." Gazette (Montreal) April 20, 1934. p.17. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, April 15, 1934) "Fifty-First Spring Exhibition of the Art Association." Montreal Star April 20, 1934. p.15. Full-text pdf
- Art Association of Montreal Annual Spring Exhibition: (Montreal, April 15, 1934) Reynald. "Le 51e salon de printemps. Morte-saison pour les nĂ´tres." La Presse (Montreal) April 20, 1934. p.29. 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) "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) "Some Pictures in the Spring Exhibition." Montreal Star March 27, 1935. p.22. Full-text pdf