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HARRIS, Bess Larkin Housser

Born
Brandon, Manitoba, 1890
Died
Vancouver, British Columbia, 1969
Biography synopsis
Bess Larkin Housser Harris was born in Manitoba but received her early education in Toronto at Havergal College. Although she took a few art lessons from F.H. Varley, she was mostly self-taught, but nonetheless she was invited to participate in Group of Seven shows throughout the 1920s. She exhibited in the U.S. during the mid-1920s and 30s. Harris also wrote on art, contributing many articles to the Canadian Bookman between 1923 and 1926. Her work is in the collection of Hart House, the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, among other private and public collections. Harris was married to F.B. Housser in 1914, but they later divorced and she married Lawren Harris in 1934.
Media used
Painting
Memberships
Canadian Group of Painters
File & Archive locations
Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
Vancouver Art Gallery, BC - Library
Winnipeg Art Gallery, MA - Clara Lander Library
London Public Library, ON
National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, ON
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
" ... ? ... At Art Association." Gazette (Montreal) 5 Jan. 1946
"Art Exhibit Discussed: Private Showing Given Members of Windsor Association." Windsor Star 1 Dec. 1942
"Canadian Group Exhibits Here." Star (Toronto) 8 Jan. 1946
"Lawren S. Harris: Painter." Contemporary Canadian Artists. 1997
"Loan Exhibition to Aid Children." Star [?] 21 Dec. 194?
"Oil Paintings Now on Display Here." Times-Globe (Saint John) 2 Nov. 1943
"Oil Paintings On View Next Week." Times-Globe (Saint John) Oct - Nov.(?) 1943
"Painting Exhibit is Being Held Over." Times-Globe (Saint John) 6 Nov. 1943
"This painting by Beth Harris, 'Ottawa Valley' ..." [Reproduction] Windsor Star 11 Aug. 1945
Amos, Robert. "Emily Unexpurgated." Times-Colonist (Victoria) 18 Sept. 2003: D9
Amos, Robert. "Harris's Later Works Often Overlooked." Times-Colonist (Victoria) 31 Jul. 2003: D9
Amos, Robert. "Visual Art: Colin Graham Has Been Described as the ..." Times-Colonist (Victoria) 16 Sept., 1995: 1
Arlidge, Bertha. "In the World of Art." Unknown (Rochester, New York) 15 Nov. 1931
Art Gallery of Ontario. Calendar: May - August 1959. Toronto: 1959
Ayre, Robert. "Art Notes: Canadian Group of Painters Reveal a Disturbing Lack of Consistency." Unknown (Montreal Star?) 12 Nov. 1960: 29
Ayre, Robert. "The Canadian Group of Painters." Canadian Art 6.3 (Spring 1949): 98-102
Betts, Gregory, ed. Lawren Harris In the Ward: His Urban Poetry and Paintings. Toronto: Exile Editions, 2009
Canadian Group of Painters. Canadian Group of Painters, Exhibition 1942 Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1942
Canadian Group of Painters. Canadian Group of Painters, Exhibition 1955-1956 Montreal: 1956
Canadian Group of Painters. Canadian Group of Painters, Exhibition 1957 Montreal: 1957
Canadian Group of Painters. Canadian Group of Painters, Exhibition 1960 Montreal: 1960
Canadian Group of Painters. Canadian Group of Painters, Exhibition 1961 Vancouver: 1961
Canadian Library Association. Canadian Biographies: Artists and Authors Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, 1951
Carr, Emily. Growing Pains. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1946
CBC. "McMichael Buried Beside Members of the Group of Seven." http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2003/11/25/mcmichaelburial251103.html 2003
D & E Lake. "Bess Larkin Housser Harris." http://www.delake.com/photo/5-107.htm D & E Lake Ltd, 1999
Davis, Ann. The Logic of Ecstasy: Canadian Mystical Painting, 1920-1940. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992
Fong, Petti. "Forgotten McNicoll Nets $190,000 in B.C." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 26 May 2005: A9
Frye, Northrop. Northrop Frye on Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003
Harper, J. Russell. Canadian Paintings in Hart House Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1955
Hill, Charles. Canadian Painting in the Thirties Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1975
Jackson, A.Y. A Painter's Country Toronto: Clarke Irwin, 1972
Kritzwiser, Kay. "Artist's Gift Further Enriches 'Masterpiece' Oshawa Gallery." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 5 Dec. 1987: C19
Laing, Blair. Memoirs of an Art Dealer. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1982
Larisey, Peter. Light for a Cold Land: Lawren Harris's Work and Life, An Interpretation. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1993
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
Mastin, Catharine. Cobalt: A Mining Town and the Canadian Imagination. Kleinburg, ON: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 2024
Matlock, Patrick. "The Lifelong Search: Examining the Later Works of Lawren S. Harris by Walking the Path of His Life and Reflecting on the Influence of Spiritualism." http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~pmatlock/html/Talks/Harris.talk/TOC_harris.html 1997
Mays, John Bentley. "Harris Researches Fail to Illuminate 'Light for a Cold Land: Lawren Harris's Work and Life - An Interpretation'." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 12 Nov. 1994: C23
McMann, Evelyn de Rostaing. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Formerly Art Association of Montreal: Spring Exhibitions, 1880-1970 Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988
McMann, Evelyn de Rostaing. Royal Canadian Academy of Arts/Académie royale des arts du Canada: Exhibitions and Members 1880-1979 Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1981
Mellen, Peter. The Group of Seven. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1970
Milroy, Sarah, ed. Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Movement Vancouver: Figure 1, 2021
National Council of Women of Canada. Canadian Women Artists' Exhibition, Sponsored by Local Council of Women of Kitchener Kitchener: Canadian Arts Council and Department of External Affairs, 1947
Palette. "In the Realm of Art: Gallery Acquires Fine Paintings." Daily Province (Vancouver) 14 Aug. 1947
Parry, Malcolm. "Soft Opening for the Hard Rock Cafe." Vancouver Sun 8 Jun. 1995: B2
Petteys, Chris, et al. Dictionary of Women Artists: An International Dictionary of Women Artists Born Before 1900 Boston: G. K. Hall, 1985
Putnam, Joyce. "Memories of the Group of Seven." Whig-Standard (Kingston) 20 Jul. 1991: 1
Repentigny, R. de. "Images et plastiques: Pour trop de goûts à la fois." La Presse (Montreal) 9 Nov. 1957
Robertson, Heather. "In Life, the Group of Seven was Together for Thirteen Years. In Death, They're ... Together Forever." Beaver 84.2 (Apr-May 2004): 28
Rochon, Lisa. "With Concrete and Honesty, He Honoured Us All." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 23 May 2009: R11
Stoffman, Judy. "McMichael at Rest with Artists: Buried Beside Six Members of Group of Seven Home Became Showcase for Canadian Art." Star (Toronto) 25 Nov. 2003: A3
Stoffman, Judy. "Robert McMichael Buried Beside Members of the Group of Seven." Canadian Press NewWire (Toronto) 24 Nov. 2003
Westbridge, Anthony R. The Collector's Dictionary of Canadian Artists at Auction Vancouver: Westbridge Publications, 2001

Writings by
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "Art in Canada: Letter to the Editor." Canadian Forum 2.20 (May 1922): 621
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "In the Realm of Art." Canadian Bookman 7.2 (Feb. 1925): 33
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "In the Realm of Art." Canadian Bookman 7.8 (Aug. 1925): 137
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "In the Realm of Art." Canadian Bookman 7.6 (Jun. 1925): 101
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "In the Realm of Art." Canadian Bookman 8.5 (May 1926): 157-159
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "In the Realm of Art." Canadian Bookman 7.5 (May 1925): 87
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "In the Realm of Art." Canadian Bookman 8.1 (Jan. 1926)
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "In the Realm of Art." Canadian Bookman 7.11 (Nov. 1925): 186
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "In the Realm of Art." Canadian Bookman 7.7 (Jul. 1925): 121
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "In the Realm of Art." Canadian Bookman 7.4 (Apr. 1925): 70
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "In the Realm of Art." Canadian Bookman 7.9 (Sept. 1925): 152
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "In the Realm of Art." Canadian Bookman 6.8 (Aug. 1924): 185
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "In the Realm of Art." Canadian Bookman 7.3 (Mar. 1925): 54
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "In the Realm of Canadian Art." Canadian Bookman 6.11 (Nov. 1924): 238
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "Introducing a New Topic." Canadian Bookman 6.6 (Jun. 1924): 137
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "The Value of the Critic." Canadian Bookman 5.4 (Apr. 1923): 93
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser. "What the Critics are Saying at Wembley." Canadian Bookman 6.7 (Jul. 1924): 159
Harris, Bess Larkin Housser (?). "It Is Reported," "Moorhouse Visits Vancouver" & Inside Stuff ..." Canadian Bookman 7.2 (Feb. 1925): 28
Harris, Bess Larking Housser. Lawren Harris. Toronto: Macmillan, 1976

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