Home > Artist Database > Bio-bibliographic Database > PETERSON, Margaret
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PETERSON, Margaret
- Born
- Seattle, United States, 1902
- Died
- Victoria, British Columbia, 1997
- Biography synopsis
- Margaret Peterson was born in Seattle, Washington and received a B.A. and an M.A. from the University of California. In 1931 she traveled to Paris, where she studied with Vaclav Vytlacil and André L’Hôte. She was interested in Native cultures from North and Central America, so she traveled and did research in Mexico, Central America (1934) and also British Columbia (1935). In subsequent years she returned to Mexico, Guatemala and other Central American countries. She also traveled from Sweden to Egypt (1963-1968). For twenty-two years she taught at the University of California. Margaret Peterson held solo exhibitions at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California (1933, 1960); Biblioteca Nacional, Mexico City (1934); Henry Museum, Seattle, Washington (1934); the San Francisco Art Museum, Civic Center (1950, 1958, 1973); Du Casse Studio, San Francisco (1958); University of California, San José (1958), Monterey Peninsula Chapter of American Federation of Arts, Calif. (1965) Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, British Columbia (1950, 1959, 1962 and a retrospective in 1978). Her work was also included in prestigious group exhibitions, including the Fourth and Fifth Biennal Exhibitions of Canadian Art, National Gallery, Ottawa (1961, 1963) and the Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil (1963). She earned many awards, including the Tansig traveling fellowship, University of California (1931-1932); First prize, San Francisco Women Artists (1936, 1952); Purchase Award San Francisco Art Association (1942); First prize, San Francisco Art Association (1947); Blue Ribbon, Pacific Artists Festival (1952); and Canada Council Senior Grant (1963). Peterson’s work is part of private and public permanent collections, including the Confederation Memorial Building, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Oakland Art Museum, California; Palace of Legion of Honor, San Francisco California; University of Victoria, B.C.; and others.
- Media used
- Painting
- Education
- University of California, Berkeley, 1923 - 1926 (under Hans Hoffmann & Worth Ryder)
- File & Archive locations
- Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
- Artexte Information Centre, QC - Documentation Centre
- Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
- London Public Library, ON
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
- National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
- University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
- Vancouver Art Gallery, BC - Library
- Vancouver Public Library, BC - Fine Arts and History Department
- Winnipeg Art Gallery, MA - Clara Lander Library
- University of Victoria, BC - Special Collections
- Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, ON
- University of California, Berkeley - Bancroft Library
- Museum of Modern Art, NY
- Smithsonian Institution, DC - Archives of American Art
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- "Harsher Kind of Interrogation." Province (Vancouver) 10 Feb. 1961
- "Peterson's 'The New Star' Chosen for Exhibit in Canadian Biennial." Daily News (Prince Rupert) 31 May 1961
- Aarons, Anita. "Reproduction." Architecture Canada 7-8 (1969): 21-2
- Art Gallery of Victoria. Margaret Peterson: A Retrospective Victoria: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1978
- Corry, Arthur. "Work of Victoria Artist Obscure to Uninitiated." Times Colonist (Victoria) 20 May 1961
- Harper, J. Russell. Painting in Canada: A History Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966, 2nd edition 1977
- Harper, J. Russell. "Three Centuries of Canadian Painting." Canadian Art 19.6 (Nov-Dec. 1962)
- Lowndes, Joan. "Notes from Vancouver." San Francisco Art Institution Newsletter Mar. 1961
- 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
- National Gallery of Canada. Fifth Biennal Exhibition of Canadian Painting 1963 Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1963
- National Gallery of Canada. Fourth Biennal Exhibition of Canadian Art 1961 Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1961
- Reference Division, McPherson Library, compilers. Creative Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Creative and Performing Arts Toronto: University of Toronto Press, University of Victoria, 1971
- Uhthoff, Ina D. D. "Brilliant 'Totemic' Artist Unique Amongst Painters." Times Colonist (Victoria) 22 Jul. 1962
- Uhthoff, Ina D. D. "How Many Know? Fine U.S. Painter Lives Unnoticed in Victoria." Times Colonist (Victoria) 29 May 1959
- Uhthoff, Ina D. D. "Victoria's Margaret Peterson Wins Place in Famed Show." Times Colonist (Victoria) 2 May 1961
Full text pdfs of exhibition reviews- 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
