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NUTTING, Ellen

Born
Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1816
Died
Twickenham, England, 1902
Biography synopsis
Amateur artist Ellen Nutting, the daughter of a prominent member of Halifax society, studied painting and drawing with W.H. Jones and later at William Eager's Drawing Academy. One of her works was included in an exhibition organised by Eager in 1838. Her sketchbook album of portraits of acquaintances is held by Nova Scotia Archives. A watercolour of a Mi'kmaq woman was also included in Lady Falkland's Album (Archives Canada). She was a friend of Lady Falkland, wife of the Nova Scotia Lieutenant-Governor from 1840-46 with whom she travelled on sketching trips. She was married in 1848 and moved to England with her husband William Robinson. In the 1850s she continued her artistic interests producing a second sketchbook mostly of British townscapes as well as depictions of Canadian landscapes dated between 1852-1857 when she visited family and friends in the Atlantic provinces.
Media used
Drawing
Painting
Watercolour
Education
Mr. Eager's Drawing Academy (Halifax)
File & Archive locations
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia Archives & Records Management
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
Bhanji, Sadru. "Nova Scotia's Ellen Martyr Robinson née Nutting (1816-1902): A Brief Account of her Life and her Sketchbook Depictions of the Province." Journal of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society 19 (2016): 67-71
Carter, Alexandra E. "William H. Eagar: Drawing Master of Argyle Street, Halifax." Journal of Canadian Art History 7.2 (1984): 138-55
O'Neill, Mora, Dianne. "A Path to Learning: Early Nova Scotian Women Artists." Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Journal 39 (Spring/Summer 2012): 26
Sparling, Mary. "Nova Scotia Women and the Ornamental Branches." Great Expectations: the European Vision in Nova Scotia: 1749-1848. Halifax: Mount Saint Vincent University, 1980: 53-72
Tippett, Maria. By a Lady Toronto: Viking, 1992

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