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Artist Database
OWEN, Violet
- Born
- Edmonton, Alberta, 1930
- Died
- Edmonton, Alberta, 2024
- Biography synopsis
- Violet Owen (nee Rose) studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto under Jock Macdonald (Painters Eleven) among others, and graduated in 1953. She later attended the Vancouver School of Art. Influenced by modernist movements including impressionism, post-impressionism, and the work of Egon Schiele, her figurative work focused on portraits and figures, principally of female bodies and sexuality. Owen worked with artist and model Mimi Mah for fifteen years in the 1970s and 1980s. She preferred to centre her approach on formal and aesthetic considerations, rather than on the politicized feminism that some critics ascribed to her. Violet Owen played an important role in enriching the artistic foundation of the Edmonton art milieu. She was a member of the Alberta Society of Artists (1959-2024), Executive Member 1962-63, and Chairman of the Edmonton Branch (1964). Her work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Edmonton galleries, including the Edmonton Contemporary Art Society, the New Brunswick Museum (St. John), and in Halifax, Nova Scotia and St. John’s, Newfoundland. Her work has also been shown at numerous solo and group exhibitions in Edmonton galleries, including the Edmonton Contemporary Art Society, and in the Atlantic provinces at the New Brunswick Museum (Saint John), in Halifax; and in St. John's, Nfld. In addition to being a charter member of the Focus Gallery in Edmonton, she was also a member of Harcourt House, a non-profit artist centre in Edmonton. The Alberta Foundation of the Arts and Art Gallery of Alberta hold a number of her works. In 1915 a retrospective of her works entitled “Modern Woman” was held, underlining the female form as an enduring artistic subject. The AGA included her work in the “Women of the Art Gallery” at the Alberta Gallery of Art in summer 2024.
- Media used
- Drawing
- Painting
- Printmaking
- Education
- Ontario College of Art & Design (formerly Ontario School of Art), ? - 1963 (under George Pepper, Jack Nichols, J. W. MacDonald, Will Ogilvie)
- Vancouver School of Art (under Will Thomas, Peter Aspell, Gordon Smith)
- Memberships
- Alberta Society of Artists, 1959, 1962-63, Chair 1964 Edmonton
- File & Archive locations
- Alberta Culture and Community Spirit - Arts Branch
- Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
- London Public Library
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
- Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, QC - Media Centre
- National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
- University of Calgary Library, AB
- University of Manitoba - Architecture and Fine Arts Library
- Winnipeg Art Gallery, MA - Clara Lander Library
- Vancouver Art Gallery, BC - Library
- Vancouver Public Library, BC - Fine Arts and History Department
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- "Life-Size Oil Painting of Edmonton for Alberta Art Show." Edmonton Journal 22 May 1964
- Baker, Suzanne Devonshire. Artists of Alberta Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1980
- Barnhouse, Dorothy. "Artists' Group Stresses Quality." Edmonton Journal 22 May 1964
- Beauchamp, Elizabeth. "Lone Model inspires Violet Owen; Face affords Artist Wealth of Portraits." Edmonton Journal 22 Sep. 1989: D10.
- Edmonton Art Gallery. Violet Owen Edmonton, AB: Edmonton Art Gallery, 1973
- Hammock, Virgil. Two Local Artists make Impression." Edmonton Journal 9 May 1969
- Hartlieb-Power, Justine. "Review: Violet Owen: Modern Woman." CARFAC Alberta 2015
http://www.carfacalberta.com/2015/01/16/review-of-violet-owen-modern-woman/ - 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
- Mandel, Charles. "Violet's Talent not Shrinking: Solo Exhibition at Paint Spot shows off One of our Best." Edmonton Journal 09 Jun 2000: E12
- McMullen, W.B. Alberta Art: Works from The Alberta Art Foundation Edmonton: Alberta Art Foundation, 1975
- Owen, Violet et al. Any Precious Girl : Violet Owen, a Retrospective Edmonton, AB: Harcourt House, 2004
- Tousley, Nancy. "Artist Paints Childhood Scenes from Memory." Calgary Herald 6 Apr 1986: 42
- Zimon, Kathy E. Alberta Society of Artists: The First Seventy Years Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2000
