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Born
July 7, 1910 in Calgary and raised in the Beaches area
of Toronto, Doris McCarthy is recognized as one of
Canada’s foremost landscape painters. Among her
mentors and teachers at the Ontario College of Art were
members of the Group Of Seven: Arthur Lismer, A.Y.
Jackson, J.E.H. MacDonald and Lawren Harris. Doris
graduated with honours in 1930 and began teaching at
Toronto’s Central Technical School in 1931, a position
she held for 40 years.
During
these years Doris also enjoyed many painting adventures
across Canada and abroad including a 14-month sabbatical
in Europe in 1950-51 during which she painted full time.
Doris also embarked on a year-long solo world tour In
1961, which she refers to as her ‘Long Year,’ with
visits to Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore,
Thailand, Cambodia, India, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq,
Israel, Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Italy, Spain, France and
England.
In 1972,
the year of her retirement from teaching, Doris made her
first of many trips to the Canadian Arctic. A deep love
of the North is evident in her ‘Iceberg Fantasies’
series, considered to be among some of her best known
and celebrated works.
Doris has
received many awards and distinctions including:
President, Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour,
1956; President, Ontario Society of Artists, 1964;
Canadian Woman Artist of the Year Award, 1983; The Order
of Canada, 1986; Bachelor of Art in English, University
of Toronto, 1989; The Order of Ontario, 1992; the
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Centenary Health
Centre Foundation, Scarborough, Ontario named in her
honour, 1998; William Kilbourn Award in recognition of
her lifetime contribution to the arts in the City of
Toronto, 1999.
Doris McCarthy’s
extraordinary career embraces more than 70 years of
Canadian art history. Her paintings and liturgical art
are found in selected galleries and museums including
The Gallery at Jasper Park Lodge, Alberta; Wynick/Tuck
Gallery, Toronto, Ontario and The McMichael Canadian Art
Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario. To all those whose lives
Doris has touched, her endearing personal
characteristics and love of life fully compliment her
incredible talent to put brush to canvas.
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