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As one of Canada’s most original artists, David Milne
chose not to embrace the national mythology present in the
works of such artists as the Group of Seven. Set apart
from his Canadian contemporaries in this manner, Milne’s
work instead exhibited a personal style that uniquely
incorporated aspects of both Impressionism and Fauvism,
garnering the acclaim of American art critic Clement
Greenberg who labeled Milne as one of the three most
important North American artists of his generation.
Milne was born in 1882 near the town of Paisley in Bruce
County, Ontario. Although he had been an avid drawer since
before entering kindergarten, Milne did not commence his
artistic education until 1899 when he began studying by
correspondence at the Arcade School in New York. In 1904
he went to New York to further pursue his art studies at
the Art Students League, which again made him an exception
in the early 20th century Canadian art scene as the
majority of artists then traveled to Europe to study.
Once he had completed his studies in 1906, Milne began
working as a commercial artist to support himself. During
this time his work was exhibited at the American
Watercolour Society and the Pennsylvania Academy, and five
of his works were included in the Armories Exhibition of
1913. As one of only three Canadians to be represented at
the exhibition, Milne’s paintings were shown alongside the
works of such artists as Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky,
Delacroix, Cezanne, Monet and Van Gogh.
Between the years of 1914 to 1928, Milne lived variously
in New York City, the Adirondacks, and several Canadian
cities including Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. During WWI
he served as a Canadian war artist in Belgium and France,
afterwards returning to North America where in 1924 an
exhibition of his watercolours was held at the Art
Association of Montreal. In 2005 the Art Gallery of
Ontario organized a larger exhibition of his watercolours
entitled “Painting Towards the Light” which was also held
at the British Museum in London and the Metropolitan
Museum in New York.
Although he originally worked primarily in oil, Milne
turned almost entirely to watercolour after 1937.
Landscapes dominated much of his production throughout his
career, and it is for these works done in his distinctive
calligraphic style for which he is best known.
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