Maurice Cullen (artist) (Redirected from Maurice Galbraith Cullen)
Maurice Cullen | |
---|---|
Born | Maurice Galbraith Cullen 6 June 1866 |
Died | 28 March 1934 Chambly, Quebec, Canada | (aged 67)
Nationality | Canadian |
Education | Montreal, Conseil des Arts et Manufactures (sculpture); Montreal, with sculptor Louis-Philippe Hébert, 1880s; Paris, École des Beaux Arts, with Élie Delaunay, 1889–1892, turned from sculpture to painting; Paris, with Alfred Philippe Roll |
Known for | Painter, teacher at Art Association of Montreal (1911) |
Movement | Impressionism |
Spouse(s) | Barbara Merchant Pilot (married 1910) |
Awards | Associate, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1895; Associate, Royal Canadian Academy, 1899; member, R.C.A., 1907 |
Maurice Cullen RCA (June 6, 1866 – March 28, 1934) is considered the father of Impressionism in Canada. He is best known for his paintings of snow and for his ice harvest scenes where horse-drawn sleighs travel across the frozen waters of Quebec.
Life and work
Cullen was born on June 6, 1866, in St. John's, Newfoundland. In 1870 his family moved to Montreal, Quebec. He travelled to Paris at the age of 22 to study painting at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the Académie Julian. While in Paris, he was influenced by the Impressionists, especially Claude Monet. In 1910, he married Barbara Merchant Pilot, a widow whose son, his stepson, grew up to be the artist Robert Wakeham Pilot. In the same year, he was invited to be a member of the progressive Canadian Art Club.
Beginning in January 1918, Cullen served with Canadian forces in the First World War. He came to the attention of Lord Beaverbrook, who arranged for him to be commissioned as one of the Canadian official war artists along with Frederick Varley, J.W. Beatty and C. W. Simpson.
Cullen died March 28, 1934, at Chambly, Québec.
Exhibitions
William Robinson Watson (1887–1973) in Montreal, of Watson Art Gallery, represented Cullen and published a book on him in 1931. An exhibition, Legacies of Impressionism in Canada: Three Exhibitions, was held from January 31 to April 19, 2009 at the Vancouver Art Gallery. In 2019, the National Gallery of Canada show, Canada and Impressionism: New Horizons, opened in Munich.
Selected works
Honours
- First Canadian to be elected associate member of Société nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1895
- Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, elected full member 1907
- Bronze medal, Canadian exhibition at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Missouri, 1904
- Awarded Jessie Dow Prize, Art Association of Montreal, 1911, 1913
- Elected first vice-president of Arts Club, Montreal (founded at his studio), 1912
- He was declared a Canadian Person of National Historic Significance in 1944.