1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson, 3 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: and I'm Holly Frye. 4 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 2: A name I was introduced to while working on our 5 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:24,959 Speaker 2: most recent installment of Unearthed is Helen McNicol, who was 6 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 2: an Impressionist painter. The way the Unearthed episodes work, if 7 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,040 Speaker 2: you haven't heard me tell the story before, is I 8 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 2: just I look at a ton of news and research sources. 9 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:36,880 Speaker 1: Over the course of a quarter. 10 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 2: I bookmark everything that seems relevant, and then when it's 11 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:42,879 Speaker 2: time to actually write the episode, I go through all 12 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 2: that pick out the ones that seem the most interesting 13 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 2: or fun or notable. And there are way more things 14 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 2: that I've bookmarked over the course of the quarter than 15 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 2: can possibly go into an episode, even if I expanded 16 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 2: it into a third part, which I don't want to 17 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 2: do for a number of reasons, one of them being 18 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,680 Speaker 2: that I would need to write an entire third episode 19 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 2: in the same amount of time that I'm currently writing 20 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 2: two in most cases, But there are also a lot 21 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 2: of reasons why something might not go into that final cut, 22 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 2: like maybe it's confusing or seems really similar to something 23 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 2: we just talked about without really adding anything new, or 24 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 2: maybe I just can't figure out what is notable or 25 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 2: really interesting about it. The Helen McNicol find that came 26 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 2: up as I was researching our most recent Unearthed was 27 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 2: a rediscovered painting, and it didn't wind up in this 28 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 2: latest installment for two reasons. One was that the story 29 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 2: came from a BBC TV show called Fake or Fortune, 30 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 2: which is about art authentication. I tried not to put 31 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 2: too much stuff from TV shows on Unearthed, especially TV 32 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 2: shows that sort of have a whole focus on unearthing 33 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 2: things like I think we've had one thing that was 34 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 2: from Antique's Road Show on Unearthed ever, and that was 35 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 2: because it was one of the Bronte Sisters hair. The 36 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 2: other reason, though, was I immediately just wanted to do 37 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 2: a whole episode on Helen McNichol. 38 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: So here it is. Helen Galloway mcnicholl was born in Toronto, Ontario, 39 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 1: on December fourteenth, eighteen seventy nine. She was the first 40 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: child born to David and Emily Patchley mcnicholl. David had 41 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: been born in Scotland and Emily had been born in England, 42 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 1: and they immigrated to Canada before Helen was born. When 43 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: Helen was still very young, the family moved from Toronto 44 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 1: to Montreal, Quebec, and that's where her six siblings were born, 45 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: three brothers and three sisters. 46 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 2: David's career was in railroads, starting back when he was 47 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 2: still living in the UK. After arriving in Canada, he 48 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 2: worked for a couple of different railroad lines before being 49 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 2: hired at Canadian Pacific Railway, where he spent the rest 50 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 2: of his career. He worked his way up through the 51 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:08,360 Speaker 2: ranks there, and so the family became increasingly prosperous and 52 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 2: prominent over the course of Helen's early life. By the 53 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,919 Speaker 2: time she was in her early twenties, her father had 54 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 2: become a vice president and had commissioned the building of 55 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 2: a large house that they called Brayley and had five 56 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:27,240 Speaker 2: bedrooms and two servants rooms. A nineteen sixteen obituary described 57 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 2: him as one of the best known railway men in 58 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:31,519 Speaker 2: North America. 59 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: It's likely that Helen's exposure to art started at an 60 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: early age. David and Emily were both interested in art. 61 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: Emily painted china and she was also a poet, and 62 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: David sketched and painted and also built up an art collection, 63 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: and art was probably also part of Helen's early education, 64 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: which happened at home. She contracted scarlet fever and became 65 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: deaf when she was still a toddler, and she was 66 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: tutored at home rather than being sent to school. 67 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 2: We don't really have very much detail about Helen's early life, 68 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 2: or about her hearing loss and how it might have 69 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 2: affected her sense of herself for her relationship to the world. 70 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 2: The sources used in today's episode agree that she learned 71 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:19,359 Speaker 2: to read lips and that her family and friends helped 72 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,719 Speaker 2: her in situations where she needed to communicate with people 73 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:27,040 Speaker 2: she didn't know. It's also really clear that she enjoyed music. 74 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 2: A couple of sources noted that she learned to play 75 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 2: the piano, and we also know that the family traveled. 76 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 2: Helen's first trip abroad was when she was five, when 77 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:41,159 Speaker 2: she and her oldest younger siblings made a trip back 78 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 2: to England with their mother. Helen's first formal instruction in 79 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 2: art was at the Art Association of Montreal, which had 80 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:53,480 Speaker 2: been founded in eighteen sixty. Her education there included things 81 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 2: like nude figure studies, copying the works of great masters, 82 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 2: and creating drawings of plaster copies of Fami statues. McNichol 83 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,239 Speaker 2: got a scholarship for these drawings in eighteen ninety nine. 84 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 2: Helen's teachers at the Art Association included William Bremner, who 85 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 2: served as director of the Association for more than thirty years. 86 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 2: Although he'd been really reluctant about taking on this role 87 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,719 Speaker 2: when he first accepted that job ten years earlier. It 88 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 2: was one of those things where he really wanted to 89 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 2: focus on his own arts, but his paintings weren't selling 90 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 2: and he needed the income. 91 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: In terms of his art, Bremner is probably most known 92 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: for his landscapes, but he also played a huge role 93 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:41,840 Speaker 1: in the development of Canadian art. Overall, the British colonies 94 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the province of Canada 95 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,719 Speaker 1: had become one nation in eighteen sixty seven, so the 96 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: Dominion of Canada was only about twenty years old when 97 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: he started teaching, and he played a deeply influential role 98 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: in the education of a whole generation of Canadian artists. 99 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: He sometimes called the father of Canadian painting. 100 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 2: Also in eighteen ninety nine, McNichols sketched some students at 101 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 2: a school for the deaf. So we're going to take 102 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,600 Speaker 2: a moment to talk about education for deaf children in 103 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 2: Quebec in the late nineteenth century. This school was described 104 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 2: as the Oral School, and most of the sources used 105 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,839 Speaker 2: in this episode conclude that it was the Mackay Institution 106 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 2: for Protestant deaf, mutes and the Blind in Montreal that 107 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 2: had been founded in eighteen sixty nine. At that time, 108 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 2: for the most part, there were separate educational and social 109 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 2: institutions for Catholics and Protestants in Quebec. Catholics were also 110 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 2: more likely to speak French, while Protestants were more likely 111 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:51,600 Speaker 2: to speak English. The Roman Catholic Church had already established 112 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,919 Speaker 2: two schools for deaf French speaking Catholic students in Quebec, 113 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:59,280 Speaker 2: one for boys and one for girls, but the McKay 114 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 2: Institution was Quebec's first school for deaf children who were 115 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 2: Protestant and from English speaking families. 116 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: The McKay School was named for Joseph McKay, who was 117 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: in the dry goods business and donated the land and 118 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: building for the school, but one of the people who 119 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: was really instrumental in its founding was Thomas Widd, who 120 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: was a journalist and educator who had grown up and 121 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: been educated in England, and who was himself deaf. Widd 122 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,240 Speaker 1: became the school's principal, and his wife, Margaret, who was 123 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:34,440 Speaker 1: also deaf, was heavily involved as well. In the earliest 124 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: years of the school, the two of them made up 125 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: most or all of the staff. 126 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 2: When the McKay School was founded, the focus was on 127 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 2: teaching deaf children to read and write, and to fingerspell 128 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 2: and use other signs, along with other basic academic work, 129 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 2: vocational and life skills, and religious instruction. Not long after 130 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 2: it opened, a student was enrolled who had become deaf 131 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 2: after learning how to speak, and the school hired a 132 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 2: hearing teacher to both help meet that student's needs and 133 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 2: to teach other students how to speak. 134 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: But then over time. 135 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 2: The school's focus shifted, in part because of debates over 136 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:16,560 Speaker 2: the best ways to teach deaf children and for deaf 137 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:22,720 Speaker 2: people to communicate broadly. Speaking manualists advocated for sign language, 138 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 2: while oralists advocated for deaf people to learn to speak 139 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 2: and read lips. In eighteen eighty an international conference of 140 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 2: deaf educators was held in Milan, Italy. The assembled, educators 141 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 2: resolved that oralism was the superior method, and they banned 142 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:43,959 Speaker 2: the teaching of sign language. These resolutions were based on 143 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 2: the incorrect belief that learning to sign was harmful for 144 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 2: children's cognitive development, and a desire among hearing educators for 145 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:55,679 Speaker 2: deaf students to assimilate with the hearing world as much 146 00:08:55,720 --> 00:09:00,319 Speaker 2: as possible. In twenty ten, the twenty first International Calls 147 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:03,560 Speaker 2: on Education of the Deaf was held in Vancouver and 148 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 2: denounced these resolutions and formally apologized for this ban. So 149 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:11,439 Speaker 2: to get back to how this relates to Helen McNichol, 150 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:16,079 Speaker 2: several sources used in this episode say that the McKay School, 151 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 2: by that point teaching the oral method was colloquially being 152 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 2: called the oral school, and so that's where mcnicholl sketched 153 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 2: these students. I'm not completely confident that's the case, though. 154 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 2: I looked through all kinds of documents associated with this school, 155 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 2: and articles and a master's thesis about the school's history, 156 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 2: news reports from Montreal from the eighteen sixties to about 157 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 2: nineteen hundred, and reports on schools for deaf children in 158 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 2: North America over those years, and I really didn't find 159 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 2: any references to the McKay school being called the Oral School. 160 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:58,320 Speaker 1: That doesn't conclusively mean it didn't happen, but a couple 161 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: of sources describe mcnichol's visiting a different school in eighteen 162 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:07,320 Speaker 1: ninety nine, the Mystic Oral School in Connecticut. Earlier in 163 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, a man named Jonathan Whipple had developed 164 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: a method to teach his deaf son how to speak, 165 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 1: and decades later his grandson had established the Whipple School 166 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 1: for the Deaf. The Whipple School also included academic and 167 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 1: vocational training, along with a big focus on reading lips 168 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: and speaking. This school went through various changes and difficulties 169 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 1: before becoming Mystic Oral School in eighteen ninety eight. So 170 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,840 Speaker 1: regardless of which school these students were attending when mcnicholl 171 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 1: sketched them, the fact that she was drawing students at 172 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: a school for the deaf suggests that she had connections 173 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:49,000 Speaker 1: to the deaf community around her. We don't know exactly 174 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:53,679 Speaker 1: what those connections were, though very few of mcnichol's letters 175 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 1: have survived until today, and there's really no diaries or 176 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: other personal writing of hers. News articles about her art 177 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:05,800 Speaker 1: career don't reference her deafness at all, which isn't necessarily 178 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 1: surprising considering attitudes about deafness and disability at the time. 179 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: This is similar to what came up last year in 180 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:18,079 Speaker 1: our episode on tennis player Charlotte Cooper Sterry. When Helen 181 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: McNichol was in her early twenties, she went abroad to 182 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: study art, and we'll get into that after we pause 183 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 1: for a sponsor break. In nineteen oh two, at the 184 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 1: age of twenty three, Helen mcnicholl went to London, England 185 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 1: to study at the Slade School of Art. There's a 186 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 1: bit of speculation about why she decided to go to 187 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: London rather than to Paris, since Paris was considered the 188 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 1: more prestigious and influential place for promising artists. Mcnicholl had 189 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 1: family connections in the UK and her father had work 190 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:02,680 Speaker 1: connection there as well, so this might have been a factor. 191 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 1: There's also no mention of her speaking French and the 192 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: research for this episode, so it's possible that that played 193 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: a role too. She definitely visited France later on she 194 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:17,719 Speaker 1: had a studio there, but she or her family may 195 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 1: have had concerns about her living somewhere that she didn't 196 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:25,680 Speaker 1: speak the language to study art while also being deaf. 197 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: Of course, London also had a more conservative and respectable 198 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: reputation than Paris did, so there's also a possibility that McNichol, 199 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 1: or perhaps her parents, just preferred that. The Slade School 200 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:44,679 Speaker 1: specifically is described as having a quote restrained brand of modernism. 201 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:48,679 Speaker 1: During this era, it could still be controversial for women 202 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 1: to participate in art classes with nude models, but as 203 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:55,199 Speaker 1: had been the case at the Art Association of Montreal, 204 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: this was allowed at the Slade School, so it was 205 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:02,320 Speaker 1: popular among women arts students in the late nineteenth and 206 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 1: early twentieth century. About two thirds of the students there 207 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:06,080 Speaker 1: were women. 208 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 2: McNichol spent two years at the Slade School of Art, 209 00:13:10,559 --> 00:13:14,320 Speaker 2: earning first class honors. She took a trip to France 210 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 2: and then went to Saint Ives in Cornwall to attend 211 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 2: the Cornish School of Landscape and Sea Painting. Saint Ives 212 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,680 Speaker 2: was a fishing town that was also home to artist colonies. 213 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 2: A few decades later, after World War One, Saint Ives 214 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:33,360 Speaker 2: became home to a group of more abstract, avant garde artists, 215 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:36,319 Speaker 2: and that's often what people are talking about today when 216 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:40,320 Speaker 2: they say the Saint Ives school, but when McNichol was 217 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 2: there a lot of the focus was on Impressionism and 218 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:47,960 Speaker 2: landscapes and seascapes painted enplanaire or out in the open. 219 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:53,720 Speaker 2: One of mcnichol's teachers was British impressionist Algernon Talmage, and 220 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:57,319 Speaker 2: Canadian artist Emily Carr studied there at the same time 221 00:13:57,400 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 2: that Helen McNichol did. 222 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: In McNichol also met British impressionist Dorothea Sharp. Sharp had 223 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 1: been born in eighteen seventy three, so she was about 224 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:10,720 Speaker 1: six years older than McNichol, and she was a little 225 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: farther along in her art career. Sharp had studied in 226 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 1: London and Paris, and she had exhibited work at the 227 00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: Royal Academy of Arts and the Paris Salone, she was 228 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: able to share her knowledge and experience in both art 229 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: and the European art world with mcnicchol. 230 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 2: Sharp and mcnicholl were together for the rest of mcnicholl's life. 231 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 2: They lived together and shared studio space, mutually supported and 232 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 2: encouraged one another, and called each other Nelly and Dolly. 233 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:44,120 Speaker 2: The titles of their paintings often don't say who the 234 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 2: model was, but many of mcnicholl's paintings. They're believed to 235 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 2: be of Sharp and vice versa. Sharp was also really 236 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 2: skilled at communicating and working with models, like getting them 237 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 2: into poses that were both realistic and evocative. There are 238 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 2: a lot of paintings in which Sharp and McNichol were 239 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 2: clearly working with the same models in the same setting. 240 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,560 Speaker 2: In addition to working with their models, Sharp also made 241 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 2: a lot of their arrangements when they traveled together and 242 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 2: helped McNichol communicate with others at art shows and other events. 243 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 2: We don't really have things like diary entries, letters between 244 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 2: the two of them, or letters to other people in 245 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:24,680 Speaker 2: which they. 246 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: Wrote about one another. It is clear, though, that their 247 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 1: relationship made their work as artists possible. It was not 248 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: appropriate for women to live and work alone, so the 249 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 1: fact that they were together gave them access to spaces 250 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:42,040 Speaker 1: that they wouldn't have had otherwise. While mcnichol's family was 251 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: affluent enough that she didn't need to sell her work 252 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:47,480 Speaker 1: to support herself, that was not the case for Sharp, 253 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: but they were able to share their costs on things 254 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 1: like supplies and accommodations. They also created an artistic world 255 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 1: that was really focused on women. Aside from a few 256 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: street scenes or crowd scene, their models were almost entirely 257 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: women and children, and they add connections to a number 258 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 1: of other women artists. Although Helen McNichol never lived in 259 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,600 Speaker 1: Canada full time after going to London to study art, 260 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 1: she did visit and she sent her paintings back to 261 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:21,840 Speaker 1: Canada for various exhibitions. Her first professional exhibition took place 262 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:25,840 Speaker 1: when she was twenty six, at the Art Association of Montreal. 263 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: That was in February and March of nineteen oh six. 264 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:33,600 Speaker 1: She very quickly developed a name for herself as an artist, 265 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 1: and in nineteen oh eight her painting September Evening was 266 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:42,160 Speaker 1: awarded the Art Association of Montreal's Jesse Dow Prize, named 267 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 1: for the Association's governor. This was the first year this 268 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 1: prize had been awarded, and McNichol shared it with painter W. H. Clapp, 269 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: who had also studied with William Bremner. September Evening depicts 270 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:59,640 Speaker 1: a gold field dotted with sheaves of grain, bordered by 271 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 1: a four. Most of the forest is shown only in shadow, 272 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 1: except for one tall tree that's covered in browning leaves. 273 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:10,600 Speaker 1: There's a pair of ruts left by wheels off to 274 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:14,120 Speaker 1: the side and barely visible. Off in the distance, there's 275 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:16,040 Speaker 1: a shape of what looks like a woman in a 276 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:19,159 Speaker 1: skirt walking away toward the woods with a small child. 277 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: Also in nineteen oh eight, she and Dorothea Sharp got 278 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:25,840 Speaker 1: a studio in London, and later they had one in 279 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:29,399 Speaker 1: Paris as well. They traveled frequently, doing a lot of 280 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:33,720 Speaker 1: painting from remote villages, painting the villages themselves as well 281 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:38,480 Speaker 1: as countrysides and seasides. McNichol became involved in the Society 282 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 1: of Women Artists, which Sharp was already a part of, 283 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,640 Speaker 1: and Sharp became its vice president. In nineteen thirteen, McNichol 284 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:48,760 Speaker 1: was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists, which 285 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:52,119 Speaker 1: had been established in eighteen twenty three in response to 286 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: the exclusivity of the Royal Academy of Arts, which admitted 287 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,480 Speaker 1: only fifty members at a time. The year she was 288 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:03,199 Speaker 1: elected to the society, she also had three paintings shown 289 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:04,200 Speaker 1: in its exhibition. 290 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:09,040 Speaker 2: In nineteen fourteen, McNichol was elected to the Royal Canadian 291 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:12,640 Speaker 2: Academy of Arts. She was also awarded the Women's Art 292 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,960 Speaker 2: Society Prize that year for her painting in the Shadow 293 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:18,320 Speaker 2: of the Tent, which we'll talk more about in a 294 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 2: little bit. McNichol made a visit back to Canada in 295 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:25,639 Speaker 2: April of nineteen fourteen, and after returning to Europe, she 296 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 2: and Sharp went to Saint Valericia, some on the northern 297 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,200 Speaker 2: coast of France. On June twenty eighth of that year, 298 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:36,200 Speaker 2: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie were 299 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:42,199 Speaker 2: assassinated by a Bosnian Serb. Austria Hungary declared war on Serbia, 300 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,120 Speaker 2: and by the start of August multiple nations. 301 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:45,920 Speaker 1: In Europe were at war. 302 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:50,440 Speaker 2: There are some surviving letters from this time and they 303 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,440 Speaker 2: don't really make it sound like McNichol and Sharp thought 304 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:57,120 Speaker 2: they were in danger at this point, but people back 305 00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 2: home in Canada did not feel the same. David mcnicholl's 306 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 2: role as vice president at Canadian Pacific Railway had already 307 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,480 Speaker 2: made a lot of Helen's travel possible, and at this 308 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:11,959 Speaker 2: point officials with the railroad worked with their connections in 309 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:16,440 Speaker 2: Europe to get Helen and Dorothea back to England. Both 310 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,440 Speaker 2: women donated some of their artwork to help raise money 311 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 2: for the war effort. 312 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:25,000 Speaker 1: Sadly, in June of the following year, Helen mcnichol's family 313 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 1: received a cable that she had suddenly become ill, and 314 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,320 Speaker 1: then the next day a second cable saying that she 315 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:35,840 Speaker 1: had died. She died in Swanage, Dorset, on June twenty seventh, 316 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:40,399 Speaker 1: nineteen fifteen, at the age of thirty five. The sources 317 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:43,119 Speaker 1: that Tracy used in this episode all agreed that she 318 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:47,119 Speaker 1: died of complications from diabetes, but none of them really 319 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:51,359 Speaker 1: mention her having diabetes prior to her death. She was 320 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: buried in Northbrook Cemetery in Swanage. 321 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:57,639 Speaker 2: We will talk more about her art and her influence 322 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:11,280 Speaker 2: and legacy after another sponsor break. After Helen mcnicholl died, 323 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:14,920 Speaker 2: her obituary in the Montreal Gazette described her as one 324 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 2: of Canada's most promising artists. It went on to say 325 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 2: that she was quote a conscientious and sincere painter. Despite 326 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 2: the temptation to which so many succumbed to pattern their 327 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:29,919 Speaker 2: art on that of instructors, Miss McNichol went her own way, 328 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 2: and with each succeeding year saw advance in the work, 329 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 2: which she showed at the Spring exhibitions under the auspices 330 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:39,800 Speaker 2: of the Art Association of Montreal and the Royal Canadian 331 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:45,040 Speaker 2: Academy Exhibitions. This obituary described her last pictures shown in 332 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:49,200 Speaker 2: Canada that spring as a revelation, even to people who 333 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 2: had kept watch on her previous pieces. This obituary also 334 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:58,200 Speaker 2: references the changing world of art in the early twentieth century, 335 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:01,639 Speaker 2: when the impression Is movement had started to take shape. 336 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:05,320 Speaker 2: In the eighteen sixties, it had been really controversial, an 337 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:09,119 Speaker 2: avant garde artistic movement that rejected the formal rules and 338 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:13,680 Speaker 2: standards of the Academy de Beausire in France. Helen McNichol 339 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 2: was born almost twenty years after that, and by the 340 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:20,439 Speaker 2: time she started formally studying art, Impressionism had become a 341 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:24,680 Speaker 2: lot more popular and accepted within and outside of France. 342 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 2: Other artistic movements had become the one seen as the 343 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 2: avant garde. The Montreal Gazette describes her as being interested 344 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 2: in Impressionism only through quote attaining the ends that school 345 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 2: stands for the rendition of. 346 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,959 Speaker 1: Light and atmosphere. While the art centers were agitated by 347 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:47,000 Speaker 1: the Cubists and post Impressionists, the Montreal artist retained the 348 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,520 Speaker 1: individuality of her style and went on improving along her 349 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,880 Speaker 1: own lines, unimpressed and unaffected by the latest movements in art. 350 00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: So while Impressionism wasn't novel in France anymore when McNichol 351 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,720 Speaker 1: started her career as an artist, it was fairly new 352 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:09,120 Speaker 1: in Canada. The first exhibition of Impressionist art in Canada 353 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: took place in eighteen ninety two, so McNichol was part 354 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:17,560 Speaker 1: of the first generation of Canadian Impressionist painters and really 355 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:22,760 Speaker 1: helped to popularize Impressionism in Canada and by Canadian artists. 356 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,639 Speaker 1: She also helped connect the world of Canadian art to 357 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:30,600 Speaker 1: the art worlds of London and Paris in terms of 358 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 1: her paintings themselves. That bit from the obituary about the 359 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:38,720 Speaker 1: rendition of light and atmosphere has been echoed by multiple 360 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:42,760 Speaker 1: writers and art critics in more recent years. Light and 361 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:45,200 Speaker 1: its effects on her subjects are a huge part of 362 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:49,880 Speaker 1: her paintings. In Fishing, painted in nineteen oh seven, two 363 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 1: little girls are sitting by a stream fishing with rods 364 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:56,440 Speaker 1: made from sticks. They're under a tree with a broad trunk, 365 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,439 Speaker 1: and the sunlight through the leaves dapples the surface of 366 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,720 Speaker 1: the water and the grass around them, there are bright 367 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:06,120 Speaker 1: spots of sunlight on their white dresses, a white hat 368 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: on the ground next to them, and a glass jar 369 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:12,200 Speaker 1: filled with what looks like lemonade. Toward the top left 370 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,159 Speaker 1: corner of the painting, there are two ducks, one white 371 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,639 Speaker 1: and one brown, swimming through a brightly sunlit part of 372 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 1: the stream that's uninterrupted by shade. 373 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:25,200 Speaker 2: Another example is in the Shadow of the Tent, which 374 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 2: is the one that earns McNichol the Women's Art Society 375 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:31,800 Speaker 2: Prize in nineteen fourteen. Two women are at the beach 376 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,480 Speaker 2: under a white tent. Outside of the tents shadow, the 377 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 2: sand is bathed in golden sunlight, and there are sketchy 378 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 2: figures of children in the far distance by the water. 379 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 2: In the shadow are two women, one in a white 380 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:48,520 Speaker 2: dress and the other in a blue dress covered by 381 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 2: a bluish white jacket or smock. The one in blue 382 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,160 Speaker 2: is on a stool looking through the box of art supplies, 383 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 2: while the one in white is on a blanket on 384 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 2: the ground looking at a sketchbook. The contrast between the 385 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 2: light and the shadow is really dramatic. The painting almost 386 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,520 Speaker 2: feels cooler in the part that the tent is shading. 387 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,639 Speaker 1: The model's names aren't specified, but it's possible that the 388 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,560 Speaker 1: woman in blue is Dorothea Sharp and that the woman 389 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 1: in white is Marcella Smith. Marcella Smith was also an artist, 390 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 1: a bit younger than Dorothea and Helen. Marcella would have 391 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:26,480 Speaker 1: been about twenty seven when this was painted, while Helen 392 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:30,000 Speaker 1: would have been about thirty four and Dorothea about forty. 393 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: Marcella was also close to Dorothea and Helen, and the 394 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:38,720 Speaker 1: three of them often worked together. Dorothea and Marcella continued 395 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,160 Speaker 1: to work and travel together after Helen died. 396 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 2: Another quality that often comes up in discussions of Helen 397 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 2: mcnichol's work is a sense of quiet or distance. It's 398 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,679 Speaker 2: rare that her subjects are looking out from the canvas, 399 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:57,320 Speaker 2: and when they are, they are rarely looking directly at 400 00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:01,119 Speaker 2: the viewer. Often they seem to be really immersed in 401 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:05,199 Speaker 2: what they're doing or in their own interior worlds. In 402 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:09,200 Speaker 2: paintings with more than one person, they often aren't interacting 403 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 2: with one another. Those two little girls fishing have their 404 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,960 Speaker 2: eyes on their own poles. The two women under the 405 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:19,200 Speaker 2: tent are focused on their art supplies and their sketch book. 406 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:20,400 Speaker 1: And not on each other. 407 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 2: A few of her paintings are of spaces that are 408 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 2: made for people, but without any people in them, So 409 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:31,440 Speaker 2: around table out in a cottage garden with a tablecloth 410 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 2: and a tea set, or a corner of a bedroom 411 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:38,160 Speaker 2: that has a fireplace and a vanity and one's bright 412 00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:41,600 Speaker 2: streak of sunlight on the floor, but no one in there. 413 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 2: This is speculative, but a number of art critics have 414 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:51,840 Speaker 2: interpreted this as possibly connected to mcnichol's deafness. Another source 415 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:55,680 Speaker 2: of speculation is how to interpret mcnichol's work in terms 416 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,760 Speaker 2: of gender and gender roles in the early twentieth century. 417 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,679 Speaker 2: If her paintings are of women working, Like the Apple 418 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,480 Speaker 2: Gatherer circa nineteen eleven, it shows a woman pulling a 419 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:08,680 Speaker 2: branch of a tree toward her so she can pick 420 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:11,359 Speaker 2: an apple from it, with her cheeks flushed in the 421 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:12,200 Speaker 2: heat and. 422 00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:16,400 Speaker 1: Her back slightly arched. The fruit Vendor circa nineteen ten 423 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:19,760 Speaker 1: depicts a woman sitting by her fruit stand in an alley, 424 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,320 Speaker 1: resting her forearms on her knees, with a cloth awning, 425 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:27,040 Speaker 1: providing her and her wares a little bit of shade 426 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,480 Speaker 1: in a welcome breeze. Which was painted around nineteen oh nine. 427 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:33,159 Speaker 1: A woman in a blue skirt and white top is 428 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: taking in the laundry from the line as it billows 429 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:38,960 Speaker 1: in the wind. But there are also lots of women, 430 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 1: often dressed in white, doing things that were considered typical 431 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 1: and appropriate for middle class women of the era, reading 432 00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:49,160 Speaker 1: next to a child in a praym or reading alone, 433 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:53,080 Speaker 1: or doing some kind of embroidery or needlework, or seemingly 434 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:55,159 Speaker 1: just waiting while dressed for an event. 435 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,760 Speaker 2: Sometimes these are interpreted as conventional paintings of women in 436 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:04,439 Speaker 2: inventionally feminine settings, the kinds of scenes McNichol would have 437 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,639 Speaker 2: had access to as a woman painter at a time 438 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:10,439 Speaker 2: and place in which women didn't have the freedom to 439 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 2: just do whatever they wanted while still being seen as respectable. 440 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:17,879 Speaker 2: But there are some critics who have interpreted some of 441 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:22,879 Speaker 2: her work as more subtly subversive. One is the Chintz Sofa, 442 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,720 Speaker 2: painted around nineteen thirteen. In it, a woman in a 443 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:29,879 Speaker 2: white dress is doing some kind of needlework on a 444 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,240 Speaker 2: Chintz sofa, supported by a brownish red throat pillow. The 445 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,719 Speaker 2: window behind her has beige drapes, and there's a blue 446 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 2: vase containing some silvery foliage behind her. This could be 447 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 2: interpreted as just what it looks like, woman in a 448 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 2: white dress doing needlework. But that Chintz sofa is one 449 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:52,879 Speaker 2: that was in mcnichol's London studio, and it's possible or 450 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:57,080 Speaker 2: even likely, that the model is Dorothea Sharp. If that's 451 00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 2: the case, then this painting is of mcnichol's partner in 452 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:03,439 Speaker 2: both her work and her life, who was herself a 453 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:07,640 Speaker 2: working artist and vice president of the Society of Women Artists. 454 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:12,919 Speaker 2: This painting is in their shared professional working space. Maybe 455 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:16,520 Speaker 2: it was intentional, but also maybe not. By this point, 456 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:19,800 Speaker 2: the white dress had also become an emblem of the 457 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:24,439 Speaker 2: suffrage movement. We have almost nothing from McNichol herself on 458 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:27,840 Speaker 2: how to interpret her work or what she intended when 459 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:30,920 Speaker 2: she painted it. As we said earlier, there aren't many 460 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:34,320 Speaker 2: surviving letters or other writing with her own point of view. 461 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:38,080 Speaker 2: She did keep a scrap book full of clippings, mostly 462 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:42,040 Speaker 2: of images of women and children. Most of these images 463 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 2: were by other women artists, a lot of them by 464 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:49,520 Speaker 2: American illustrator Jesse Wilcox Smith, who maybe needs her own episode. 465 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:52,520 Speaker 1: At some point. She also had a clipping of past 466 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:57,080 Speaker 1: podcast subject Elizabeth Vige Lebrun's seventeen eighty nine self portrait 467 00:28:57,120 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: with her daughter. A couple of write ups on mcnick 468 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 1: describe her as focused on maternal imagery, and that's not 469 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: really true in her own work, but images of mothers 470 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:09,800 Speaker 1: and children are very common in this scrapbook. 471 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 2: Helen McNichol was well known as an artist during her lifetime, 472 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:19,720 Speaker 2: and she was prolific. When the Art Association of Montreal 473 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 2: had a memorial retrospective ten years after she died, it 474 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:27,240 Speaker 2: included more than one hundred and twenty of her works. 475 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:30,840 Speaker 2: Some of these were sort of sketches and figure studies, 476 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:35,120 Speaker 2: but that is incredible considering that less than fifteen years 477 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 2: past between the beginning of her formal study of art 478 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:42,719 Speaker 2: and her death. Only two of her works were acquired 479 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 2: by museums or galleries during her lifetime, though possibly because 480 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,600 Speaker 2: she just didn't need to sell paintings to make a living. 481 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:54,560 Speaker 2: The National Gallery of Canada acquired her painting The Stubble Fields, 482 00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:57,840 Speaker 2: which she painted around nineteen twelve and is reminiscent of 483 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 2: Claude Mooney's haystack paintings. The Saint John Art Club bought 484 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:05,080 Speaker 2: the Farmyard, which was painted around nineteen oh eight. 485 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: That one is. 486 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:10,560 Speaker 2: Less detailed with thicker brushstrokes than some of her other work, 487 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:13,520 Speaker 2: and it shows a woman in a billowing skirt standing 488 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 2: next to a white farmhouse with a reddish roof. 489 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:20,120 Speaker 1: Most of Helen mcnichol's work continues to be held in 490 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:24,120 Speaker 1: family and private collections, which is probably part of why 491 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:28,080 Speaker 1: it took ten years to stage a memorial exhibition, but 492 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:30,720 Speaker 1: the fact that little of it was publicly available meant 493 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:34,240 Speaker 1: that Helen McNichol faded from prominence soon after her death 494 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:39,040 Speaker 1: in Canada. She was also overshadowed by other later artists, 495 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:41,800 Speaker 1: like the group of landscape painters known as the Group 496 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:44,560 Speaker 1: of Seven, who came to prominence a few years after 497 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:49,560 Speaker 1: her death. Additionally, the first histories of Impressionism in Canada 498 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:54,280 Speaker 1: really overlooked the contributions of women artists, even though McNichol 499 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:57,440 Speaker 1: had been one of the artists to really help popularize 500 00:30:57,440 --> 00:30:59,960 Speaker 1: Impressionism in Canada. 501 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,040 Speaker 2: That's changed a bit in more recent years, though. A 502 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,920 Speaker 2: comprehensive retrospective of mcnichol's work was held at the Art 503 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:11,400 Speaker 2: Gallery of Ontario in nineteen ninety nine. In twenty twenty three, 504 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 2: the Art Gallery of Ontario also hosted an exhibition called 505 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:20,480 Speaker 2: Cassatte McNichol Impressionists Between Worlds, which featured the work of 506 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 2: both McNichol and American impressionist Mary Cassatte. It doesn't seem 507 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:28,360 Speaker 2: like McNichol and Cassette ever actually met, but they were 508 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:32,440 Speaker 2: contemporaries and they were compared to one another during their lifetimes. 509 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:36,320 Speaker 2: There were also some parallels between mcnichol's life and work 510 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 2: and that of past podcast subject Berte Marissau, who we 511 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 2: covered on the show. In twenty twenty one. 512 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:45,880 Speaker 1: The first retrospective of mcnichol's work to be held in 513 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:51,000 Speaker 1: Quebec just happened. That was Helen McNichol An Impressionistic Journey, 514 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:54,440 Speaker 1: held at the muse Nacionale des Bouzare do Quebec, and 515 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:59,280 Speaker 1: that closed on January fifth, And about what was unearthed 516 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:03,880 Speaker 1: last year. Mcnichol's painting The Bean Harvest had been shown 517 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:07,400 Speaker 1: during her lifetime and then it had gone missing. Many 518 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:11,200 Speaker 1: years later, British artist and art dealer David Taylor saw 519 00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:14,680 Speaker 1: a piece in an auction house that was titled in 520 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,760 Speaker 1: their records as women in the fields and it was 521 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:22,520 Speaker 1: described as in the style of Helen McNichol. He bought 522 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:26,800 Speaker 1: this for two thousand pounds. It was an inexpensive frame 523 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:29,360 Speaker 1: that seemed to date back to the nineteen sixties when 524 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:31,600 Speaker 1: he bought it, and when he removed the frame he 525 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:36,440 Speaker 1: saw mcnichol's signature. Experts from the BBC TV show Fake 526 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:40,960 Speaker 1: or Fortune authenticated the painting and estimated its value as 527 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,680 Speaker 1: more than three hundred thousand pounds or more than half 528 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:48,360 Speaker 1: a million Canadian dollars. This piece was sold at auction 529 00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:52,720 Speaker 1: through Sotheby's in November and the buyer's identity has not 530 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:55,959 Speaker 1: been publicized, at least not as of when we are 531 00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:56,760 Speaker 1: recording this. 532 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 2: That is Helen mcmick. Do you have a bit of 533 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:06,680 Speaker 2: listener mail. Yes, this is from Sarah. Sarah wrote in 534 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:12,160 Speaker 2: after our most recent Unearthed with an email titled Hornbostel 535 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:15,840 Speaker 2: Socks is my jam as is Dear Holly and Tracy. 536 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:18,760 Speaker 2: I wanted to write after hearing your most recent Unearthed 537 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:22,800 Speaker 2: episode to say thank you for highlighting the musical instrument 538 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:26,800 Speaker 2: research taking place in Zimbabwe and South Africa. My ears 539 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:29,280 Speaker 2: definitely tuned in when you brought up this project and 540 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:31,640 Speaker 2: I had a good chuckle when you mentioned the Hornbostel 541 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:36,280 Speaker 2: Socks classification system. As an organologist, someone who studies the 542 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:39,760 Speaker 2: history and development of musical instruments, I don't often hear 543 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:43,440 Speaker 2: my somewhat obscure field of study referenced in podcasts, and 544 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:47,760 Speaker 2: very rarely does anyone mention Hornbostel Socks. I use this 545 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:52,440 Speaker 2: classification system in my work at a musical instrument museum, 546 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:55,520 Speaker 2: where we study how instruments develop over time and how 547 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:59,720 Speaker 2: these developments have changed instruments sound and music overall. It 548 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:03,040 Speaker 2: is also a helpful tool for helping to understand the 549 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:07,200 Speaker 2: similarities of instruments from around the world. Although instruments may 550 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:10,680 Speaker 2: look different or be made from different materials, they can 551 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,640 Speaker 2: all be connected or grouped together through the ways they 552 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:16,799 Speaker 2: make vibrations. We mentioned in the segment that some of 553 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,680 Speaker 2: the instruments in the artworks looked to be played by 554 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:25,600 Speaker 2: particular genders. This is another interesting part of organological research. Today, 555 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:28,279 Speaker 2: we don't really think of instruments as being gendered. Even 556 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:32,200 Speaker 2: in Western musical practice, there was a long tradition of 557 00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 2: restricting instrument performance to one gender. Women in particular were 558 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:41,920 Speaker 2: restricted in their musical practice with wind's instrument performance being forbidden. 559 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:45,320 Speaker 2: Imagine the scandal of a lady blowing into an object 560 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:50,239 Speaker 2: while guitar and keyboard instrument performance were encouraged. Obviously, I'm 561 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:52,759 Speaker 2: a big musical instrument geek and I could go on 562 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:55,439 Speaker 2: for ages. But overall, the thing I love most about 563 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:59,200 Speaker 2: my field is how musical instruments connect people and cultures, 564 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:02,440 Speaker 2: and that by studying instruments of the past, we can 565 00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:05,840 Speaker 2: learn not only about the music of today, but also 566 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:09,400 Speaker 2: how people have interacted with this music across time. For 567 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,280 Speaker 2: a pet tax, I've attached pictures of my big goofy 568 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:15,520 Speaker 2: couch potato of a white boxer named miss Betty White. 569 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:19,000 Speaker 2: Betty has heterochromia and we are often stopped on the 570 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:22,320 Speaker 2: street by people commenting, oh, she has two different colored eyes. 571 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:25,040 Speaker 2: It gives me great pleasure to look down at Betty 572 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:28,319 Speaker 2: and respond, oh, Betty, you lost a contact Again. There's 573 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:31,360 Speaker 2: usually a bit of confusion before they realize I am teasing, 574 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:35,000 Speaker 2: but her mismatched eyes are always a good conversation starter. 575 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:37,959 Speaker 2: The photos are for one of our recent walks through 576 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:41,600 Speaker 2: a part in Edinburgh. There's definitely a before and after 577 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:43,959 Speaker 2: moment in the pictures after our big white dog jumped 578 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:46,960 Speaker 2: in a big mud puddle, one of her favorite pastimes. 579 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,480 Speaker 2: Thank you again for all you do. I have a 580 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:53,080 Speaker 2: PhD and s ym my HC and I look forward 581 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:55,200 Speaker 2: to all your episodes. Keep up the good work, all 582 00:35:55,239 --> 00:35:59,640 Speaker 2: the best, Sarah. Thank you so much for this email, Sarah, 583 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:03,640 Speaker 2: and or this very adorable set of dog pictures. 584 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:04,360 Speaker 1: Goodness. 585 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,440 Speaker 2: I love that you have a dog named Miss Betty White. 586 00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:10,880 Speaker 2: I love that Miss Betty White has two different color eyes, 587 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:14,560 Speaker 2: so cute. 588 00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,360 Speaker 1: Betty White would be very honored since she was a 589 00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:18,920 Speaker 1: big advocate for animals. 590 00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:29,640 Speaker 2: Yeah. I think there's not as strict gendering of musical 591 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:34,680 Speaker 2: instruments today, but I do remember when I was in 592 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:38,600 Speaker 2: you know, middle and high school, the age of taking 593 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:44,480 Speaker 2: orchestra and band classes in school, there was definitely a 594 00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:50,359 Speaker 2: perception that flutes were for girls and brass instruments were 595 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:51,480 Speaker 2: for boys. 596 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:53,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, I would say the same. 597 00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:56,719 Speaker 2: Yeah, And I don't know if that is still true 598 00:36:56,760 --> 00:37:00,120 Speaker 2: at all, because I had not been to a high 599 00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:03,680 Speaker 2: school marching band competition in many, many. 600 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:08,560 Speaker 1: Years at this point, and it was like not strictly 601 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:09,160 Speaker 1: adhered to. 602 00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:15,359 Speaker 2: There were there were, you know, kids that played different instruments. 603 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:17,960 Speaker 2: Than one might have expected based on their gender, but 604 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:22,280 Speaker 2: it did seem like that was a kind of unwritten rule. 605 00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:23,200 Speaker 1: Yep. 606 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:27,200 Speaker 2: So anyway, thank you again so much for this email, Sarah. 607 00:37:27,239 --> 00:37:28,520 Speaker 1: If you would like to send us. 608 00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:32,440 Speaker 2: A note about this or any other podcast, or at 609 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:36,360 Speaker 2: History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 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