Doris McCarthy (Doris Jean McCarthy)

b. 1910

Doris McCarthy was born in Calgary, Alberta and moved to Toronto in 1913. She showed a strong interest for art at a very young age and in 1925 she enrolled at the Ontario College of Arts where she studied under Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald, J.W. Beatty, Emanuel Hahn, Yvonne McKague Housser and others. She graduated with an Honours Diploma and Special Prize in 1930, year on which she also became founding instructor at Arthur Lismer’s Children’s classes at the Art Gallery of Toronto (1930-1935). During this period, she also taught part-time at the Moulton College in Toronto (1931-1933). In 1932, she became a full-time teacher at the Central Technical School, position she held until 1972. She later became Assistant Head of Art Department (1969-1972) at the Central Technical School. In 1935-1936, she undertook post-graduate studies at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, England.

During the summers when she wasn’t teaching, she travelled within Canada or abroad in search of subjects for her canvases. During the thirties, she painted in the Quebec areas of Hull, Mont-Laurier, Ste-Adèle and Gaspé, in Ontario at Georgian Bay and in British Columbia at Revelstoke. In 1931, she started exhibiting with the Ontario Society of Artist and in 1934, she began participating at the Royal Canadian Academy shows which she did on an almost regular basis until 1970. During this time she also participated at many solo and group exhibitions. By 1942 she was becoming known to a larger number of Canadian collectors. In 1945, she was elected a member of the Ontario Society of Artists, and later became Vice-President (1961-1964) and President (1964-1967). Recognition came in 1946 when the Art Gallery of Toronto purchased a large canvas.

In 1951, she was elected an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy and became a full member in 1974. Still in 1951, she took a sabbatical leave from the Central Technical School and took the opportunity to Travel across Europe. In 1952, she was elected a member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour and became Secretary in 1953. She was later made President from 1956 to 1958. In 1954, she returned to her studies completing a Specialist Certificate in Art at the Ontario Department of Education. The following year, she exhibited at the Spring Exhibition of the Art Association of Montreal, and did so again in 1957 and 1961. In 1958, more recognition came when she won the Purchase Award at the Minneapolis Biennial. In 1961, she took another sabbatical leave and travelled to Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Greece, Egypt and Israel before returning to Rome, Spain, France and England in 1962. In 1967, she produced "'OSA' on the Air", a weekly feature radio show.

In 1972, she retired form her teaching post at the Central Technical School and from then-on painted full-time. That same year she made her first trip to the Canadian arctic painting glaciers and icebergs, subjects for which she would become well-known. In 1976 she started a course in Literature at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1989 with an honours degree in literature and a prize for highest standing in the Humanities. In 1978-1979, a retrospective of her work was organized and circulated by the Art Gallery of Ontario. In 1983, an award-winning documentary was made on her life story and she receives the Tia Maria Award as Canadian Woman Artist of the Year. In 1986, she was appointed a member of the Order of Canada, and was later appointed member of the Order of Ontario (1992). In 1991, a travelling retrospective was shown in various locations across Ontario and Quebec, notably at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa and the Point-Claire Cultural Centre in Pointe-Claire. In 1999, a major retrospective was held at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg. On this occasion, she was the first artist to receive the status of Artist of Honour from the McMichael’s.

Over the span of her long career, she exhibited countless times in various private galleries in Canada and abroad, in solo or group shows, showing her work at prestigious locations such as the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Vancouver Art Gallery, Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Riverside Museum, New York, Art Museum of South Texas, The Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery, McMichael Canadian Art Collection and many others.

For her continuing contribution to Canada's artistic community, Doris McCarthy has received a number of awards including Honorary Doctorates from the University of Calgary (1995), Nipissing University (1998), University of Toronto (2001), Trent University and University of Alberta (2002), and an Honorary Fellowship to The Ontario College of Art and Design. She was honoured by the City of Toronto with the “Doris McCarthy Trail” and by the City of Scarborough with the “Doris McCarthy Day”. In 1998, she received the William Kilbourn Award from the City of Toronto Arts Foundation. In 2000, she became the first Recipient of the Julius Griffith Award on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of The Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour. That same year, she also received an honorary Senior Signature membership from the Federation of Canadian Artists. In 2004 the University of Toronto in Scarborough opened the Doris McCarthy Gallery in her honour. Over the years, many articles and books on her life and art have been published.

Collections:

- National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
- McMichael Canadian Art Collection (Kleinburg, ON)
- Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, ON)
- Art Gallery of Mississauga (Toronto, ON)
- Royal Art Collection, Windsor Castle (Windsor, UK)
- Edmonton Art Gallery (Edmonton, AB)
- Museum London (London, ON)
- Glenbow Museum (Calgary, AB)
- The Robert McLaughlin Gallery (Oshawa, ON)
- Tom Thompson Memorial Art Gallery (Owen Sound, ON)
- Prince of Whales Northern Heritage Centre (Yellowknife, NWT)
- The Market Gallery (Toronto, ON)
- MacKenzie Art Gallery (Regina, SK)
- Carleton University (Ottawa, ON)
- University of Lethbridge (Lethbridge, AB)
- University of Toronto (Toronto, ON)
- Bell Canada (Toronto, ON)
- Royal Bank of Canada (Toronto, ON)
- Royal Bank of Canada (Montreal, QC))

Affiliations:

- Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour
- Ontario Society of Painters (1945), Vice-President (1961-1964), President (1964-1972)
- Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy (1951)
- Royal Canadian Academy (1974)
- Order of Canada (1986)
- Order of Ontario (1992)