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William Brymner, (December 14, 1855 – June 18, 1925) was a Canadian figure and landscape painter and educator. In addition to playing a key role in the development of Impressionism in Canada, Brymner taught numerous artists who became leading figures in Canadian modern art.
Following architectural studies, Brymner enrolled at the Académie Julian in Paris, France, in 1878, where his instructors were William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Tony Robert-Fleury. Both of his teachers were famous exponents of 'Grand manner' naturalism. During this period at the Salon Brymner became interested in the work of Jean-Louis Ernest Meissonier, who was already popular with the French public.
In the spring of 1884, Brymner travelled to Runswick Bay, North Yorkshire, England, with the British artist Frederick W. Jackson (1859-1918) and Scottish-Canadian artist James Kerr-Lawson (1862-1939). It was there that Brymner completed his major works A Wreath of Flowers (1884), which later served as his diploma submission for the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and The Lonely Orphans Taken to Her Heart (1884).
In January 1885, Brymner returned to Paris to resume his studies at the Académie Julian. During this time, he created the Barbizon school-inspired landscape painting Border of the Forest of Fontainebleau (1885), which was exhibited at the Paris Salon.
Returning to Canada in 1885, Brymner spent the summer in Baie-Saint-Paul in the Lower Saint Lawrence region of Quebec. There he created his first paintings depicting rural Quebec, a subject he frequently would return to throughout his career.
Upon his return from Western Canada, Brymner began teaching at the Art Association of Montreal, where he would remain for thirty years. Many members of the Beaver Hall Group studied under Brymner, who encouraged them to explore new modernist approaches to painting.
Brymner specialized in figure scenes and avoided large historical subjects except for his paintings of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Two Girls Reading of 1898 displays a careful treatment of light and an understanding of the force of a simple emphatic composition.
Later life
In 1886, Brymner settled in Montreal after staying in Paris "on and off for almost seven years." That year, he travelled to Western Canada via the newly completed Canadian Pacific Railway, hoping to take advantage of the fact that the CPR was commissioning landscapes of the Rocky Mountains. Brymner spent several weeks on the Siksika Nation Reserve near Gleichen (now Alberta), where he witnessed the severe hunger of the Siksika People due to the government's failure to provide adequate food rations. This experience culminated in one of Brymner's most haunting paintings, Giving Out Rations to the Blackfoot Indians, NWT (1886).
Pupils
Among Brymner's pupils were:
(2025). 9781553392514, Agnes Etherington Art Center. ISBN 9781553392514
Recognition and awards
In 1883, he was made an associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA). In 1904, he received a silver medal at the Canadian exhibition at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. He was elected vice-president of the RCA in 1907 and president in 1909. In 1916, he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George and could use the honorary prefix C.M.G. after his name.
Artworks
Gallery
Footnotes
Bibliography
(2025). 9781553392514, Agnes Etherington Art Center. ISBN 9781553392514
Categories: 1855 Births, 1925 Deaths, 19th-century Canadian Painters, Canadian Male Painters, 20th-century Canadian Painters, Académie Julian Alumni, Canadian Companions Of The Order Of St Michael And St George, Artists From Greenock, Lisgar Collegiate Institute Alumni, Canadian Impressionist Painters, Members Of The Royal Canadian Academy Of Arts, British Emigrants To Canada
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