Artist of the Day, July 12, 2021: Emily Coonan, a Canadian post-impressionist painter (#1327)

 Emily Coonan (1885 –1971) was a Canadian post-impressionist painter, born in the Pointe-Saint-Charles area of Montreal. As a member of the Beaver Hall Group, Coonan mostly did figure paintings. Influenced by William Brymner and James Wilson Morrice in early years and later on by the European’s impressionist waves, Coonan’s works had the features of both impressionist and modern styles. Through her faithful depiction of nature and people, she significantly influenced the development of modernism and impressionism in Canada.

She was educated at the nearby St. Ann's Academy for Girls. Emily was encouraged to study art early on when she was enrolled in art classes at the Conseil des Arts & Manufactures around 1898, under the instructors Dyonnet, Franchere, Saint-Charles, and Gill. She then studied at the Art Association of Montreal with William Brymner thast was the primary instructor for the members of the Beaver Hall Group, which Coonan took part, and he was especially open to her exploration into the styles of impressionism and post-expressionism, while also supporting her development of a more modernist style.

In 1907, once enrolled into the Art Association of Montreal, Coonan started exhibiting her work in the institute, where she would continue to show her work until 1933. Her first award-winning piece, Eva and Daisy (1907), was a figure study of Coonan’s sisters, which won her first place in the annual Art Association of Montreal student show of 1907. In 1913, the National Gallery of Canada awarded her with their first travelling bursary, which was a prize that was given to the art student that exemplified the most potential to study and practice in Europe. Due to the onset of the First World War, Coonan’s trip was postponed to 1920. During her stay, she started to demonstrate her stylized version of European modernism within her works and began creating predominantly landscape paintings. Once she returned to Canada in 1921, she became a member of the Beaver Hall Group. Unlike the other members of the Beaver Hall Group who were members of Montreal's Protestant upper class, Coonan was a devout Roman Catholic from a working-class background. As a member of the Beaver Hall Studios, Coonan participated in a few of the four shows that the group put on before the group went their separate ways in 1922. Coonan gained international acclaim as her piece Girl in Dotted Dress (1923) was selected to show in the British Empire Exhibition in England.[8] She took inspiration from the French impressionists and James Wilson Morrice. After her instructor, Brymner, died, Coonan created and exhibited fewer works, opting out of participating in the Royal Canadian Academy’s spring exhibition and then only taking part in three more spring shows in her life. Although she continued to paint later in life, Coonan stopped participating in public exhibitions after 1933.

Coonan did not stop painting altogether after 1933, but she ceased to produce for the public sphere. Due to harsh criticism for her progressive style and the death of her mentor, and then father, Coonan painted only for her family and friends for the remainder of her life. Although Coonan never married and preferred to live and work in solitude, the majority of her works represented her close ones.

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1908, Portrait (probablement un autoportrait)

 1910, Evelina

 1910, Duck pond

1910, Portrait d'une jeune femme 

1911, The Fairy Tale

1912, Québec Landscape  

1913, Girl in Green 

1914, Portrait d'une femme

1919, le ballon vert

1920, Interieur d'Église, Florence

1920, Jeune fille et chat

1923, Girl in a Dotted Dress

1929, Le Fauteuil bleu

1939, Nature morte

1940, Nature morte

 1942, Nature morte

A Coastal Landscape

Eglise à Notre Dame du Portage, près de Cacouna

Eglise Bonsecours

Maison à Charlevoix

La confirmation

Landscape with House

Nature morte avec livres

 Portrait

Portrait de Frank Coonan Jr.

Portrait de Frank Coonan, Jr 

 Nature morte

Nature morte

Sur le St Laurent, près de Cacouna

 The Arabian Night

The Farmhouse