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The Life and Art of Edythe Hembrof-Schleicher (Mother Tongue Publishing $36.95)
A project often undertaken by biographers is to write on subjects who were overshadowed by more illustrious partners or family members. The challenge is to prevent the major figure from dominating the biography as she or he did in life.
In The Life and Art of Edythe Hembrof-Schleicher, biographer Christina Johnson-Dean sets out to present her subject not merely as an expert on Emily Carr, but as a talented artist in her own right.
Born in Moose Jaw in 1906, Edythe Hembroff-Schleicher grew up in Victoria, and emerged from five years of gynaecological problems and excruciatingly painful treatments, determined to become a serious artist. Her family's affluence allowed her to study art for three years in California, and then for two years in Paris at a time when it was said artists outnumbered the working population.
She was twenty-two when she and her American friend Marian Allardt moved to Paris. This was not la vie boheme, but neither was it a dilettante's holiday. The two were hardworking students who used their extensive tour throughout Europe to amass portfolios of sketches. In Paris, they studied with Andre Lhote, a distinguised teacher as well as an artist; they supplemented the lessons by setting up a studio and hiring their own models.
Edythe claimed to be unimpressed by the modern art she saw exhibited: "Don't talk to me about Picasso and Matisse and less about Matisse than Picasso. At least Picasso can draw if he wants to.";
When she returned to the family home in Victoria ("the most sleepily behind spot on earth for art";), her activities were featured in the society pages, along with a glamorous photograph. The coverage had one significant result-a phone call from Emily Carr inviting her to a garden tea party. Edythe went along reluctantly and found conversation with her host difficult, not only because of the other guests, but because of Emily's menagerie-a white rat, a Persian cat, two dogs, and the obstreperous monkey, Woo.
Their second meeting, at which the women smoked and drank hot chocolate, was more successful. In spite of a 35-year age gap, they became close companions, working side by side, and taking picnics and sketching trips together. It was Edythe who, in 1933, raised the money to establish the Emily Carr Collection of the Province of B.C., now at the Royal BC Museum. She also raised the money for Emily to purchase "the elephant,"; the caravan in which she made painting trips around B.C.
In the early days, Emily championed Edythe's work, especially when it was compared with that of Max Maynard or Jack Shad-bolt, whom Emily called "conceited young puppies."; She persuaded Edythe to submit her "Quatre Nus"; to the annual Island Arts and Crafts Society exhibition. It was a painting guaranteed to shock not only because of the nudes but also because it was cubistic. (In spite of her dismissive comments, she was not impervious to modern influences). The mischievous Emily stood near the canvas to get the full benefit of the indignant response, and chuckled all the way home.
Edythe was interested in art history, which Emily Carr considered "footle";; she liked working in her studio while Emily preferred the outdoors; she painted figures, while Emily tried to convert her to painting trees. Edythe concluded later that Emily had done harm by trivializing her subject matter. After getting Edythe to paint a tree, she was highly critical of the result:
"It's only the portrait of that one tree. It does not express any
universal feeling for all trees. It does not live among the other trees. It must breathe, have spirit!...You will learn more when we go into the woods together. There you will see trees, think only trees and feel only trees.";
The account of her time with Emily Carr is the liveliest part of Edythe's story, partly because Emily's unconventional habits always make good copy, but mainly because the relationship is so richly documented.
When Edythe married and left Victoria for Vancouver after four years, the two corresponded regularly until Emily's death. During the last part of her life, Edythe returned from nineteen years in Ottawa to Victoria, where she devoted herself to bolstering Emily's legacy. She became the recognized authority, and was awarded sizable grants by the B.C. government and the Canada Council to act as "Special Consultant on Emily Carr,"; and to continue her research. In 1969, she published a memoir M.E. A Portrayal of Emily Carr, and in 1978, Emily Carr: The Untold Story.
Johnson-Dean succeeds in maintaining a steady focus throughout on Edythe's work. Illustrations of work appear on almost every page, supplementing the text, and telling their own story. These include photographs of Edythe at various stages of her life-with family and her two husbands-as well as sketches and etchings. The fine full-page colour reproductions of her paintings reveal her as an artist of remarkable talent. These were selected from the more than a hundred donated to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria after Edythe's death.
[Note: In general I dislike the habit of referring to women artists by their given names, while male artists are referred to by their surnames. However, the unwieldy repetition of a double-barrelled surname within the confines of a short review makes the choice of the first name expedient.]
9781896949277
Joan Givner writes regularly on biographies and autobiographies.
She lives in Mill Bay.
In The Life and Art of Edythe Hembrof-Schleicher, biographer Christina Johnson-Dean sets out to present her subject not merely as an expert on Emily Carr, but as a talented artist in her own right.
Born in Moose Jaw in 1906, Edythe Hembroff-Schleicher grew up in Victoria, and emerged from five years of gynaecological problems and excruciatingly painful treatments, determined to become a serious artist. Her family's affluence allowed her to study art for three years in California, and then for two years in Paris at a time when it was said artists outnumbered the working population.
She was twenty-two when she and her American friend Marian Allardt moved to Paris. This was not la vie boheme, but neither was it a dilettante's holiday. The two were hardworking students who used their extensive tour throughout Europe to amass portfolios of sketches. In Paris, they studied with Andre Lhote, a distinguised teacher as well as an artist; they supplemented the lessons by setting up a studio and hiring their own models.
Edythe claimed to be unimpressed by the modern art she saw exhibited: "Don't talk to me about Picasso and Matisse and less about Matisse than Picasso. At least Picasso can draw if he wants to.";
When she returned to the family home in Victoria ("the most sleepily behind spot on earth for art";), her activities were featured in the society pages, along with a glamorous photograph. The coverage had one significant result-a phone call from Emily Carr inviting her to a garden tea party. Edythe went along reluctantly and found conversation with her host difficult, not only because of the other guests, but because of Emily's menagerie-a white rat, a Persian cat, two dogs, and the obstreperous monkey, Woo.
Their second meeting, at which the women smoked and drank hot chocolate, was more successful. In spite of a 35-year age gap, they became close companions, working side by side, and taking picnics and sketching trips together. It was Edythe who, in 1933, raised the money to establish the Emily Carr Collection of the Province of B.C., now at the Royal BC Museum. She also raised the money for Emily to purchase "the elephant,"; the caravan in which she made painting trips around B.C.
In the early days, Emily championed Edythe's work, especially when it was compared with that of Max Maynard or Jack Shad-bolt, whom Emily called "conceited young puppies."; She persuaded Edythe to submit her "Quatre Nus"; to the annual Island Arts and Crafts Society exhibition. It was a painting guaranteed to shock not only because of the nudes but also because it was cubistic. (In spite of her dismissive comments, she was not impervious to modern influences). The mischievous Emily stood near the canvas to get the full benefit of the indignant response, and chuckled all the way home.
Edythe was interested in art history, which Emily Carr considered "footle";; she liked working in her studio while Emily preferred the outdoors; she painted figures, while Emily tried to convert her to painting trees. Edythe concluded later that Emily had done harm by trivializing her subject matter. After getting Edythe to paint a tree, she was highly critical of the result:
"It's only the portrait of that one tree. It does not express any
universal feeling for all trees. It does not live among the other trees. It must breathe, have spirit!...You will learn more when we go into the woods together. There you will see trees, think only trees and feel only trees.";
The account of her time with Emily Carr is the liveliest part of Edythe's story, partly because Emily's unconventional habits always make good copy, but mainly because the relationship is so richly documented.
When Edythe married and left Victoria for Vancouver after four years, the two corresponded regularly until Emily's death. During the last part of her life, Edythe returned from nineteen years in Ottawa to Victoria, where she devoted herself to bolstering Emily's legacy. She became the recognized authority, and was awarded sizable grants by the B.C. government and the Canada Council to act as "Special Consultant on Emily Carr,"; and to continue her research. In 1969, she published a memoir M.E. A Portrayal of Emily Carr, and in 1978, Emily Carr: The Untold Story.
Johnson-Dean succeeds in maintaining a steady focus throughout on Edythe's work. Illustrations of work appear on almost every page, supplementing the text, and telling their own story. These include photographs of Edythe at various stages of her life-with family and her two husbands-as well as sketches and etchings. The fine full-page colour reproductions of her paintings reveal her as an artist of remarkable talent. These were selected from the more than a hundred donated to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria after Edythe's death.
[Note: In general I dislike the habit of referring to women artists by their given names, while male artists are referred to by their surnames. However, the unwieldy repetition of a double-barrelled surname within the confines of a short review makes the choice of the first name expedient.]
9781896949277
Joan Givner writes regularly on biographies and autobiographies.
She lives in Mill Bay.
Submitted on November 9, 2013 in By David.
