Annora Brown fonds
https://collections.galtmuseum.com/en/permalink/descriptions90156
- Date Range
- 1947-1987
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Accession No.
- 20171094
- Physical Description
- 0.3 m of textual records, over 500 photographs, 1 sketch
- Scope and Content
- The materials were preserved and enhanced through research by Joyce Sasse 001: 1963 Day planner 002: 1964 Day planner 003: 1965 Day planner 004: Book- Proud Procession (1947) 005: Book- Young Explorers (1947) 006: Book- Totem Tipi and Tumpline (1955) 007: Book- No Man Stands Alone (1965) 008: Book…
- Date Range
- 1947-1987
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Creator
- Annora Brown
- Physical Description
- 0.3 m of textual records, over 500 photographs, 1 sketch
- History / Biographical
- Annora Brown was born outside of Red Deer in 1899 and died at the age of 88 in Deep Cove, British Columbia in 1987 where she retired. Brown is one of the Alberta’s foremost early artists. Based for much of her life in historic Fort Macleod, Brown played a major role in creating a ‘picture’ of Southern Alberta: its wild landscape, First Nations, pioneer rural communities, local history- above all its wondrous nature symbolized by the wildflower. Her work was able to capture the culture of the First nation communities that she lived near. Her father was Edmund Foster Brown and mother was Elizabeth Ethel (Cody) Brown. Her mother supported and encouraged Brown’s love for art and from 1925-1929 Brown attended the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. She returned in 1929 and developed and art program for Calgary’s Mounted Royal College but later had to leave due to her mother’s illness. A student of the celebrated landscape painters, known as the Group of Seven (1920-1933), Brown’s artistic practice spans the 1930s to mid-1980s. During that time, she cobbled together a living as an artist, often by teaching, illustrating books and magazines, and selling, whenever she could, her captivating paintings in watercolor, tempera oil and later serigraph prints. In 1945-1950, brown worked as a respected artist and teacher at the Banff School of Fine Arts. She was also commissioned to paint over 200 western wild flowers for the Glenbow Foundation. Brown’s work was also included in Crescent Heights High School in Calgary, University of Alberta in Edmonton, United College in Winnipeg, and the Canadian Handicrafts Guild in Montreal. She was also awarded a prize in the Alberta Government’s 1955 Jubilee Contest for Alberta painters. In 1965 Brown retired to Deep Cove British Columbia to paint and garden. She had given a “voice” to a region that had been rarely presented in Canadian art. Her attention to the unique aspects of Old Man’s Country like Niitsitapi, the character and isolation of its small rural communities as well as its unforgettable environment was expressed mainly through her focus on wildflowers and native plants. Buoyed by the conviction that a woman’s activities “need not be limited to polishing furniture and raising babies”, Brown was also a writer and author of two books: the Western Canadian classic Old Man’s Garden and her autobiographical Sketches from Life. She was the first woman to receive an honorary degree from the University of Lethbridge in 1971 for her contribution to “western art and living.” (written by Mary-Beth Laviolette; Summer 2016 Gallery Exhibit at Galt Museum)
- Scope and Content
- The materials were preserved and enhanced through research by Joyce Sasse 001: 1963 Day planner 002: 1964 Day planner 003: 1965 Day planner 004: Book- Proud Procession (1947) 005: Book- Young Explorers (1947) 006: Book- Totem Tipi and Tumpline (1955) 007: Book- No Man Stands Alone (1965) 008: Book- Canaries on the Clothesline (1974) 009: Sketch of Annora Brown oversized 010: 26 Photos of the Rockies 011: 2 Photos, Editorial, Crighton photocopy with description 012: 8 Photos of her house and her graduation 013: 17 Photos of the cabin, 5 prints, letters about her house in Fort Macleod, and letters from the Town of Fort Macleod 014: Research notes of Annora Brown by Joyce Sasse 015: 215 Photos building the cabin 016: 250 Photos of her art, excerpt of Sketches from Life, and later years; 3 Newspaper cutouts Language: English
- Access Restrictions
- Public
- Accession No.
- 20171094
- Collection
- Archive