Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

SKATING PARTY

Date

1993

Materials

WATERCOLOUR ON PAPER

No. Pieces

1

Height

37.9

Length

56.1

Description

PAINTING DEPICTS A WINTER SCENE WITH PEOPLE SKATING IN THE FOREGROUND. PEOPLE ARE DRESSED IN WINTER ATTIRE AND TWO PEOPLE ARE HOLDING CHAIRS. BACKGROUND DISPLAYS THREE BUILDINGS, SLEIGHS, HORSES AND PEOPLE. SNOW COVERS THE GROUND WITH A LIGHT BL WASH, USED TO DEPICT THE ICE AND SKY. WORK IS TITLED, SIGNED AND DATED.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

IRENE MCCAUGHERTY'S FOLK ART WATERCOLOR PAINTINGS EXPLORE SOUTHERN ALBERTA’S CULTURAL NARRATIVE AND TELL THE STORY OF WHAT THE PRAIRIE PEOPLE’S LIFE WAS LIKE DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURIES. SHE DEPICTED IN HER PAINTINGS THE HISTORICAL PAST OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND EXAMPLES OF THE DRESS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED THERE. EARLY IN HER CAREER AS AN ARTIST, MCCAUGHERTY PAINTED FLOWERS, WHICH INDICATED AN EARLY INFLUENCE OF FELLOW FORT MACLEOD ARTIST ANNORA BROWN. THIS WAS A TIME WHEN SHE WORKED IN OIL AS WELL AS THE MEDIUM OF WATERCOLOR. IRENE MCCAUGHERTY WAS AN ARTIST, POET, AND WRITER. SHE WAS BORN IN HARDIEVILLE ON NOVEMBER 27, 1914. SHE LIVED IN FORT MACLEOD, ALBERTA MOST OF HER LIFE. IT WAS THERE THAT MCCAUGHERTY PAINTED AND WROTE ABOUT SOUTHERN ALBERTA’S PIONEER DAYS. SHE PUBLISHED THREE BOOKS WITH HER POETRY, STORIES, AND PAINTINGS THAT ILLUSTRATE LETHBRIDGE’S PAST THROUGH HER MEMORIES. MANY RURAL NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED HER WRITING REGULARLY. IN 1994 SHE WAS WELCOMED AS A HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ALBERTA SOCIETY OF ARTISTS. IN 1995, THE UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE PRESENTED MCCAUGHERTY WITH AN HONORARY DOCTOR OF LAWS DEGREE FOR HER WORK TO PRESERVE THE HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA. SHE WORKED WITH ALL THREE ARTS FROM 1950 UNTIL THE END OF HER LIFE, IN 1996. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS. SHE FOUND MORE DETAILS ON MCCAUGHERTY'S LIFE AND PRACTICE IN A GALT MUSEUM PRESS RELEASE PROMOTING THE DISPLAY OF THE IRENE MCCAUGHERTY CENTENNIAL COLLECTION (P19850030000): "IRENE ELEANOR MCCAUGHERTY (NEE WHEELER) WAS BORN IN HARDIEVILLE, ALBERTA ON NOVMEBER 27, 1914. HER DAD WORKED AS A TEAMSTER AT THE GALT NO. 6 MINE. IRENE ATTENDED SCHOOL IN LETHBRIDGE AT FLEETWOOD, CENTRAL AND LETHBRIDGE COLLEGIATE SCHOOLS, AND GARBUTT BUSINESS COLLEGE. IN 1934, SHE MARRIED DAVID JOHN MCCAUGHERTY AND WENT TO LIVE ON THE RANCH, NEAR FORT MACLEOD. POOR HEALTH PREVENTED IRENE FROM TAKING AN ACTIVE PART IN MANY RANCH CHORES, AND SHE TURNED TO WRITING, PHOTOGRAPHY AND ART. SHE INTERVIEWED OLD TIMERS IN THE DISTRICT IN THE 1950S, AND WROTE ARTICLES FOR FARM PAPERS AND MAGAZINES. FROM THIS CAME HER INTEREST IN HISTORY. THERE SEEMED TO BE ENDLESS STORIES THAT EVERYDAY FOLKS WANTED TO TELL ABOUT THEIR EARLY LIVES. IRENE HAD NO FORMAL ART TRANING, BUT SOON TURNED HER INTEREST IN HISTORY INTO PAINTING PICTURES FOR PLEASURE. ALLERGIES TO OIL PAINTS FORCED HER TO TURN TO PEN AND INK DRAWINGS USING WATERCOLOURS TO COMPLIMENT THE STORIES ABOUT WESTERN ALBERTA. THE LONG, WIDE FORMAT YOU SEE IN IRENE'S ART COMES FROM A LIFETIME OF LOOKING AT LIFE THROUGH A FARM TRUCK WINDSHIELD." IRENE MCCAUGHERTY PASSED AWAY IN 1996.

Catalogue Number

P20060016036

Acquisition Date

2006-08

Collection

Museum

Less detail