Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

BROTHER KEN

Date

1991

Materials

WATERCOLOUR ON PAPER

No. Pieces

1

Height

37.8

Length

55.8

Description

PAINTING IS BROKEN UP INTO DIFFERENT SECTIONS WHICH EACH DEPICTING A DIFFERENT SCENE. BOTTOM LEFT SHOWS PEOPLE DANCING IN A CIRCLE HOLDING HANDS WITH TWO ANIMALS. A MAN SITTING ON A CHAIR IN FRONT OF A WINDOW WITH A CHILD ON HIS LAP IS FEATURED. A PORTRAIT OF A MAN WEARING A BRWN SHIRT WITH AN ORANGE BACKGROUND IS DISPLAYED ON THE RIGHT. ALSO DISPLAYED IS A PERSON LAYING IN A BED WITH WHT SHEETS AND A NURSE CARRING A TRAY. ANOTHER SCENE DEPICTS PEOPLE SITTING AT THE DINNER ABLE. ABOVE THAT A WINTER SCENE IS DEPICTED WITH TWO PEOPLE DECORATING AN OUTDOOR TREE WITH RD BALLS. NEXT TO THE WINTER SCENE, COWS AND TWO CHILDREN ARE PLAYING. BELOW THAT IS TWO HORSES PULLING A CART WITH PEOPLE RIDING ON IT. 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 FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTIST IN THE PERMANENT FILE - SEE RECORD P20060016036.

Catalogue Number

P20060016006

Acquisition Date

2006-08

Collection

Museum

Less detail