Emily Warren
Encyclopedia
Emily Mary Bibbens Warren (1869–1956) was a British Canadian artist and illustrator. She worked in ink, watercolour, oil, gouache, and graphite. Her favourite subjects included gardens, landscape, and in interiors and exteriors of buildings. She is known for sunlight beaming through stained glass windows.
's home, Brantwood
, made into a museum. She lectured before Ruskin Societies.
She took a course in architecture by Sir Bannister Fletcher. She graduated from the College of Art, South Kensington. She took certificates in biology
, botany
and geology
.
She came to Canada in 1919 and lived in Ottawa, Ontario. She lived in Montreal, Quebec from 1928 to 1934. She died in Dunrobin, Ontario in 1956.
purchased her oil painting "Placing the Canadian Colours on Wolfe's Monument in Westminster Abbey", an oil 19 × 37", which can be seen in the Picture Division -File No. 705-7, Room 12- 15 B.I. In 1921 she was commissioned by Sir Robert Borden
to come to Canada to complete two large canvasses 6'6" × 11'6", oil parting entitled "Canada's Tribute, The Great War 1914–1919”. The Canada Tribute paintings were initially hung in the Parliament Buildings but have been hung in the Sir Arthur Currie
Memorial Hall of the Royal Military College of Canada
in Kingston, Ontario
since 1947.
, Belgium
. Scotland
and France
. She exhibited in England. She illustrated `Homes and Haunts of John Ruskin` by E.T. Cook. She gave lectures in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s illustrated by 1900 handcoloured glass slides reproducing her own paintings. Half of the 1900 slides are in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto, along with an extensive collection of correspondence, lecture notes, and biographical material. Two boxes of slides of drawings of individual generals' faces and of flags, preliminary drawings for her paintings, Canada's Tribute are in the Canadian War Museum
, Ottawa.
She held an annual sale of watercolours in Ottawa, Ontario. There was a demand for her paintings of Canada, England and the continent of Europe.
, Kingston, Ontario
Early career
Emily Warren instigated a successful movement to have John RuskinJohn Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
's home, Brantwood
Brantwood
Brantwood is a country house in Cumbria, England, overlooking Coniston Water. It has been the home of a number of prominent people, including John Ruskin. The house and grounds are administered by a charitable trust, the house being a museum dedicated to Ruskin...
, made into a museum. She lectured before Ruskin Societies.
She took a course in architecture by Sir Bannister Fletcher. She graduated from the College of Art, South Kensington. She took certificates in biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
and geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
.
She came to Canada in 1919 and lived in Ottawa, Ontario. She lived in Montreal, Quebec from 1928 to 1934. She died in Dunrobin, Ontario in 1956.
Memberships
She was a member of The Royal Society of British Artists, The British Watercolour Society, the Old Dudley Arts Society, the Aberdeen Society of Arts and the Society of Women Artists. She was a member of the Committee for Preservation of Memorials in London.Critical success
National Gallery of CanadaNational Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
purchased her oil painting "Placing the Canadian Colours on Wolfe's Monument in Westminster Abbey", an oil 19 × 37", which can be seen in the Picture Division -File No. 705-7, Room 12- 15 B.I. In 1921 she was commissioned by Sir Robert Borden
Robert Borden
Sir Robert Laird Borden, PC, GCMG, KC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the eighth Prime Minister of Canada from October 10, 1911 to July 10, 1920, and was the third Nova Scotian to hold this office...
to come to Canada to complete two large canvasses 6'6" × 11'6", oil parting entitled "Canada's Tribute, The Great War 1914–1919”. The Canada Tribute paintings were initially hung in the Parliament Buildings but have been hung in the Sir Arthur Currie
Arthur Currie
Sir Arthur William Currie GCMG, KCB , was a Canadian general during World War I. He had the unique distinction of starting his military career on the very bottom rung as a pre-war militia gunner before rising through the ranks to become the first Canadian commander of the four divisions of the...
Memorial Hall of the Royal Military College of Canada
Royal Military College of Canada
The Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...
in Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
since 1947.
Final years
She travelled and painted in British ColumbiaBritish Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. She exhibited in England. She illustrated `Homes and Haunts of John Ruskin` by E.T. Cook. She gave lectures in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s illustrated by 1900 handcoloured glass slides reproducing her own paintings. Half of the 1900 slides are in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto, along with an extensive collection of correspondence, lecture notes, and biographical material. Two boxes of slides of drawings of individual generals' faces and of flags, preliminary drawings for her paintings, Canada's Tribute are in the Canadian War Museum
Canadian War Museum
The Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history. Located in Ottawa, Ontario, the museum covers all facets of Canada’s military past, from the first recorded instances of death by armed violence in Canadian history several thousand years ago to the country’s most recent...
, Ottawa.
She held an annual sale of watercolours in Ottawa, Ontario. There was a demand for her paintings of Canada, England and the continent of Europe.
Work
- Emily Warren 'Quai Rosaire', Brughes, Watercolour, Signed 10.5 × 7 in, 26.7 × 17.8 cm
- Emily Warren 'Autumn Day', Watercolour, Signed 12 × 9 in, 30.5 × 22.9 cm
- Emily Warren 'Autumn Glory, Meech Lake, Gatineau Watercolour, Signed 6.4 × 10 in
- Emily Warren 'Barges before the Houses of Parliament' pencil and watercolour signed 10¼ × 15¾in. (26 × 40 cm.)
- Emily Warren 'Dover Castle' signed 'E.M.B. Warren'; watercolour 13 × 9 inches
- Emily Warren 'Fall Lake View' signed 'E.M.B. Warren' watercolour 6¾" × 10¼"
- Emily Warren 'Garden scene with abundant floral bloom, Watercolour, 11½" × 8",
- Emily Warren 'Manitoulin island"- Watercolour signed
- Emily Warren 'Ottawa Parliament Buildings Watercolour signed 7" × 10"
- Emily Warren 'Sun Breaking Through the Clouds", signed, watercolour, 27 cm × 37 cm
- Emily Warren 'Thatched cottage at Portlock Weir" Watercolour, signed 7.5"x10",
- Emily Warren 'The Colonne, De, Congress" Brussels. 4" × 2", watercolour
- Emily Warren 'The Statue of Sir Hans Sloane in the Physic Garden. From a water-colour drawing by E. M. B. Warren From: 'Description of the plates', Survey of London: volume 2: Chelsea, pt I (1909), pp. VIII-XI.
- Emily Warren 'Canadian Hall Interior' Watercolour 7.5" × 5.5" ? 19.1 × 14 cm.
- Emily Warren 'The nave of St Paul's Cathedral' Watercolour 25¾x18¾ in, 65.024×47.244 cm
- Emily Warren 'Canada's Tribute' signed 'E.M.B. Warren' at Royal Military College of CanadaRoyal Military College of CanadaThe Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...
Museums
Her work is in the collections of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Ontario and the Royal Military College of CanadaRoyal Military College of Canada
The Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...
, Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...