BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS  

Mabel Hunter Bain (Miss)

August 1 1881 - October 17 1972

B.C. Art League
B.C. Society of Fine Arts (Member)
Federation of Canadian Artists (B.C. Chapter) (Founding Member)

Mabel Bain was born in Charlottetown, on Prince Edward Island. She studied art at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and in San Diego, California, and was influenced by L.A. artist George Otis. She also took training from Thomas Fripp in Vancouver, and M. Sheets in Los Angeles. She was a member of the Vancouver Arts and Letters Club.

After coming to Vancouver she was locally active in the arts for many years. She was an early member of the B.C. Art League, the group organized to found an art school and an art gallery in Vancouver.

In 1922 she went on a sketching trip to Pemberton and Darcy led by Thomas Fripp. She won a medal for a watercolour landscape painting in 1936.

She showed one painting in a Royal Canadian Academy exhibition in 1940, titled "Desolation Valley, B.C."

In 1941 she had work in the RCA's 62nd Annual exhibition, held at the Art Association of Montreal.

In 1940 and 1942 she exhibited her work in group shows at the Vancouver Art Gallery, with important artists including Kate Smith Hoole and Beatrice Lennie.

In 1943 her work was mentioned by William Colgate in Canadian Art, Its Origin and Development, with the following note: " ...Mabel Bain, whose landscapes, both oils and water-colour, evidence a fine decorative sense."

She exhibited her work in the 1945 British Columbia At Work exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and with the B.C. Society of Fine Arts in their 39th Annual Exhibition. She had a solo exhibition of oils and watercolours at the Gallery in 1947.

She entered three drawings to the 1949 B.C. Graphic exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery, but none of them were selected for the exhibition.

Bain lived with her sister Nell, a school teacher, in Fort Langley for many years.

Also, per card file at Vancouver Art Gallery Library:
     B.C. Society of Fine Arts May 1929; Nov. 1929; 1940-48; 1950-58; 1960
     Island Arts and Crafts Society 1930 - #47 White Sands, #61 Seymour Canyon (oils)

Bain died at the age of 91 at Valleyview Hospital, Essondale in 1972, address Surrey.

Exhibitions

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
DATE EXHIBITION LOCATION
1940 Oct. 15 - 30 Mabel Bain & Nesta B. Horne Vancouver Art Gallery
1942 Dec. 8 - 20 Mabel Bain, Kate Smith Hoole, Beatrice Lennie Vancouver Art Gallery
1947 Oct. 14 - Nov. 2 Solo show - Oils & Watercolours Vancouver Art Gallery

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
DATE EXHIBITION ARTWORK
1929 May 18 - June 8 BCSFA   21st Annual Exhibition Pitt Meadows
Sycamores, California
Pleasant Valley, Cal.
1929 Nov. 16 - 30 BCSFA   Winter Exhibition The Old Barn
Midsummer Day, Victoria
1932 May - July VAG   All Canadian Exhibition White Sands, Carmel, Calif.
1932 Oct. 5 - 30 VAG   B.C. Artists 1st Annual The Alley
The Coast
Point Grey
1934 Sept. 21 - Oct. 14 VAG   B.C. Artists 3rd Annual Arbutus
Rest
The Slough
1935 Sept. 20 - Oct. 15 VAG   B.C. Artists 4th Annual Mountain Tops
In the Mountains
Morning at Mt. Shuksan
A Prairie Well
1935 Nov. 22 - Dec. 8 VAG   B.C. Artists Christmas Exhibition Mt. Shuksan
Old Cannery
1936 Sept. 18 - Oct. 11 VAG   B.C. Artists 5th Annual Mountain Meadows
Arbutus Trees
Desolation Valley, Garibaldi Park
Mountain Lake
1936 Oct. 15 - 20 VAG   B.C. Artists Chilliwack Exhibition Arbutus Trees
Mountain Lake
1937 Sept. 17 - Oct. 10 VAG   B.C. Artists 6th Annual Windy Day
Winter in Vancouver
The End of the Trail
1938 Sept. 16 - Oct. 9 VAG   B.C. Artists 7th Annual Showery Day, Harrison Lake
Mountain Tops
1939 Sept. 15 - Oct. 8 VAG   B.C. Artists 8th Annual Oak Bay, V.I.
The Old Tree
Calamity Point
Our Neighbours, No. 1
Our Neighbours, No. 2
1940 May 17 - June 2 BCSFA   30th Annual The Dunes
Autumn in the Foothills
1940 Sept. 20 - Oct. 13 VAG   B.C. Artists 9th Annual Burbank
Forbidden Plateau
Cliff Dwellers
1941 May 10 - June 1 BCSFA   31st Annual Seal Rocks
A Veteran of the Storms
Light and Shade
Early California
1941 Sept. 26 - Oct. 19 VAG   B.C. Artists 10th Annual Winter in the Canyon
The Silver Strand
1942 May 15 - 31 BCSFA   32nd Annual Giants
Peaks at Jasper, B.C.
The Seventh Wave
1942 July 7 - Sept. 2 VAG   B.C. Artists 1st Annual Summer B.C. Giants
Desolation Valley, Garibaldi
1942 Sept. 25 - Oct. 18 VAG   B.C. Artists 11th Annual Mountains of Jasper
1942 Nov. 3 - 15 FCA   Red Cross Benefit (no information available)
1943 May 15 - June 6 BCSFA   33rd Annual Autumn, B.C. Coast
After the Fire
Sunrise Park
Windblown
1943 July 2 - Aug. 25 VAG   B.C. Artists 2nd Annual Summer Sand Dunes
Jasper Peaks
1944 May 13 - June 4 BCSFA   34th Annual Glacier Patterns
Old Avenue
Mountain Meadows
Mountain Slope
Melting Snows
1944 Sept. 23 - Oct. 22 VAG   B.C. Artists 13th Annual B.C. Coast
Early Autumn
1945 May 18 - June 10 BCSFA   35th Annual Late Autumn
Early Spring
Late Winter, Coast Mountain
1945 July 3 - Aug. 26 VAG   B.C. Artists 4th Annual Summer Early Spring
1945 Nov. 13 - Dec. 2 Labour Arts Guild   B.C. At Work Chinese Gardeners
Fraser River Fishing Folk
Fraser Lumber Mill
1946 May 31 - June 23 BCSFA   36th Annual Mountains in the Interior, B.C.
Flower Study
B.C. Coast
Rhododendrons
1946 July 2 - 28 VAG   Jubilee Exhibition B.C. Giants
1946 Aug. 13 - 25 VAG   Stanley Park in Pictures In Stanley Park
1947 May 9 - June 1 BCSFA   37th Annual Grey Mountain
The Blue Lake
The Red Mountain
1947 Sept. 20 - Oct. 12 VAG   B.C. Artists 16th Annual The Orange Grove
The Ditcher
1948 May 18 -June 6 BCSFA   38th Annual Sand Dunes
The Langley Elevator
The Fruit Stand
1948 Sept. 18 - Oct. 10 VAG   B.C. Artists 17th Annual Morning in the Mountains
Beginning of the Flood
1949 May 3 - 22 BCSFA   39th Annual Mountain Slopes
1949 Nov. 22 - Dec. 11 VAG   First B.C. Graphic Elevator (rejected)
In the Rockies (rejected)
Fishing Shacks (rejected)
1950 April 25 - May 14 BCSA   40th Annual Light and Shade
Mountain Tops, B.C.

References

WHO'S WHO IN NORTHWEST ART (refer to WWNA41)

SPRING EXHIBITION - FCA - BC REGION (refer to FCA64)

ISLAND ARTS AND CRAFTS SOCIETY - List of Exhibitors

ROYAL CANADIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS -
EXHIBITIONS & MEMBERS 1880 - 1979
(refer to RCA81)

ARTISTS IN CANADA 1982 - UNION LIST OF ARTISTS' FILES (refer to AIC82)

BRITISH COLUMBIA WOMEN ARTISTS 1885-1985 (refer to AGGV85)

A DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN ARTISTS (refer to M)

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF ARTISTS IN CANADA (refer to BIAC03)
      4 references cited for Bain.

CITY & PROVINCIAL DIRECTORIES 1914/1917 (refer to DIR)

B.C. VITAL STATISTICS ON-LINE death (refer to BCVS)

Clippings

"The Art League membership is increasing rapidly, the following having joined since the last meeting: ... Miss Bain ..."
      from "Important Meeting of B.C. Art League"
      Western Woman's Weekly, April 23 1921

"The party consisted of ... Miss M. Bain ..."
      from "Sketching Trip Enjoyed"
      Western Woman's Weekly, July 29 1922

"Artists represented in the group comprise the following ... M.A. Bain ... (continues)
      From "Maritime Art Association"
      Vancouver Art Gallery Bulletin, November (?), 1939

" ... together with oil and watercolour paintings by ... M.A. Bain ... all contribute much to this extraordinary show."
      From "B.C. Society of Fine Arts Display Sets New High Mark," by Palette
      Vancouver Daily Province, May 16, 1942

"The new executive committee is composed of M.A. Bain ..."
      From "B.C. Artists' Display To Calgary For Exhibition," by Palette
      Vancouver Daily Province, May-June 1942

" ... Among those contibuting paintings and drawings are: ... M.A.Bain ... "
      from "Noted Artists Offer Paintings For Red Cross"
      Vancouver Daily Province (presumed), November 1942

"Among other prominent exhibitors are ... M. Bain ... (continues)
      From "Summer Show at Gallery Major Event for Art Lovers," by Palette
      Vancouver Daily Province, July 7, 1943

"Other artists showing creditable work are ... Mable (sic) Bain ..."
      From "Notable Exhibits of Artists' Work" by Mildred Valley Thornton
      Vancouver Sun (presumed), May 1944

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