BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS  

Miss Jesse (Jessie) Topham Brown

February 8 1882 - March 2 1974

B.C. Society of Fine Arts
Island Arts and Crafts Society
Vernon Art Group


Miss Jessie Topham Brown was born in England in 1882. She arrived in British Columbia in 1909 on a visit, and decided to stay. She moved to Vernon in 1916 where she contributed to the local art scene for many years.

She had work in the 1912 Annual Exhibition of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts.

She also exhibited work with the Island Arts and Crafts Society between 1913 and 1915, according to an IACS membership list on file at the Vancouver Art Gallery Library. In 1913 she exhibited work at the Hastings Exhibition, representing the IACS.

A 1947 article in CANADIAN ART magazine provides an interesting story of her accomplishments (see below).

She died in Vernon, B.C. in 1974 at the age of 92. She was single, and her occupation was noted as "Art Teacher - Art."


GROUP EXHIBITIONS
DATE EXHIBITION ARTWORK
1912 Nov. 25 - 30 BCSFA   Annual Exhibition Sunset, Cariboo
Wind and Cloud, Chilcotin
Road to Sundance Canyon, Banff
Mountain Tops, Vancouver
A Still Day

References

ISLAND ARTS AND CRAFTS SOCIETY - List of Exhibitors

MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS - SPRING EXHIBITIONS 1880 - 1970 (refer to MM88)

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

Vernon Public Art Gallery biography, written by Mr. Patrick Mackie.

Clippings

"The editors of Canadian Art have accordingly asked Miss Topham Brown to describe the story of her achievements." ... "Our first exhibition in camp was a primitive one as the sketches were thumb-tacked to the giant fir trees about, and we invited all the nearby lakeside dwellers to come as critics." ... "This winter the Vernon Group of Artists arranged a weekly evening 'Painting for Pleasure' class; it met with considerable success and much enthusiasm ..." (continues)
      Painting For Pleasure by (editor)
      Canadian Art magazine, Vol. 5 No. 1, October-November 1947, p. 23, 38; 1 illustration by Joyce Noble

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