| BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS |
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John Kyle, an artist of wide renown residing in Vancouver,
has for the past three years held the highest position in art work in the province,
having charge of drawing in the normal school. He has been a
prominent figure in educational circles, having organized and served as supervisor
of the night schools. His birth occurred in Hawick, Scotland, his parents being
Andrew and Agnes (Waugh) Kyle, of that place. They are still residents of Hawick, and
the father is now living retired. John Kyle obtained his early education in the public schools of his native land and subsequently attended the Royal College of Art in London for three years and also Julian's Studio at Paris, having won scholarships to both institutions. The honors he received include art masters' certificates on groups one and four, and almost complete on groups two and three. He was a medalist and prize winner in national competition, obtaining fifteen prizes for design, modeling, painting, etc. His studies embraced drawing from life, drawing from antique, drawing antique from memory, modeling from life, modeling from antique, modeling design, anatomy, principles of ornament, painting from still life, painting ornament, perspective, architecture, geometry and building construction (advanced). For a period of four years he was engaged at Huddersfield, England, as head assistant in the art department of the Technical College. The principal writes of him as follows: "I have much pleasure in stating that Mr. J. Kyle has been head assistant lecturer in the art department of the college for nearly four sessions. He has in all respects acquitted himself admirably of the various duties entrusted to him. He has lectured on anatomy, figure drawing, principles of ornament, etc., and taught modelling and still life painting, as well as taught in the pupil teachers' classes. * * * As a colleague, Mr. Kyle will be found most courteous, and I recommend him without the slightest hesitation or reserve, feeling quite certain that you will obtain no better candidate. I should hear of Mr. Kyle's success with even greater pleasure but for the loss which I shall suffer here." Mr. George Marples, A.R.C.A., says: "Mr. Kyle can maintain discipline without being a martinet; the good feeling here among his students was not only proof of their appreciation of his efforts as a teacher, but of his tactfulness in his general dealings with them. * * *" Mr. Kyle took charge of and organized the art work in the public schools and established an art school at Alloa, Scotland, where he remained for two years. Alexander J. Muller, convener of Alloa Academy and Alloa continuation classes, under date of October 17, 1904, wrote as follows: "I have the pleasure of certifying that Mr. Kyle has been in the service of the Alloa burgh school board for the last two years. During that time he has acted as organizing art master for all our schools. In this capacity he has been particularly successful. He has also had full charge of the continuation classes - art subjects - and there has likewise given entire satisfaction. Either as an organizer or teacher we could not have, nor do we desire, any one better or more enthusiastic. His views on educational ideals are sound, and he has the necessary ability to put these ideas into practical shape. While, therefore, I will regret exceedingly his departure from Alloa, I have no hesitation in recommending him for the situation - organizing art master - he is now applying for." In April, 1906, Mr. Kyle came to Vancouver, British Columbia, as superintendent of drawing for the Vancouver public schools, holding that position for four years. On the expiration of that period he took charge of drawing in the normal school and this position, which is the most important in art work in the province, he has held to the present time. While acting as superintendent of drawing in the public schools, in the fall of 1909, he organized the night school on all subjects. The work was begun with four hundred pupils, and there are now over two thousand students who attend the evening classes during six months of each year. Mr. Kyle has annually served as supervisor of the night schools and his labors in this connection have been far-reaching (in) effect and importance. Mr. Kyle is financially interested in and a director of the British Pacific Trust Company, Limited. He is a director of the Art, Historical and Scientific Society of Vancouver, a member of the British Columbia Society of Fine Art and the Young Men's Christian Association. As an artist he has won deserved and enviable recognition, and his name has long been an honored one in both educational and art circles of British Columbia. |
| British Columbia From the Earliest Times to the Present: Vol. 4 "John Kyle. Hon. A.R.C.A." (S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1914) Canadiana, https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.76021/40 |