BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS  

Kate Adeline Smith
(m Frank Hoole, Mrs. Kate Smith Hoole)

May 10 1878 - January 30 1949

Island Arts and Crafts Society
B.C. Society of Fine Arts (Member 1912-1943, Life Member 1944-1949)
B.C. Society of Fine Arts/B.C. Society of Artists: Exhibitor's Timeline
Vancouver Sketch Club (Member)
British Columbia Artist (BCA, 1921)
Palette and Chisel Club
Vancouver Exhibition
Provincial Exhibition
Canadian Group of Painters


Kate Adeline Smith (Mrs. Frank Hoole) was an early artist and exhibitor in Vancouver, and a member of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts. She was born in Parkgate, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, in 1878. She was a pupil at the School of Art, Southgate, England, and the Calderon School of Animal Painting, London, England, at which she won a scholarship in 1907.

The precise date of Smith's arrival in Canada is not known to the editor, but by 1912 she was exhibiting art locally, and she married Francis (Frank) Roger S. Hoole at Eburne, BC, on June 13, 1914, according to BC Vital Statistics on-line. (Francis died in Vancouver on January 29, 1957 at the age of 77).

After arriving in Vancouver, she exhibited regularly in the Annual Exhibitions of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts.

She exhibited two paintings in a Royal Canadian Academy exhibition in 1921, according to McMann's RCA, but is not listed in the NGC Occasional Paper No. 7 of NGC Exhibitions. She also showed work with the Society of Women Painters in London; the National Gallery, Ottawa; the Seattle Museum; and with the Canadian Society of Graphic Arts in Toronto.

Smith exhibited in the 1924 Annual Exhibition of the Vancouver Exhibition. Her painting "The Drinking Pool" was purchased by the Exhibition Association for their permanent collection. She also exhibited in their 1925, 1926, and 1930 exhibitions, representing the Palette and Chisel Club and the Vancouver Sketch Club.

She taught art at Crofton House School in Vancouver for nine years, and was a founding instructor at the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts when it opened in September 1925, teaching Drawing and Painting there for eight years. The 1930 issue of The Paint Box, the art school annual, had a full page linoleum block print of a dog by Smith illustrated on page 58.


Linocut illustration, The Paint Box, 1930

Smith exhibited three watercolours in the 1928 Provincial Exhibition in New Westminster. The exhibition catalogue noted that she was a resident of Vancouver, B.C.

She exhibited in the Seattle Art Museum's annual Northwest Artists exhibitions in 1930 and 1931.

She exhibited one watercolour at the Canadian National Exhibition in 1930.

She exhibited her work in the 1930 Spring Exhibition of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts. She was listed as a member of the Society in the exhibition catalogue. She exhibited in the 1st annual B.C. Artists show at the the Vancouver Art Gallery as Kate A. Smith. The following year she exhibited as Kate Smith Hoole.

She showed work in the B.C. Artists Christmas exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1933 and 1934. In 1934 she had a solo exhibition at the Gallery that received good reviews in the press.

She died in Vancouver in 1949 at the age of 74. A few months later one of her paintings was exhibited with the B.C. Society of Fine Arts in their 39th Annual Exhibition in 1949.

Additional exhibitions:
      Island Arts and Crafts Society: 1912 - 1930
      BCSFA: 1960.


SOLO EXHIBITIONS
DATE EXHIBITION LOCATION
1934 March 2 - 11 Oil Painting, Watercolours, and Drawing Vancouver Art Gallery
1936 March 17 - 29 Oil Painting, Watercolours, and Drawing Vancouver Art Gallery
1941 Feb 25 - March 9 Solo exhibition Vancouver Art Gallery

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
DATE EXHIBITION ARTWORK
1912 Nov. 25 - 30 BCSFA   Annual Exhibition Clearing Land at Eburne
Study of Horse's Head
Study of Bull Dog
English Setter Drinking
Mid-Day Rest
1913 June 2 Wanderbund Club   Group Exhibition ?
1915 April BCSFA   Works by Members Rector
Pops
Paddy
The Road Makers "Fit Viavi"
An English Pasture
Mid-day Rest
The Sleeping Beauty, from Eburne
Well Earned Repose
The North Arm from Wigwam Inn
Old Bridge at Langhorne
1916 September BCSFA    Annual Exhibition The Harvest Moon
(fir tree)
Study of a Great Dane
The Thaw
1917 Sept. 14 - 22 B.C.S.F.A.   Eleventh Exhibition "Spot"
Study, English Foxhound
My Friends
Study in Shade
The Byre
An Impression
English Harvest Field
Study of Foxgloves
1920 September 18 - 25 BCSFA   Annual Exhibition "Pal"
Portrait Study, Miss Davenport
"Please"
Early Victorian
Portrait Sketch, Mrs. Fred Ryan
Sunset, Glacier, B.C.
The Gateway
Ross Peak, from Glacier
1921 Sept. 19 - 24 BCSFA   13th Annual The Lions
Lilias
Shannon
The Salmon Pool, Capilano
The Drinking Pool
1922 Sept. 16 - 23 BCSFA   14th Annual The Rising Generation
The Lengthening Shadow
Study
The Delta
Harrison Lake
1923 May 12 - 19 BCSFA   15th Annual Mrs. F.L. Shaw
An English Foxhound
Twilight
Study of a Grey Hunter
A Quiet Morning
Barbara
1924 January CSGA/CSPE   Canadian Graphic Art A Storm
English Setter
1924 May 3 - 17 BCSFA   16th Annual Church of St. Germain l'Auxerrois, Paris
A Happy Family
"Shannon"
"Noon", Lothwithiel, Cornwall
"La Penseur de Rodin," Paris
Lostwithiel Church, Cornwall
Harrison Lake, Evening
Bramshott Common
On Board S.S. Regina
1924 Aug. 9 - 16 Vancouver Exhibition   Annual Exhibition Lengthening Shadows
The Drinking Pool
1925 May 9 - 16 BCSFA   17th Annual The Round-up
The Master
Forty Winks
Sketch: The Round-up
Sketch
1926 May 8 - 15 BCSFA   18th Annual Dooley (Lent by Mrs. G.T. Sharp)
On the Beach
The Wood Pile
Barbara, Daughter of Mrs. William Murray
1927 June 10 - 25 BCSFA   19th Annual Cherry Blossom
A Willing Team
Winter
Eventide
1928 September 3 - 8 Provincial Exhibition   Eighth Annual Salon Grey Geese
Evening
A Storm
1929 May 18 - June 8 BCSFA   21st Annual Three Sisters
Bramshott Common
The Devil's Leap
Nipper
The Aristocrat
Study
Summer Evening
Good Morning
The Farm Yard
Cinders
1929 October BCAL   Citizens' Loan of W/C On Board the S.S. Regina
On the Beach
Evening
1929 Nov. 16 - 30 BCSFA   Winter Exhibition The Heat of the Day
Rest
Chums
1930 May 31 - June 14 BCSFA   Spring Exhibition Toby
Twilight
Bunnies
Portrait Miss Theresa Lefurgy
1930 Aug. 6 - 16 VanExh   Oil Paintings & Water-colours The Goat Woman
The Heat of the Day
The Cabbage Patch
The Aristocrat
Miss Theresa Lefurgy
Tony
1930 Aug. 22 - Sept. 6 CNE   Water Colours Bunnies
1932 May - July VAG   All Canadian Exhibition The Goat Woman
Mid-day Rest
Study, Horses
1932 Oct. 5 - 30 VAG   B.C. Artists 1st Annual Still Life
Mt. Whistler, Alta Lake
Study
Freighter
1933 May 20 - 31 VAG   Palette & Chisel Club Exhibition Study of Geese
The Brood
Mending Salmon Nets
The White Door
Fishing Boats
Hope, B.C.
The Salmon Net
Solid Comfort
1933 June 3 - 11 BCSFA   23rd Annual Goats & Arbutus
Team Work
On Board
The Old Farmyard
1933 Sept. 22 - Oct. 15 VAG   B.C. Artists 2nd Annual The Team
Mending the Salmon Nets
Solid Comfort
The Big Haystack
The Brood
Study of Geese
1933 Dec. 1 - 17 VAG   B.C. Artists Christmas Exhibition The Big Haystack
Yellow Point, B.C.
The Brood (pencil)
1934 Sept. 21 - Oct. 14 VAG   B.C. Artists 3rd Annual Three Thousand Feet Up - Lozere France
Gladiolii
At Mount Baker
Interior
Study
Study
1934 ? - ? VAG   B.C. Artists Edmonton Exhibition The Goose Girl
Interior
1934 Dec. 4 - 16 VAG   B.C. Artists Christmas Exhibition At Mount Baker
Study
1935 Sept. 20 - Oct. 15 VAG   B.C. Artists 4th Annual Study
Study of a Springer spaniel
1936 June 26 - July 12 BCSFA   26th Annual Design for a Mural
The Last Load
Enid
Boats, Stanley Park
1936 Aug. 18 - 28 David Spencer B.C. Artists' Golden Jubilee (artwork)
1937 April 16 - May 1 BCSFA   27th Annual Reaping the Green Oats
Portrait Study
Good Companions
Through the Basement Door
1937 Sept. 17 - Oct. 10 VAG   B.C. Artists 6th Annual Portrait Study
1938 April 29 - May 15 BCSFA   28th Annual A Prize Winner
Hudson's Bay Between 12 and 2
Design for Reredos
1939 June 9 - 25 BCSFA   29th Annual Jerusalem Cherry
Old China
Study
1939 Sept. 15 - Oct. 8 VAG   B.C. Artists 8th Annual A Good Bag
Rockhaven, Golden Retrievers
Workers
1940 May 17 - June 2 BCSFA   30th Annual The Worm
Excavating
The Stable
Jervis Inlet
Study
1941 May 10 - June 1 BCSFA   31st Annual Il Maestro
"Red" of Grouse Mountain
Helen
Kalamalka Lake, B.C.
A Good Team
1942 May 15 - 31 BCSFA   32nd Annual The Old Chinese Dish
Hubby
1943 May 15 - June 6 BCSFA   33rd Annual Mother and Child
Study of White Horse in Shade
Colour Study
1943 July 2 - Aug. 25 VAG   B.C. Artists 2nd Annual Summer Mother and Child
Colour Study
1943 Sept. 25 - Oct. 20 VAG   B.C. Artists 12th Annual The Gateway
California Tree Poppy
1944 May 13 - June 4 BCSFA   34th Annual A Keen Pupil
A Morning's Bag
1945 May 18 - June 10 BCSFA   35th Annual Golden Retrievers
1946 May 31 - June 23 BCSFA   36th Annual Cloud Study
The Aristocrat
1946 July 2 - 28 VAG   Jubilee Exhibition The Lengthening Shadows
1949 May 3 - 22 BCSFA   39th Annual The Lengthening Shadows
1950 April 25 - May 14 BCSA   40th Annual Midday Rest

References

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM - NORTHWEST ARTISTS EXHIBITIONS 1914 - 1975
     Refer to NWA BC artists by exhibition
     Refer to NWAA BC artists alphabetically

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

100 YEARS OF B.C. ART (refer to VAG58)

THE FINE ARTS IN VANCOUVER, 1886 - 1930 (refer to THOM69)

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)

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

VANCOUVER ARTIST: Kate Adeline Smith Hoole
      2001 November; by Michael Clark, Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design.
      Visions newsletter, Volume 8 Issue 1, page 4.
      One page biography with 2 illustrations of her work.

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF ARTISTS IN CANADA (refer to BIAC03)
      3 references cited for Smith.

Clippings

"The pictures showed up strongly against the buff-toned walls and the miniatures and photos were arranged on flower-decked tables. The principal exhibitors were ... Miss Kate A. Smith ...
       From (Wanderbund Club Exhibition)
       Vancouver Sun, June 3 1913

"Mrs. Kate A. Hoole has a watercolour sketch in No. 97 which reveals considerable power and faithful drawing. The single fir which is the main subject of the picture is freely and boldly treated and the work is an example of handling which may well be studied by beginners, for there is nothing niggling about it. This competent artist is also seen to great advantage in her paintings of animals. Her "Study of a Great Dane", No. 98 is an exceedingly well drawn and well painted picture of a dog. Mrs. Hoole's ability as a landscapist is conclusively shown in No. 99, entitled "The Thaw", and in her small picture No. 96 "The Harvest Moon", the latter a particularly successful experiment in contrasted color."
      From "With The B.C. Artists" by "A Visitor"
      Vancouver Province, September 27 1916

"Kate A. Smith (Mrs. Frank Hoole), a local animal painter of distinction, has a picture of three plough-horses in a stubble field resting from their labors, along with their two drivers. This is a solid and clever painting, the lighting and drawing of which indicate much skill and good handling. The same may be said of her lively painting of chickens, which is in every respect pleasing and sincere."
      From "Local Work is on View" by Bernard McEvoy
      Vancouver Province, October 2 1919

""The Drinking Pool," a picture of cows by Kate A. Smith (Mrs. Frank Hoole), was much admired as a piece of brilliant animal painting as well as for its landscape qualities. The same artist was seen to some advantage in her watercolor "Shannon," a work full of glowing light and color."
      From "By the Way in Art" per B.C. Art League
      Vancouver Province, Thursday October 6 1921, page 12

"There are other portraits that are good. It is reasonable to suppose that a long training and experience in animal painting should lead to a distinctive rendering of human personality, and Kate A. Smith, whose animal pictures have charmed Vancouver picture-lovers for several years, has made an excursion into the realm of the portrait painter with a startling half-length of Mrs. F.L. Shaw that is a notable performance. On a background of solid flame - the figure stands out with a beautifully modelled roundness and a smouldering fire that is very provocative."
      From "B.C. Fine Arts Society Exhibition (First Notice)"
      Vancouver Province, May 15 1923

"The animal pictures of Kate A. Smith (Mrs. Frank Hoole) have captivated Vancouver picture-lovers for several years and her contributions to this exhibition serve only to strengthen an achieved reputation.
     In subject and composition, as well as in the able handling of light and color, her "Church of St. Germaine l'Auxerrois, Paris," stands out as one of the most real pictures of the year. It is a picture as distinct from a mere painting: while it does not actually tell a story, it presents the setting for many stories. It is historical as well as of the present, its architecture and atmosphere are not merely incident to the horses in the foreground, but rather there is a blending of the whole into a fine moment.
     In "A Happy Family" the same artist adheres to her better known style of a purely animal presentation. It is a family of pigs and one appreciates the glow that must come to their owner when he reflects that "them hawgs" will sell well, which is a commercial success, and cure better - which is an artistic one. Everything is painted but the grunt."
      From "B.C. Society of Fine Arts - Annual Exhibition All This Week"
      Vancouver Province, May 7 1924

"The school has been open since September and during the past term 160 day pupils have been in attendance. ... elementary drawing, Mrs. Frank Hoole ... "
      From "Art School to Stage Exhibit"
      Vancouver Province, June 14 1926

"Kate A. Smith in her painting "The Snowplough," displays accurate draughtsmanship, and a great sense of reality. It is done with a free brush, but it is not technically "modern.""
      From "B.C. Society of Fine Arts" by Bernard McEvoy
      Vancouver Province, April 28 1928

"Kate A. Smith (Mrs. F. Hoole) is the most skillful animal-painter in the society. She also has a portrait. She has a very good picture of the head of a young dog, and a covetable one. It is in pastels on dark paper and the animal is alive. Her "Study of a Grey Hunter" is admirably drawn, good in tone, and the bit of landscape thrown in is exactly "right." Her portrait of a girl, in soft, low tones, and the rest of the seven of her examples indicated no diminuition of the ability of this talented artist."
      From "B.C. Society of Fine Arts" by Diogenes
      Vancouver Province, November 13 1930

"Kate Smith has a crayon study of a very alert Airedale among the other pictures she is showing."
      From "B.C. Artists Reveal Talent at Show"
      unknown newspaper, October 1932

"Many other well-known artists are represented, including ... Kate Smith Hoole ... "
      From "Bargains in Art" by D.S.M.
      Vancouver Sun, December 1 1933

"City Artist's Exhibit"
      Vancouver Province, March 2 1934

"Notable Exhibition by Local Artist" by Wayfarer
      Vancouver Province, March 5 1934

"Animals predominate. They range from working sketches done in the field to the striking mural design for the Vancouver City Hall."
      From "Cheery Animal Pictures"
      Vancouver Sun, March 18 1936

"At the Art Gallery"
      West End Breeze, March 19 1936

" ... there are paintings by many artists whose names are prominently mentioned wherever British Columbia artists are discussed. These include ... Kate Smith Hoole."
      From "400 B.C. Pictures in Jubilee Art Show"
      Vancouver Sun, August 15 1936

"Kate Smith Hoole is well represented, particularly in still life studies."
      From "Leading Provincial Artists Exhibit at Show" by T.H.W.
      News-Herald, June 10 1939

"Kate Smith Hoole's "Old Chinese Dish," ... all contribute much to this extraordinary show."
      From "B.C. Society of Fine Arts Display Sets New High Mark" by Palette
      Vancouver Province, May 16 1942

"Early artists of the first decade included ... Kate Smith ... of Vancouver."
      From "A Short Art History of British Columbia" by Charles H. Scott
      Behind The Palette, June 1947

"The staff consisted of F.H. Varley, J.W.G. Macdonald, Charles Marega, Kate Smith Hoole, and Grace Melvin."
      From "A Short Art History of British Columbia" by Charles H. Scott
      Behind The Palette, June 1947

"The Society membership has been constantly strengthened in the succeeding years by the addition of other members, which included in the early years ... Mrs. Kate Smith Hoole ... "
      From "B.C. Society of Artists - A History" by J.D. Parker
      B.C. Society of Fine Arts 40th Annual Exhibition Catalogue, 1950

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