There are several very surprising things about the story of Helen McNicoll, a British-born artist who grew up in Montreal at the turn of the 20th century.e century.
First, that she was interested in Impressionism, at a time when Europe was experiencing the golden years of the Cubist movement—around 1910. Second, that she was a recognized artist during her lifetime—in 1912, the National Gallery of Canada purchased one of her paintings—but then fell into oblivion. And then that she spent her life painting professionally, never marrying and never having children.
Helen McNicoll spent the last ten years of her life with a fellow painter, Dorothea Sharp, also an Impressionist, whose work has great similarities to McNicoll’s. The two women traveled together. There is much of this travel in their work. The museum has a whole section on their stays at the seaside and in Venice, where water reigns supreme and reflects light, a unifying theme of this exhibition.
There is therefore a lot to discover at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec which, let’s say it, is taking a big gamble by entrusting this major summer exhibition to an artist unknown to the majority of visitors.
Why then? And why go there?
Perhaps to make peace with Impressionism, an essential process for many of us.
The excessive commercialization of the works of European Impressionists – including reproductions ad nauseam on cups and umbrellas – left us with the impression that we had seen everything from Monet, Degas and Pissarro.
Nothing could be further from the truth, and unfortunately this is to set aside the formal beauty of the movement. It is found here, in the work of Helen McNicoll which, if it has nothing revolutionary, is an eloquent demonstration of her technical mastery, adapted by the artist, according to the works. Some could moreover be more associated with Fauvism.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, THE PRESS
This 1913 canvas, In the shade of the tentdepicts artists painting outdoors, something McNicoll did a lot of herself, often in the countryside.
We recognize the tones, the themes of impressionism, including this luminosity. It is a perfect opportunity to appreciate beauty and simplicity, although we know that this is not the case. The artist made his sketches in situ and then worked a lot on his canvases in the studio, which can be seen in his superimposed effects of light and shadow.
You can also go to the National Museum of Fine Arts out of pure curiosity, and that would already be a good reason to go there.
We will discover an artist who lived and studied art in Montreal at the end of the 19th century.e century. She then returned to stay here, as evidenced by a representation of Quebec in winter in Snowstorm, Montreal (1912). There are many pastoral scenes, but also the urbanity of the turn of the last century; this representation of a new form of light, electric lighting.
Feminist speech
It is impossible not to notice that women are clearly predominant in her works, and sometimes see a feminist discourse there. At the beginning of the 1910s, Helen McNicoll and Dorothea Sharp lived in London. This was the time when women were campaigning for the right to vote, which they would finally obtain in 1918 in England, for women aged 30 and over. Sharp was then active in the Society of Women Artists. One can invent many stories while browsing this exhibition, canvas by canvas.
Notably, although the painter came from a bourgeois background, McNicoll depicts women from all social classes in her work, particularly carrying out farm tasks.
Helen McNicoll is difficult to put into a frame: we know that she was deaf since childhood and that her health was fragile. Her magnificent portrait, which welcomes us to the museum in Quebec, where she poses with a child, would in fact be a staging, and the child – unknown – who is at her side, a model.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, THE PRESS
This is the photo of the artist welcoming visitors to the museum. The portrait was taken by his partner Dorothea Sharp.
Her career came to an abrupt end. In 1915, Helen McNicoll died. She was only 35 years old.
The Art Association of Montreal would present a retrospective of his works about ten years after his death. And then, nothing, or at least, no exhibition with McNicoll as the headliner. Until now.
Helen McNicoll: An Impressionist Journeyuntil January 5, 2025
Visit the exhibition page
A summer of contrasts
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, THE PRESS
The exhibition of Quebec works (from 1960 to present) from the museum’s permanent collection. In the foreground here, a work from 1998 BGL, Lost in the wildmade of barn wood.
The McNicoll exhibition is next to the Rembrandt etchings exhibition, which creates quite a contrast, between the light and dark side of art. If you are looking for contrasts, we recommend going up one floor to visit the museum’s contemporary art exhibition. Magnificent.