Introduction
William Brymner, CMG (December 14, 1855 – June 18, 1925) was a Canadian art teacher and a figure and landscape painter.
Early years
Born in Greenock, Scotland, the son of Douglas Brymner the first Dominion Archivist and Jean Thomson, he moved with his family to Melbourne, Canada East in 1857. In 1864, his family moved to Montreal, Canada East. They later lived in the area of Ottawa, Canada West where William attended the Ottawa Grammar School.
Following architectural studies in enrolled at the Académie Julian in Paris, France in 1878 where his instructors were William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Tony Robert-Fleury. Both of his teachers, in Paris, were famous exponents of 'Grand manner' naturalism. During this period at the Salon he became interested in the work of Jean-Louis Ernest Meissonier who was already popular with the French public.
Later life
Brymner specialized in domestic figure scenes and avoided large historical subjects. Two Girls Reading of 1898 displays a "careful treatment of light and an understanding of the force of a simple emphatic composition". In 1886, he settled in Montreal after staying in Paris "on and off for almost seven years". Two years prior to leaving Paris, at Runswick Bay, Yorkshire, he completed A Wreath of Flowers.
Many members of the Beaver Hall Group studied under Brymner, who encouraged them to explore new modernistic approaches to painting.
Pupils
Among Brymner's pupils were:
Recognition and awards
In 1883, he was made an associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA). He was elected vice-president of the RCA in 1907 and president in 1909. In 1916, he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George. His works were exhibited by Galerie L'Art français.
Artworks
- La Vieille Fileuse, île d'Orléans, 1883, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
- A Wreath of Flowers, 1884, National Gallery of Canada
- La Femme au métier, 1885, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
- In the Orchard (Spring), 1892, National Gallery of Canada
- Early Moonrise in September, 1899, National Gallery of Canada
- Ile aux Coudres, c. 1900, National Gallery of Canada
- La Vallée Saint-François, île d'Orléans, 1903, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
- Evening, 1907, National Gallery of Canada
- Near Louisbourg, Cape Breton, N. S., c. 1909, National Gallery of Canada
- A Young Lady, c. 1910, National Gallery of Canada
- Fog on the Coast, 1914, National Gallery of Canada
- Octobre sur la rivière Beaudet, 1914, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
- Jeune Fille au chapeau bleu (La Breloque), 1916, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec