Helen galloway mcnicoll biography definition

McNICOLL, HELEN GALLOWAY, painter; b. 14 Dec. 1879 in Toronto, daughter of David McNicoll and Emilie Pashley; d. unmarried 27 June 1915 in Swanage, England.

The eldest of eight children and deaf from a childhood bout of scarlet fever, Helen McNicoll was an artist known for her plein air, Impressionist style of painting.

About 1885, after her father had become general passenger agent of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the family moved from Toronto to Montreal; by 1903 David McNicoll would be first vice-president of the CPR. Helen began her first serious art training under William Brymner* at the Art Association of Montreal.

Brymner’s advocacy of outdoor painting and the Impressionist style clearly would play a critical role in her development as a painter who, an obituary would note, “in striking contrast to the prevailing type of feminine painter constantly applied herself to new problems of light, line and beauty.” Unlike her contemporary Emi