Caroline Louisa Daly (1832–1893) was a Canadian artist born in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

, whose work is featured in one of eastern Canada's prominent galleries, the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

. Her watercolours were misattributed to men until 2017, when Paige Matthie, a curator with the gallery, established provenance through a detailed two-year historical review and report. Her investigation was triggered when one of Daly's great-grandsons visited the gallery and alerted gallery staff to a possible misattribution, based on his familiarity with Daly's work. Following the Matthie report, the gallery held a new public exhibition of Daly's paintings, to acknowledge their error and to celebrate Daly's art, entitled "Introducing Caroline Louise Daly"."Introducing Caroline Louise Daly", Confederation Centre of the Arts, February January 14, 2017 – May 7, 2017.
/ref>

Life

Daly was born in

on 6 December 1832 to Caroline Maria Gore and Sir

Dominick Daly Sir Dominick Daly (11 August 1798 – 19 February 1868) was a British colonial public servant and administrator during the 19th century, who held positions in British North America, History_of_Tobago, Tobago and South Australia. Born in I ...

. Her parents were both from Ireland, but held numerous postings throughout the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. She travelled extensively in her youth with her parents Her father was a colonial administrator, including twenty-five years in Lower Canada and the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

, and five years as

Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island The lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island () is the representative in Prince Edward Island of the monarch, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada. The lieutenant go ...

. His last posting was as

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-general of Aust ...

, where he died in 1868. Her mother died in South Australia in 1872. In August 1866 Caroline and her sister Joanna were married in a double marriage at

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and British Overseas Territories. The name is also used in some other countries. Government Houses in th ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

: Joanna to John Souttar, and Caroline to Henry Hobhouse Turton. Turton was manager of the

Savings Bank of South Australia The Savings Bank of South Australia was a bank founded in the colony of South Australia in 1848, based in Adelaide. In the early 20th century it established a presence in schools by setting up a special category of savings accounts for schoolch ...

and died in 1893. Point Turton, on the

Yorke Peninsula The Yorke Peninsula, known as Guuranda by the original inhabitants, the Narungga people, is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, was named in celebration of the double wedding. Caroline and Henry had two daughters, Caroline Mabel Turton (1874–1956) and Violet Gore Turton (1876–1963). Daly died in

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, England, on 9 October 1893.Diane Peters,

Watercolour paintings

Daly's watercolour paintings feature a range of subjects including natural scenes, a stranded whale, the interior of a cabin on a passenger ship, and images of the Prince Edward Island Government House in different seasons. In June 1863 she made a watercolour of the Government Cottage at

Glenelg, South Australia Glenelg is a beach-side suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Located on the shore of Holdfast Bay in Gulf St Vincent, it has become a tourist destination due to its beach and many attractions, home to several hotels and dozens of ...

. It was a summer residence of her father as governor of the state. Her works are signed C. Daly or C. L. Daly. For years, they were incorrectly attributed to one of two men, John Corry Wilson Daly, the first mayor of

Stratford, Ontario Stratford is a city on the Avon River (Ontario), Avon River within Perth County, Ontario, Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population of 33,232 in a land area of . Stratford is the County seat, s ...

, or Charles L. Daly, an art instructor and clerk with the city of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

.Mitch Cormier, "19th-century painter Caroline Louisa Daly finally gets credit for paintings", CBC News'', January 13, 2017.
/ref> An investigation of the provenance of the paintings was spurred by a visit to the Confederation Centre by Daly's great grandson, Richard Jenkins. His family had paintings done by Daly, and he recognised her signature on the paintings held by the gallery. He alerted them that the paintings may have been misattributed. Paige Matthie, who curated the exhibit, conducted a two year review of the attributions and prepared a detailed report outlining her findings. She concluded that Caroline Louise Daly was the artist who produced the water-colours held by the gallery. Matthie discovered through her research that the attributions to the men were not well founded. One of them, John C.W. Daly of Stratford, Ontario was not even known as a painter, while there was no evidence that Charles L. Daly from Toronto had ever visited Prince Edward Island. Matthie also compared the gallery's paintings to known paintings by Daly and found clear stylistic similarities."Introducing Caroline Louisa Daly", ''Saltwire'', January 5, 2017, updated September 29, 2017.
/ref> "As soon as I dug through the files, it was very clear that we had no legs to stand on with our own attributions," Matthie stated.Allison Meier, "After Her Work Was Misattributed to Men, a 19th-Century Woman Gets Her Due", ''Hyperallergic'', February 16, 2017.
/ref> The misattribution, even though likely inadvertent, probably reflects the difficulty in tracking artwork done by women, in what is still a male-dominated area."P.E.I. gallery celebrates artist Caroline Louisa Daly whose work was attributed to men," ''Globe and Mail'', January 16, 2017.
/ref> Matthie comments that in an era of limited opportunities for Victorian women, "It is wonderful that Daly seized opportunities to try new things with her work, painting the interior of her ship's cabin on the voyage to Australia, or copying the work of male artists who were able to go into the wilderness to capture the sublime beauty of Canada."

Holdings and exhibitions

The Confederation Centre Art Gallery acquired its first four Daly paintings in 1969. The paintings showed scenes from Charlottetown in the mid-nineteenth century, which the gallery was always keen to have. The gallery purchased the four paintings from an art collector in Montreal, who said they were by John C.W. Daly of Stratford. The gallery did what Matthie referred to as "some messy attribution research" and concluded that the paintings were by Charles L. Daly of Toronto. When the gallery acquired two more Daly paintings, they were also attributed to Charles L. Daly. The gallery had regularly exhibited the paintings since the acquisition. The paintings of

in Charlottetown had also been used to assist in restoration projects.

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...

and the Public Archives and Records Office of Prince Edward Island also have some of Daly's paintings. Following the discovery of the misattribution, and correction by the gallery, the Daly family donated six more of Daly's paintings, doubling the gallery's Daly collection. The gallery then held a new exhibition of Daly's paintings, running from January to May, 2017, entitled "Introducing Caroline Louisa Daly." Matthie said that the title came from the mid-Victorian custom of holding balls to introduce young ladies to society. She commented that the gallery for years had been displaying Daly's works without giving her due credit. "That's a mistake I'm very happy to correct," she stated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daly, Caroline Louisa 1832 births 1893 deaths Province of Canada people Colony of South Australia people 19th-century Canadian painters 19th-century Canadian women painters