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Kathleen Frances Daly (or Kathleen Daly Pepper) (28 May 1898 – 31 August 1994) was a Canadian painter. She is known for her depictions of
First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
and the
Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...
in Canada.


Life

Kathleen Frances Daly was born in
Napanee Greater Napanee is a town in southeastern Ontario, Canada, approximately west of Kingston and the county seat of Lennox and Addington County. It is located on the eastern end of the Bay of Quinte. Greater Napanee municipality was created on Jan ...
, Ontario. She came from a distinguished family. Her parents were Denis Daly and Mary (Bennett) Daly. She attended
Havergal College Havergal College is a private day and boarding school for girls from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school was established in 1894 and named for Frances Ridley Havergal, a composer, author and humanitarian. The ...
, Toronto, a girls boarding school. She was admitted to the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
in 1920. She studied at the
Ontario College of Art Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD U, is a public art university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its main campus is located within Toronto's Grange Park and Entertainment District neighbourhoods ...
, Toronto (1920–24), where her instructors included John William Beatty,
George Agnew Reid George Agnew Reid who signed his name as G. A. Reid (July 25, 1860 – August 23, 1947) was a Canadian artist, Painting, painter, influential educator and administrator. He is best known as a genre painter, but his work encompassed the mu ...
,
Arthur Lismer Arthur Lismer, LL.D. (27 June 1885 – 23 March 1969) was an English-Canadian painter, member of the Group of Seven and educator. He is known primarily as a landscape painter and for his paintings of ships in dazzle camouflage. Early life ...
and
J. E. H. MacDonald James Edward Hervey MacDonald (12 May 1873–26 November 1932) was an English-Canadian artist, best known as a member of the Group of Seven who asserted a distinct national identity combined with a common heritage stemming from early modernism ...
. She went to the
Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière () is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the A ...
, Paris (1924–25), took private lessons in wood engraving from René Pottier in Paris, and studied at the
Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...
, New York (1926). Between 1924 and 1930 she made a sketching trip to Europe each year. She visited the Basque Country, Italy and France. Kathleen Daly met George Pepper (1903–1962) while they were both studying at the
Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière () is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the A ...
in Paris. They married in 1929 and moved to Canada. At first they were based in
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, Ontario. The Peppers traveled to the north shore of Lake Superior, then to Charlevoix County in the
Laurentian Mountains The Laurentian Mountains, also known as the Laurentians or Laurentides, are a mountain range in Canada. The range is long and ranges in height from with peaks over . The Laurentian Mountains extend across Labrador and Quebec within the Laurent ...
of Quebec in 1930. In 1931 they visited Nova Scotia and the Gaspé, and in 1932 returned to Quebec. In 1932 George Pepper was made a member of the staff of the Ontario College of Art, and the Peppers moved to Toronto. In 1933 they built a log studio in Charlevoix County, where Kathleen Daly painted French-Canadian genre scenes and landscapes. Their cabin was in the village of Saint-Urbain, where they were great friends of Alphonse and Madame l'Abbé, an extremely outgoing and hospitable family. Other artists would come to stay at the l'Abbé farmhouse. The Peppers lived and worked at the Studio Building in Toronto from 1934 to 1951. They continued to travel widely in Canada, visiting the east and west coast and going as far north as
Ellesmere Island Ellesmere Island (; ) is Canada's northernmost and List of Canadian islands by area, third largest island, and the List of islands by area, tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of , slightly smaller than Great Britain, and the total ...
. Kathleen painted portraits of
Innu The Innu/Ilnu ('man, person'), formerly called Montagnais (French for ' mountain people'; ), are the Indigenous Canadians who inhabit northeastern Labrador in present-day Newfoundland and Labrador and some portions of Quebec. They refer to ...
(Montagnais Indians) of the
Lac St. Jean Lac Saint-Jean (, ) is a large, relatively shallow lake in south-central Quebec, Canada, in the Laurentian Highlands. It is situated north of the Saint Lawrence River, into which it drains via the Saguenay River. It covers an area of , and is a ...
district (
Mashteuiatsh Mashteuiatsh is a First Nations reserve in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada, about north from the centre of Roberval. It is the home to the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation. It is located on a headland jutting out on the w ...
reserve) in 1936. In 1938-39 she painted the Quebec landscape and the
habitants Habitants () were French settlers and inhabitants of French origin who farmed the land along both shores of the St. Lawrence River and the Gulf of St. Lawrence in what is now Quebec, Canada. The term was used by the inhabitants themselves an ...
. In 1952 Daly visited Mexico, and later travelled in Spain and Morocco. In 1954 the Peppers spent ten days on a trawler on the
Grand Banks of Newfoundland The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod, swordf ...
, sketching the fishermen. In 1960 they travelled on the Canadian government steamer C.D. Howe to the Eastern Arctic on the three-month voyage. They drew and painted the
Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...
and ice formations, and prepared reports on
Inuit art Inuit art, also known as Eskimo art, refers to artwork produced by Inuit, that is, the people of the Arctic previously known as Eskimos, a term that is now often considered offensive. Historically, their preferred medium was walrus ivory, but si ...
to the Department of Northern Affairs. In 1961 they spent seven weeks in an Inuit home, and depicted the Inuit of
Puvirnituq Puvirnituq () is a northern village (Inuit community) in Nunavik, on the Povungnituk River near its mouth on Hudson Bay in northern Quebec, Canada. Its population was 2,129 as of the 2021 Canadian census. Of all other northern villages in Nu ...
and the
District of Ungava The District of Ungava was a regional administrative district of Canada's Northwest Territories from 1895 to 1920, although it effectively ceased operation in 1912. It covered the northern portion of what is today Quebec, the interior of Labrad ...
. Her images from this period appeared in the government's ''North'' magazine. George Pepper died in 1962. Kathleen Daly continued to travel and paint in Quebec and other regions. Kathleen Daly died in Toronto on 21 August 1994, aged 96.


Work

Kathleen Daly's work has strong line and rhythm, and has been associated with the
Group of Seven The Group of Seven (G7) is an Intergovernmentalism, intergovernmental political and economic forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non- ...
. The Peppers were good friends of A. Y. Jackson, who also lived in the Studio Building, and who had a marked influence on their landscape styles. As with members of the Group, her work had a strong element of design and used bold patterns. In her choice of subjects, including the native people of Canada, fishermen and miners, she went beyond the Group. Her work in Quebec goes beyond conventional picturesque subjects and reflects an interest in the social and economic conditions of the country people. Some of her paintings of native people also show concern about social issues. Her pictures of Inuit mothers nurturing their children show them as sources of strength, independence and the preservation of their language and culture. Daly made some of the illustrations for ''Kingdom of the Saguenay'' (1936) by
Marius Barbeau Charles Marius Barbeau, (March 5, 1883 – February 27, 1969), also known as C. Marius Barbeau, or more commonly simply Marius Barbeau, was a Canadians, Canadian ethnographer and folklorist who is today considered a founder of Canadian anthr ...
. In 1966 Daly published a book about
James Wilson Morrice James Wilson Morrice (August 10, 1865 – January 23, 1924) was one of the first Canadian landscape painters to be known internationally. In 1891, he moved to Paris, France, where he lived for most of his career. W. Somerset Maugham knew him a ...
. Daly was a prolific artist. In 1975 Daly was asked by the National Gallery of Canada to provide an update to her biographical data. An eleven-page appendix gave a chronology of her painting expeditions and listed her exhibits and commissions, books and articles she had written, reviews and reproductions of her work and works held in public collections. She left a bequest of more than forty works by herself and George Pepper to the
University of Lethbridge The University of Lethbridge (also known as uLethbridge, uLeth, and U of L) is a public comprehensive and research university located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, with a second campus in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in the liberal arts traditio ...
. Over five hundred paintings by Daly and her husband were left to the Centre d’art Baie-Saint-Paul. Works held at the
National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...
include: *''Sous-le-Cap, Quebec'', 1928. etching and drypoint on wove paper. 44.8 x 32.3 cm; plate: 35.2 x 24.7 cm *''Mackerel'', 1931. oil on canvas. 73.8 x 84 cm *''René'', 1935. oil on canvas. 92 x 79.1 cm *''L'escalier canadien'', c. 1939. oil on canvas. 107 x 92.1 cm Her works are also held in public gallery collections such as the
Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; ) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Dundas Street, Dundas Street West in the Grange Park (neighbourhood), Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, the museum complex takes up of phys ...
, and the
Beaverbrook Art Gallery The Beaverbrook Art Gallery () commonly referred to simply as The Beaverbrook, is a public art gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. It is named after William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, who funded the building of the gallery ...
in
Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...
. Many of her drawings and paintings were sold to private collectors.


Exhibitions and memberships

Between 1930 and 1956 Daly's work was shown in all the main exhibitions in Canada, and also in London, England. Kathleen Daly exhibited at Hart House (1935), the British Empire Exhibition (1936), in the exhibition "A Century of Canadian Art" (1938) and at the
Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
in London (1938). She often exhibited with the
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria on 16 ...
and the
Ontario Society of Artists The Ontario Society of Artists (OSA) was founded in 1872. It is Canada's oldest continuously operating professional art society. When it was founded at the home of John Arthur Fraser, seven artists were present. Besides Fraser himself, Marmaduke ...
. Often she and her husband exhibited together. In 1999, a
retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in software development, popular culture, and the arts. ...
of their work was shown at the
McMichael Canadian Art Collection The McMichael Canadian Art Collection (MCAC) is an art museum in Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located on a property in Kleinburg, an unincorporated village in Vaughan. The property includes the museum's main building, a sculpture gar ...
in Kleinburg, Ontario. In 2025, the
Confederation Centre Art Gallery The Confederation Centre Art Gallery (CCAG; ) is an art museum that forms a part of the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The art museum pavilion forms the northeast portion of the Confederation Centre ...
, Charlottetown, P.E.I., organized ''Kathleen Daly Pepper and George Pepper: The Land and its People'', curated by Pan Wendt. Daly joined the
Canadian Group of Painters The Canadian Group of Painters (CGP) was a collective of 28 painters from across Canada who came together as a group in 1933. Its Archives is in Queen's University, Kingston. Formation The Canadian Group of Painters succeeded the disbanded Grou ...
in 1934 and the
Ontario Society of Artists The Ontario Society of Artists (OSA) was founded in 1872. It is Canada's oldest continuously operating professional art society. When it was founded at the home of John Arthur Fraser, seven artists were present. Besides Fraser himself, Marmaduke ...
in 1936. She became an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1937 and an Academician in 1961. She was an executive member of Toronto's
Heliconian Club The Toronto Heliconian Club is a non-profit association of women involved in the arts and letters based in Toronto, Ontario. It operates out of #Heliconian Hall, Heliconian Hall, a historic building located in the Yorkville, Toronto, Yorkville ar ...
.


Signature

Her work is known under her birth name, with Kay or K. Daly being the signature she applied most often to her art work.Heffel about Kathleen Frances Daly
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References


Notes


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daly, Kathleen Frances 1898 births 1994 deaths Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 20th-century Canadian painters 20th-century Canadian women painters