About MVT
Born in 1890 in Dresden, Ontario, Mildred Valley Thornton's family moved to Regina in 1913. There she became fascinated with the Plains Indians. By 1926 she was married with children, nevertheless she spent weeks at a time away from home, living with different native communities across the prairies, gaining the trust and acceptance of her subjects, who permitted her to attend ceremonies and rituals seldom seen by non-Natives. She felt responsible for capturing Canada's Native history in written word and in paintings.
When the depression hit in the 1930s, Thornton and her family moved to British Columbia, where she was enchanted by the natural landscape and continued to study and paint the local native populations. She spent time in London, England, where her work was exhibited at the Royal Commonwealth Institutes. She returned to Vancouver in 1961, but was victim to failing health. She died in 1967. Although the Canadian government has refused her collection, Thornton received many honors, including two from native tribes. The Kwakiutl tribe of British Columbia made her a princess of the Clan Eagle and named her "Ah-ou-Mookht," meaning "the one who wears the blanket because she is of noble birth," and the Crees named her "Owas-ka-esk-ean" or "putting your best ability for us Indians."
Westbridge Fine Art is the exclusive representative of the estate of Mildred Valley Thornton.
When the depression hit in the 1930s, Thornton and her family moved to British Columbia, where she was enchanted by the natural landscape and continued to study and paint the local native populations. She spent time in London, England, where her work was exhibited at the Royal Commonwealth Institutes. She returned to Vancouver in 1961, but was victim to failing health. She died in 1967. Although the Canadian government has refused her collection, Thornton received many honors, including two from native tribes. The Kwakiutl tribe of British Columbia made her a princess of the Clan Eagle and named her "Ah-ou-Mookht," meaning "the one who wears the blanket because she is of noble birth," and the Crees named her "Owas-ka-esk-ean" or "putting your best ability for us Indians."
Westbridge Fine Art is the exclusive representative of the estate of Mildred Valley Thornton.
Publications by the artist:• Indian Lives and Legends (1966)
• Buffalo People: Portraits of a Vanishing Nation (2000) • Potlatch People: Indian Lives and Legends of British Columbia (2003) |
Publications about the artist:
|
Chronology
- 1890 - born Mildred Valley Stinson in Dresden, Ontario
- 1910 - studies at Art Inst. Of Chicago; Ontario College of Art under J.W. Beatty & George A. Reid
- 1913 - moves to Regina, Saskatchewan
- 1915 - marries John Henry Thornton, an immigrant from Sheffield, England
- 1926 - begins to teach art late 1920s begins to paint professionally, and develops a fascination for the lives and traditions of the native peoples of the Canadian prairies
- 1934 - moves to Vancouver; travels extensively to visit B.C. Indian Bands and paints their personalities and culture eventually succeeds in painting people from every Indian group in B.C. becomes known as the Indian Painter
- 1944 - becomes art critic for the Vancouver Sun, a position she holds until 1959influential in establishing consciousness for a Canadian School of art in Western Canada
- 1954 - made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), London, England, for her outstanding efforts in painting Indian portraits and culture
- 1959 - moves to England. Gains instant recognition and is given a major exhibition by the Royal Commonwealth Institute
- 1960 - lectures on the West Coast native people and their culture to a distinguished audience at the Royal Society of Arts, London
- 1961 - returns to Vancouver
- 1966 - Indian Lives and Legends is published. The book, now recognized as an important historical document, is an account of her travels throughout British Columbia and her experiences with the Native peoples she met and painted
- 1967 - stipulates in her will that all her Indian paintings be destroyed upon her death, in response to the failure of the Canadian government to purchase the Collection the will is not properly witnessed and the collection survives
- 1967 - July 27, dies in Vancouver
- 1999 - Elected posthumously to the Canadian Portrait Academy
- 2000 - Publication of her second book Buffalo People: Portraits of a Vanishing Nation
- 2004 - Reprint of first book, Indian Lives & Legends under new title, Potlatch People: Indian Lives & Legends of British Columbia
Partial list of exhibitions:
Hudson’s Bay Company, Eaton’s, Vancouver Art Gallery, Victoria Art Gallery, B.C. Provincial Museum, Royal Canadian Academy, Ontario Society of Artists, Montreal Art Association, Art Emporium, Vancouver, Pagurian Gallery, Toronto, Westbridge Fine Art, Vancouver
Collections:
Glenbow Foundation, Calgary; McMichael Collection, Kleinburg; National Gallery, Ottawa; Vancouver Art Gallery; B.C. Legislative Building, Victoria; private and corporate collections in Canada and overseas
Honorary Indian titles:
Kwakiutl: Ah-ou-mookt – the one who wears the blanket because she is of noble birth
Cree: Owas-ka-esk-ean – putting your most ability for us Indians
Blackfoot: Mo-jui-sin-a-ki – the one who makes pictures
The Life and Art of Mildred Valley Thornton
A short video by author Sheryl Salloum on the Life and Art of Mildred Valley Thornton.