Newly Published
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Westbridge Fine Art is pleased to announce the publication of Owas-Ka-Ta-Esk-Ean: Indigenous Portraits. by Mildred Valley Thornton, FRSA (1890-1967): A Catalogue Raisonné. An important historical and artistic portfolio featuring more than 280 portraits of Indigenous Chiefs, Elders and others from over 30 communities across the Plains and British Columbia. The result of a lifetime’s passion and commitment, Mildred Valley Thornton’s “Collection” is a magnificent and powerful record of Indigenous peoples and their traditional ways of life.
160 pages, with over 300 illustrations, that include landscapes and historical subjects, a complete exhibition schedule from 1930 – 2024 and a selected index. $44.95 plus s&h. To order please contact Westbridge Fine Art at 604-736-1014 or email [email protected]. |
Excerpts from Owas-Ka-Te-Esk-Ean: Indigenous Portraits by Mildred Vally Thornton
In the Press
Mildred Valley Thornton’s exposure as artist, lecturer, teacher, art critic and writer made her one of the most visible personalities in the Canadian art world during much of her lifetime. Using notes she had kept from her portrait sessions Thornton wrote her first book, Indian Lives and Legends, in 1966 an important commentary on Canada’s West Coast indigenous people. A second book, Buffalo People, covering her experiences with the Plains First Nations, was published posthumously.
During her active career she held many exhibitions across the country, was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) in London, England (a rare honour for a Canadian artist) and her works can be found in several important Canadian institutions and private collections. Here’s a sampling of what art critics have said of her work over the years:
“Intelligence, dignity, and a fine serenity seldom seen in the faces of a white man were outstanding in the portraits shown by Mildred Valley Thornton, foremost painter of Indian portraits.” – Winnipeg Free Press.
“A portrait painter of distinction she has depicted the Indian as she has come to know him on the reserve, on the farm, on the rivers, at the coast and in his home. Vitality and interest have been captured by an able artist.” – London Free Press.
“Painting outstanding types and personalities the artist has brought to her canvas a sense of life that, with her commentaries, leaves the impression of having actually met the subject.” – Ottawa Citizen.
“Interprets B.C. beauty with rare skill...Mildred Valley Thornton is well known for her unexcelled portrait studies of Canada’s native peoples.”
“No woman has the right to paint with such power!” – Seattle Post Intelligencer
“For thirty years she has gone alone to many tribes, winning their confidence, and obtaining a wealth of first-hand knowledge which places her in a unique field of art and research.” – Toronto Saturday Night.
“Her work has brought her fame throughout the North American continent.” – The Vancouver Sun.
“She is acknowledged all over Canada by those well-informed on Indian affairs as the outstanding interpreter of our aboriginal art and lore, an artist with a purpose, the champion of a great race.” – Vancouver Daily Province.
“Equally facile with oils and watercolours, she paints vividly, with power unusual in a woman. Her work is bold in design, rich and brilliant in colouring...her style has a vigour, a directness and simplicity of statement which marks her as one of the Canadian School. No other painter has produced comparable work in this field in Canada. She has travelled thousands of miles in search of her material and has brought back documents or rich social significance.” – The Native Voice.
“She paints mellow old characters in whose faces nearly a century of living has written its history in lines and deep furrows that tell of joy and sorrow which her brush can describe better than any pen.” – Canadian Home Journal.
“In time the Indians themselves may forget the grand old men and women of their tribes, may forget the Sun Dance, the totem poles and the potlatch, but these things will not die so long as the paint and canvas of Mildred Valley Thornton exists.” Toronto Star Weekly.
“She conveys succinctly Indian lore, character, custom, tradition, ritual and the magical tranquility of their way of life....Her greatest asset is her ability to make a plain statement untrammeled by artifice. Figures convey the full motion of the dance. One of the most difficult images to convey successfully is this leaping gyration of an entire assembly, and Mildred Valley Thornton brings it off every time...”. – Victoria Times.
During her active career she held many exhibitions across the country, was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) in London, England (a rare honour for a Canadian artist) and her works can be found in several important Canadian institutions and private collections. Here’s a sampling of what art critics have said of her work over the years:
“Intelligence, dignity, and a fine serenity seldom seen in the faces of a white man were outstanding in the portraits shown by Mildred Valley Thornton, foremost painter of Indian portraits.” – Winnipeg Free Press.
“A portrait painter of distinction she has depicted the Indian as she has come to know him on the reserve, on the farm, on the rivers, at the coast and in his home. Vitality and interest have been captured by an able artist.” – London Free Press.
“Painting outstanding types and personalities the artist has brought to her canvas a sense of life that, with her commentaries, leaves the impression of having actually met the subject.” – Ottawa Citizen.
“Interprets B.C. beauty with rare skill...Mildred Valley Thornton is well known for her unexcelled portrait studies of Canada’s native peoples.”
“No woman has the right to paint with such power!” – Seattle Post Intelligencer
“For thirty years she has gone alone to many tribes, winning their confidence, and obtaining a wealth of first-hand knowledge which places her in a unique field of art and research.” – Toronto Saturday Night.
“Her work has brought her fame throughout the North American continent.” – The Vancouver Sun.
“She is acknowledged all over Canada by those well-informed on Indian affairs as the outstanding interpreter of our aboriginal art and lore, an artist with a purpose, the champion of a great race.” – Vancouver Daily Province.
“Equally facile with oils and watercolours, she paints vividly, with power unusual in a woman. Her work is bold in design, rich and brilliant in colouring...her style has a vigour, a directness and simplicity of statement which marks her as one of the Canadian School. No other painter has produced comparable work in this field in Canada. She has travelled thousands of miles in search of her material and has brought back documents or rich social significance.” – The Native Voice.
“She paints mellow old characters in whose faces nearly a century of living has written its history in lines and deep furrows that tell of joy and sorrow which her brush can describe better than any pen.” – Canadian Home Journal.
“In time the Indians themselves may forget the grand old men and women of their tribes, may forget the Sun Dance, the totem poles and the potlatch, but these things will not die so long as the paint and canvas of Mildred Valley Thornton exists.” Toronto Star Weekly.
“She conveys succinctly Indian lore, character, custom, tradition, ritual and the magical tranquility of their way of life....Her greatest asset is her ability to make a plain statement untrammeled by artifice. Figures convey the full motion of the dance. One of the most difficult images to convey successfully is this leaping gyration of an entire assembly, and Mildred Valley Thornton brings it off every time...”. – Victoria Times.
Other Publications
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Potlatch People: Indian Lives and Legends of British ColumbiaAuthor: Mildred Valley Thornton, FRSA
Price: $24.95 (CAN) plus shipping & handling, and applicable taxes "Years ago I began to paint Indians of western Canada. They provided romantic and colourful material for my brush and, at the same time, I had a favourable opportunity to study them as fellow human beings. Their legends, their art, their history, their way of life and spiritual concepts first commanded my attention and then my enduring respect." Mildred Valley Thornton, FRSA (1890-1967) Prominent Canadian artist Mildred Valley Thornton had an abiding passion which she pursued throughout her life - the preservation of Canada's First Nation's culture. For over fifty years she dedicated herself to that purpose through the medium of her paintings, writing and lectures. During her career she painted the portraits of many prominent and historically important First Nations peoples, as well as assembling a catalogue of anecdotes, folklore and legends. This publication, first published in 1966 as Indian Lives and Legends, and now republished with expanded text and illustrations, is a priceless collection of both Thornton's colourful West Coast portraits and the the fascinating story behind each one. To order a copy of Potlatch People, please click below and email us for more information. |
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Buffalo People: Portraits of a Vanishing NationAuthor: Mildred Valley Thornton, FRSA
Price: $24.95 (CAN) plus shipping & handling, and applicable taxes Prominent Canadian artist Mildred Valley Thornton had an abiding passion which she pursued throughout her life - the preservation of Canada's First Nation's culture. Thornton's second volume, written the year before her death in 1966 and only recently published, covers Thornton's travels through the Prairies of Canada. Featuring more anecdotes, observations and folklore, Buffalo People provides a fascinating look into a way of life that Thornton believed to be quickly vanishing before her eyes. Illustrated with 68 colour reproductions of the artist's work. To order a copy of Buffalo People, please click below and email us for more information. |
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The Life and Art of Mildred Valley ThorntonAuthor: Sheryl Salloum
Mildred Valley Thornton (1890 - 1967) (HON. CPA, FRSA) was born in Ontario. Portraits of the First Nations peoples of Western Canada became the genius loci of her oeuvre. During the Depression, her family moved to Vancouver. She became an advocate for First Nations peoples and made important historical contributions to British Columbian art and culture. Thornton was also a noted journalist, Vancouver Sun art critic(1944¬1959), book reviewer and published poet. Before she died, Thornton unsuccessfully tried to interest Canadian institutions in purchasing her collection of approximately 300 portraits of First Nations peoples of Canada. Identified in her work are ancestors from twenty-four Western First Nations, including, Haida, Kwakwaka'wakw, Squamish, Stó:lo, on the plains these include the Cree, Kainai, Piikani, Saulteaux, Sitsika and Tsuu T'ina. When she realized no government agency or gallery was going to purchase her work, she was so anguished that she wrote a codicil to her will. The codicil was improperly witnessed; the work remained intact. Her work is in the Royal B.C. Museum and Archives, the Glenbow Museum, the Heiltsuk Nation, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the National Gallery of Canada, the Simon Fraser University Gallery, the Squamish Nation and the Vancouver Art Gallery. Introduction by Sherrill Grace. Illustrated with 112 colour and b&w plates. Published 2012. *Short-listed for the 2013 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize |