The Practice of Her Profession : Florence Carlyle, Canadian Painter in the Age of Impressionism

Florence Carlyle (1864-1923), born in Galt, Ontario, emerged as one of the most successful Canadian artists of her time. Trained in Paris, she lived and worked in New York City and in Canada, cultivating a career as a popular portrait and genre painter. Known for her masterful use of colour, Carlyle's paintings are nuanced and perceptive portrayals of feminine spaces, the female figure, and women's domestic work. In The Practice of Her Profession, Susan Butlin draws on unpublished letters and family memoirs to recount Carlyle's personal and professional life. She explores Carlyle's artistic influences, her relationships with artist colleagues and encounters with the cultural worlds of Paris, New York, and early twentieth-century Canada, and provides a detailed examination of Carlyle's paintings. Butlin's vivid description of the artistic life of women of this era, from access to art training to the important role of women's art societies, introduces readers to Carlyle's many accomplished contemporaries - Helen McNicoll, Mary Reid, Laura Muntz, Sarah Holden, Sydney Tully, Elizabeth McGillivray Knowles, and others. CONTENTS ILLUSTRATIONS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION PLATES PREAMBLE PART ONE: FORMATION, 1864–1890 1 First Lessons, 1864–1883 2 Contacts, 1883–1890 PART TWO: EMERGENCE, 1890–1899 3 The Bohemia of Paris, 1890–1896 4 Brass and Copper: Alternatives and Strategies, 1896–1899 PART THREE: A LIFE APART FROM CONVENTION, 1899–1914 5 The Village, 1899–1903 6 Acclaim, 1903–1911 7 Losses and Gains, 1911–1914 PART FOUR: OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM, 1915–1923 8 Resolutions, 1915–1923 APPENDIX: Short Biographies of Women Artists Mentioned in the Text NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Y Florence Carlyle (1864-1923), born in Galt, Ontario, emerged as one of the most successful Canadian artists of her time. This book draws on letters and family memoirs to recount Carlyle's personal and professional life. It explores Carlyle's artistic influences, and her relationships with artist colleagues.