Artist Information
Artist
Margaret Elisabeth Kitto (1871-1925)Role
PainterDate made
n.d.Time Period
20th CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born in London England, Margaret Elisabeth Kitto was a noted watercolour artist of local scenes and an active arts entrepreneur in Victoria, B.C. She studied art in London before coming to Victoria with her family in 1891. Kitto became the most successful of local women artists at the time, securing her living from sales, teaching and her art studios. In 1922, she partnered with two fellow artists, Lillian J. Clarke Sweeney (1886-1961) and Dora Blanch Kelso Donogh (1896- ?), and opened the Deco Art Studio. They produced and exhibited lampshades, murals, plaster casts, table runners, postcards, and framed souvenirs. She also taught at the Sacred Heart Convent School and the Western Art Studio, and he later taught evening classes for the local school board. Her pupils included Edythe Hembroff-Schleicher (1906-1994) , Emily Carr's (1871-1945) friend and biographer.
Kitto was an active member of the Island Arts and Crafts Society, serving on the executive committee from 1911 to 1917, as second vice president from 1918 to 1919, and vice president in 1925, and was later a member of the Victoria Sketching Club. Her work is included in the collections of the Gallery and the British Columbia Museum and Archives.
Kitto is credited with the new idea of establishing a permanent art gallery in Victoria. After 15 years of Kitto and other IACS members championing this cause, the Canadian Pacific Railway provided space attached to the Crystal Garden for a gallery in 1925, the year of Kitto’s death. Support for the fledging Crystal Garden art gallery was unfortunately not considered to be a civic responsibility. As a result, public interest reportedly declined, as did financing opportunities, and the facility was short-lived. It was not until 1951 that the vision of a permanent gallery in the city was realized with the establishment of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Now “with almost 20,000 works of art, the Art Gallery has the largest public collection in B.C. and is a vibrant and active part of Victoria’s artist community”, with over 100,000 visitors per year.
And in 1952, the IACS was renamed The Sketch Club and later became the Victoria Sketch Club. It is the oldest Canadian art group west of Ontario and it continues to hold exhibitions of members' work.