Artist Information
Artist
Arthur Checkley (1874-1964)Role
PainterDate made
circa 1935Time Period
20th CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born in Staffordshire, England, Arthur Checkley studied at the Birmingham School of Art. After immigrating to Canada in 1913, Checkley found success as an artist in eastern and central Canada. He arrived in Western Canada circa 1928 to be welcomed by the Island Arts and Crafts Society. He held a solo exhibition in Victoria, B.C. in the following year. His exhibited works in watercolour and oil depicted Vancouver Island, the Canadian Rockies and Saskatchewan scenery, and were reviewed in "The Daily Colonist" paper. Checkley, influenced by the famed Canadian Group of Seven, explored the abstract in his work, but he always retained the pictorial strengths in his art.
Checkley is remembered not only as a notable artist, but also as an art educator and organizer. He became a significant member of the IACS, serving on the executive and exhibited frequently in the Society's annual exhibitions until 1940. As the convenor of the art section of the annual Willows Fair in Oak Bay, Victoria, he provided the artist Emily Carr (1871-1945) with a whole section of the 1934 exhibition to herself.
He also exhibited at the B.C. Artists exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery. He exhibited in the Seattle Art Museum's annual Northwest Artists exhibitions and was also a member of the Victoria Sketch Club. On his death, it was reported that Checkley "retired" from his profession of "Artist (Painter)" in 1940. The B.C. Archives and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria both hold collections of his work. The Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Victoria offers an Arthur Checkley Memorial Bursary funded by the University of Victoria Foundation.
Checkley was also one of 118 Canadian artists who, in 1932, demanded reform at the National Gallery of Canada including a government investigation and threatened a contentious boycott. In addition to the Gallery, the controversy involved the Canadian Group of Seven, the Royal Canadian Academy, various key artist societies (incl. the Island Arts and Crafts Society), Government Ministers and many professional artists. See Web Links.