During her lifetime (1890–1967), Mildred Valley Thornton (HON. CPA, FRSA) was noted nationally and internationally.The full story of this distinctive artist, accomplished with landscapes and portraits, watercolours and oils, is being told for the first time. Born in Ontario, Thornton later moved to Regina where she met her husband, taught art at the Regina College and gave birth to twin boys. Thornton’s early works—vibrant landscapes—were inspired by artist J.W. Beatty, her instructor at the Ontario College of Art. Later, portraits of the First Nations peoples of Western Canada became the genius loci of her oeuvre.
During the Depression, her family moved to Vancouver where she continued, for the rest of her life, to carve out a unique career as a fiercely independent, adventurous and confident artist driven to create. Between painting, writing and travelling around the province, 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, published poet and recipient of a Canadian Authors’ Association Award for her book Indian Lives and Legends (1966). Before she died, Thornton unsuccessfully tried to interest Canadian institutions in purchasing her collection of approximately 300 portraits of First Nations peoples of Western Canada. Identified in her work are ancestors from twenty-four Western First Nations: in B.C., these include the Cowichan, Chilcotin, Haida, Heiltsuk, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth, Ktunaxa, Squamish, Stó:lo, Suknaqinx and Tsimshian; on the plains, these include the Cree, Kainai, Piikani, Saulteaux, Sitsika and Tsuu T'ina, among others. 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. She stated that her paintings of First Nations peoples should either be auctioned off or destroyed. To the relief of her executors and heirs, the codicil was improperly witnessed—the work remained intact. That historic legacy is now dispersed in private as well as corporate, First Nations, public gallery and museum collections. These include 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. She has yet to be recognized as an important early Canadian painter.
 
Sheryl Salloum was born and raised in British Columbia. She has lived and worked in various regions of the province. Sheryl graduated from Simon Fraser University with an English major and Early Childhood minor. She has taught in the public school and college systems. A freelance writer for over twenty years, Sheryl has published articles in numerous Canadian magazines and newspapers. Her areas of interest include Canadian art, culture and history, and children’s issues. In 1995, Sheryl published Underlying Vibrations: The Photography and Life of John Vanderpant (Horsdal & Schubart). That book was a finalist for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction BC Book Prize. In 1987, Sheryl published Malcolm Lowry: Vancouver Days (Harbour Publishing). She and her husband have one daughter. They live in Vancouver.
 
Sherrill Grace, who has written the foreword for this book, is Professor of English at the University of British Columbia, where she has served as Head of Department, Associate Dean of Arts, and UBC Senator. In 2003, she was appointed a UBC Distinguished University Scholar, and in 2008, she won the Canada Council Killam Prize in Humanities. In 2010, she won the Lorne Pierce Medal of the Royal Society of Canada for her books on the North. She has published 23 books, including the two-volume edition of Malcolm Lowry’s letters, Inventing Tom Thomson (2004), and Canada and the Idea of North (2002; 2007). Her most recent books are the biography Making Theatre: A Life of Sharon Pollock (2008) and On the Art of Being Canadian (2009). In 2011, Dr. Grace was awarded the title of University Killam Professor.

Published: June 2011

ISBN: 978-1-896949-05-5

8 x 9.5 | 176 pages | CDN $35.95
Trade paperback with French flaps
Over 100 colour and b&w plates

Category: Biography / Canadian Art

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Mildred Valley Thornton circa 1920s'