Prudence Heward fonds: Finding Aid

Efa Prudence Heward, an artist acclaimed for her portraits and figure studies of women and children, was born in Montreal on July 2, 1896, the daughter of Arthur R.G. Heward and Sarah Efa Jones. Artistically talented as a child, Heward took her first drawing lessons in 1908 at the age of twelve. In 1918, after spending two years during the First World War in London, England, working for the Red Cross, Heward received her first formal art training at the Art Association of Montreal (AAM) under William Brymner (1855-1925). Two years later she joined the Beaver Hall Group, which had been inaugurated in the fall of 1920 through the efforts of artists Randolph Hewton (1888-1960), Edwin Holgate (1892-1977), Mabel May (1877-1971), and Lilias Torrance Newton (1896-1980). The Beaver Hall Group was relatively short-lived as an official entity but continued to live on informally during the 1920s through friendships between Heward and several other women artists based in Montreal, including Nora Collyer (1898-1979), Sarah Robertson (1891-1948), Anne Savage (1896-1971), and Ethel Seath (1879-1963).

Heward exhibited in annual AAM exhibitions in 1920 and 1922, and two years later she participated in her first exhibition with the Royal Canadian Academy. After being awarded the Women's Art Society Prize for painting in 1925, Heward studied in Paris at the Académie Colarossi under Charles Gérin (1875-1939) and at the École de Beaux-Arts with Bernard Naudin (1876-1946). Paintings produced by Heward during this period were included in two important international exhibitions of Canadian art, the British Empire Exhibition in Wembley, England in 1925 and the Exposition d'art canadien held at the Musée du Jeu de Paume in Paris in 1927. In 1929 Heward received the prestigious Willingdon Prize for her painting Girl on a Hill and also made a second trip to Europe, where she met the painter Isabel McLaughlin (1903-2002). The following year Heward was selected to participate in An Exhibition of Contemporary Canadian Artists at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. and in 1932 she was given her first solo exhibition, at the Montreal gallery of W. Scott & Sons. Along with her membership in the Montreal-based Beaver Hall Group, Heward was a founding member of the Canadian Group of Painters (1933) and the Contemporary Arts Society (1939). Her work is held in museums throughout Canada, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery. In poor health for much of her life, Prudence Heward died in Los Angeles, California, on March 19, 1947, from complications related to asthma. In 1948 a memorial exhibition consisting of 101 works by Heward was held at the National Gallery of Canada.

Scope and Content

The fonds consists of six sketchbooks; photographs of Prudence Heward with family and friends at Fernbank, at the Heward family summer home near Brockville, Ontario, and in Bermuda, England, and France; three letters from A.Y. Jackson (1882-1974) to Prudence Heward and one letter from Jackson to Heward's mother; two Royal Canadian Academy catalogues; and Heward's palette. The earliest sketchbook was used by Heward from 1908 to 1910 and contains drawings of family members and friends. The second sketchbook dates from Heward's time in London during the First World War and includes drawings of nurses and patients. The third and fourth sketchbooks date from Heward's time in London and Paris in 1925, and the final two sketchbooks contain numerous life drawings, including some executed while Heward was studying at the Scandinavian Academy in Paris in 1930. A.Y. Jackson's letters to Heward mention paintings including Girl on a Hill and Rollande. Included with the letters is a typed review of Heward's solo exhibition at W. Scott & Sons in 1932, written by Jackson. Among Heward's friends depicted in the photographs is the artist Isabel McLaughlin. Several of the photographs include inscriptions on the verso. The two Royal Canadian Academy catalogues date from November 1926 and November 1927, and include sketches by Heward. The first of these includes three sketches on the back pages similar to the painting Girl on a Hill (National Gallery of Canada), while the second includes drawings of chairs and interior on the back cover. A palette used by Heward is also included in the fonds.

Physical description: Includes 21 photographs, 1 cm of textual records, and 1 object. Photographs include 20 b&w photographs and 1 b&w negative.

Immediate source of acquisition: Donated by Ross Heward and Prudence Heward Morgan, the nephew and niece of Prudence Heward, in 2011.

Terms governing use and reproduction: Permission to reproduce or publish material from the Prudence Heward fonds must be obtained from the National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives.

Related groups of records: The Visual Resources collection in the National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives includes numerous photographs of works by Prudence Heward. The National Gallery of Canada's collection includes several drawings and paintings by Heward. Among the paintings in the collection are Girl on a Hill (1929), Rollande (1929), Girl in a Yellow Sweater (1936), and Portrait of Mrs. Zimmerman (1943).

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Preferred Citation

[Title of item], Prudence Heward fonds, National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prudence Heward fonds:

Finding Aid

Collection Summary

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content

Index Terms

Administrative Information

Processing Information

Preferred Citation

Contact Information

Box List