Margaret Girvin Gillin Explained

Margaret Girvin Gillin
Birth Name:Margaret Girvin
Birth Date:17 September 1833
Birth Place:Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Death Date:21 January 1915
Death Place:Oakland, California, United States
Burial Place:Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, California, United States
Education:California School of Design
Occupation:Painter

Margaret Girvin Gillin (1833–1915), also known as Margarete Garvin Gillin, was a Canadian painter of portraits and still lifes. She was active in Northern California and Hawaii.[1]

Biography

Margaret Girvin Gillin was born in 1833, in Brantford, Upper Canada. Her younger brother James Walter Girvin (1844–1906) was a writer, librarian, and he owned mercantile stores in Hawaii.[2]

She studied painting in France, and moved to California in 1869, where she continued her studies at the California School of Design (later known as the San Francisco Art Institute). In 1880, she moved to Hilo, Hawaii, but traveled to Hawaii's other islands to paint commissioned portraits. She returned to California in 1884, but made several more visits to Hawaii. She died in Oakland, California on 21 January 1915.[3]

Gillin is best known for her simple, elegant and direct still lifes.[4] The Bishop Museum in Honolulu is among the public collections holding her works.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Viator . Jane . 2014-09-01 . Santa Clara revisited: as you like it: antiques roadshow offers something for everyone: military history, fine art, modern design, and just plain "fun stuff." . Antiques Roadshow Insider . English . 14 . 9 . 5–8.
  2. Book: Forbes, David W. . In Haste with Aloha: Letters and Diaries of Queen Emma, 1881–1885 . 2017-04-30 . University of Hawaii Press . 978-0-8248-5786-8 . 195 . en.
  3. http://www.askart.com/askart/artist.aspx?artist=84479 Margarete Garvin Gillin in AskArt.com
  4. Forbes, David W., Encounters with Paradise: Views of Hawaii and its People, 1778-1941, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 1992, p. 171
  5. http://www.askart.com/askart/artist.aspx?artist=84479 Margarete Garvin Gillin in AskArt.com