Born Mary Ella Williams in Port Burwell, Ontario, Dignam studied art at the Western School of Art and Design in London, Ontario. In 1886 she went to New York City to further her training at the Art Students League, followed by time in Paris, France at the artist's workshop run by Raphaël Collin (1850–1916) and Luc-Olivier Merson (1846–1920). Her paintings were eventually exhibited in Canada and abroad. She was a tireless worker for female artists and was a founding member and the first president of the Toronto-based Women's Art Association of Canada (WAAC).
She helped establish the International Society of Women Painters and Sculptors with branches in London, Paris, Philadelphia and Melbourne. In 1900, she helped organize the first all-female international art exhibition at the Grafton Galleries in London. She was hired by Moulton College in Toronto to establish and lead its art department.
Death
She died in 1938 in Toronto, Ontario.[citation needed]
References
External links
- Canadian Women Artists History Initiative (Concordia University) DIGNAM, Mary Ella biography
This Canadian painter article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Re: Large Vase "Signed M Dignan"
Sorry but I couldn't get the signature clear enough in pic.