David Milne

David Milne (January 8, 1882 – December 26, 1953) was a Canadian painter, printmaker, and writer. He was profoundly different from most of his Canadian art contemporaries, especially Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. He is sometimes referred to as the Master of Absence and known for his ability to reduce a painting to its bare essentials. Biography David Milne was born near Paisley in 1882. He was the last of 10 children born to Scottish immigrant parents. His early education was in Paisley, followed by high school in Walkerton; he performed well in school and soon after graduation began teaching in a country school near Paisley. During 1902 and 1903 he studied art through correspondence, eventually deciding to move to New York City in 1903 at the age of 21. In New York, he spent two years (and a third year of night school) studying at the Art Students League. He came to know both American and European Impressionism, Post Impressionism, and Fauvism, modern approaches that helped shape his own style. A significant measure of this early success was his participation in two of North America’s most important exhibitions of art of the early 20th century: the famous Armory Show in 1913 (seen in New York, Boston, and Chicago) where he had five paintings exhibited and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco in 1915. He was represented by the N. E. Montross Gallery (the same gallery showed 'The Eight' or Ashcan School artists). In 1912, he married Frances May (known as Patsy) and later they moved to Boston Corners, a small hamlet where Milne painted with oils and watercolours. Milne left Boston Corners in 1917 for basic training in Toronto for World War I. He was stationed in Quebec and then quarantined in England for a month, during which time World War I ended. Because of his background as an artist, he was asked to complete paintings and drawings as a war artist. Milne produced artworks of battlefields in France and Belgium as well as of soldiers in Kinmel Park Camp in England. Between the years of 1919 and 1929, Milne lived in Boston Corners and the surrounding areas, focusing his artistic work on the landscape. He spent the winter of 1923–24 in Ottawa in hopes of finding government patronage and a position. During his six months in the city, Milne produced several paintings and watercolours. Six of his works were purchased by the National Gallery of Canada.