McNicoll, Helen

Born at Toronto and deafened in early age by scarlet fever. Privately tutored, then received art training at the Art Association in Montreal and then studied oil painting under noted Canadian painter William Brymner. She later supplemented her art studies with a sojourn at the Slade School of Art in London, England and at a Cornwall art school. She adopted the Impressionistic style and eventually became one of Canada's most noted artists. Her life was cut short at age 36 from complications of diabetes, dying at Swannage, England. After a decade of widely-recognized posthumous exhibitions, her work dropped into obscurity, but in more recent years she has been rediscovered and is considered one of Canada's best women painters. An exhibit of her works was presented in Ontario 1999-2000, and many of her works hang in various Canadian and U.S. private collections.