Zone d'identification
Cote
Titre
Date(s)
- 1899-1975 (Production)
Niveau de description
Étendue matérielle et support
781 sketches
100 watercolours
87 cm of textual records
34 photographs
5 sketchbooks
1 easel
1 paint box
Zone du contexte
Nom du producteur
Notice biographique
David Brown Milne (Burgoyne, Ontario 1882 – Bancroft, Ontario 1953) was a painter and etcher; he is widely considered to be among the most outstanding Canadian artists. He worked as a schoolteacher before deciding to study painting in New York where, in 1903, he enrolled in the Art Students’ League. Milne supported himself through commercial artwork but actively and successfully developed his own painting, exhibiting five canvases in the famous Armory Show of 1913. His friends during this period included James (“René”) Clarke, with whom he maintained a correspondence for many years. In 1916, Milne and his wife Patsy (née May Frances Hagerty), whom he had married in 1912, left the city and settled in Boston Corners, New York. In late 1917 Milne joined the Canadian army as a private, and in 1918 was appointed as a war artist to record the locations of battles that had involved Canadian troops. Milne returned to Boston Corners in 1919, where he spent most of his winters until 1928, summering in the Adirondacks. He moved to Ottawa for one year in 1923, when the National Gallery of Canada bought six of his watercolours. In 1928, Milne moved permanently back to Ontario (he separated from his wife in 1933), spending extended periods of time alone in the wilderness regions north of Toronto. Palgrave, a short drive from Toronto, became Milne’s home from 1930 to 1933, and from 1933 to 1939 he lived in a cabin on Six Mile Lake near Georgian Bay. He maintained an interest in the Toronto art scene and developed a small group of patrons including Alice and Vincent Massey, and Douglas Duncan of the Picture Loan Society, who acted as Milne’s agent and dealer for many years. He met his second wife Kathleen Pavey in 1938 and lived with her from 1939; their only child David Jr. was born in 1941. The Milnes lived in Uxbridge from 1940 to 1946. From 1947 Milne lived and worked at Baptiste Lake, with Kathleen and David Jr. joining him periodically. As Milne’s health deteriorated, the family moved to Bancroft to be closer to Baptiste Lake. Milne died at Bancroft in December 1953. His work is represented in numerous public collections, notably the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
Histoire archivistique
Material in this fonds was inherited by David Milne, Jr., who donated it to the AGO.
Source immédiate d'acquisition ou de transfert
AGO Credit Line: Gift of the Milne Family Collection, 2009.
Zone du contenu et de la structure
Portée et contenu
Fonds consists of the personal and professional records of David Brown Milne, including correspondence with friends, patrons, family and his dealer; diaries and similar writing; documentation of Milne’s military service; designs for Canadian flags; cancelled watercolours; sketches and sketchbooks.
Contains series:
- Correspondence sent by David Milne, including drafts of letters
- Correspondence received by David Milne
- Diaries and other writings by David Milne
- World War I documents
- Douglas Duncan and Picture Loan Society documents
- Maps of potential painting locations
- Publicity material
- Documents relating to Vera Parsons and 1963 court case
- Canadian flag drawings and designs for Studio Magazine cover
- Cancelled watercolours
- Baptiste Lake sketchbooks
- Personal effects
- Sketches
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
System of arrangement
The series arrangement is based on material, functional and thematic groupings of records.
Zone des conditions d'accès et d'utilisation
Conditions d’accès
Open. Access to the Special Collections is by appointment only. Please contact the reference desk for more information.
Conditions governing reproduction
David Milne’s copyright in this fonds is maintained by the David Milne estate. Copyright belonging to other parties, such as that in received correspondence or photographs, may still rest with the creator(s) of these items. It is the researcher’s responsibility to obtain permission to publish any part of the fonds.
Language of material
- anglais
Script of material
Language and script notes
Caractéristiques matérielle et contraintes techniques
Finding aids
A detailed finding aid is available at http://www.ago.net/assets/files/pdf/special_collections/SC117.pdf.
Zone des sources complémentaires
Existence and location of originals
Originals of letters to David Milne from James (“René”) Clarke are to be donated to Library and Archives Canada.
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Library and Archives Canada has an extensive David Brown Milne Fonds.
The David Silcox – David Milne Collection, also at this repository, contains the research records for the publication David B. Milne: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings (University of Toronto Press, 1998), including photocopies of much of Milne’s correspondence.
Zone des notes
Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)
Mots-clés
Mots-clés - Sujets
Mots-clés - Lieux
Mots-clés - Noms
Mots-clés - Genre
Zone du contrôle de la description
Identifiant de la description
Identifiant du service d'archives
Rules and/or conventions used
Statut
Niveau de détail
Dates of creation revision deletion
August 9, 2013
Langue(s)
- anglais