Farquhar McGillivray Knowles
| Farquhar McGillivray Strachan Stewart Knowles | |
|---|---|
Farquhar McGillivray Knowles in 1930
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| Born |
22 May 1859 Syracuse, New York, USA |
| Died | 9 April 1932 (aged 72) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | American, Canadian |
| Occupation | Painter |
| Known for | Seascapes |
Farquhar McGillivray Knowles (22 May 1859 – 9 April 1932) was an American painter who spent much of his life in Canada. He was best known for his seascapes.
Farquhar McGillivray Strachan Stewart Knowles was born in Syracuse, New York on 22 May 1859. His parents were Scottish in origin. Around 1863 they returned to Canada, where Knowles was educated in Guelph, Ontario. Due to the influence of his military grandfather he enrolled in the artillery at the military academy in West Point around 1877. He suffered a serious accident in his fourth year which ruled out a military career.
Knowles found work in New York City retouching photographs, and took some art courses there. He returned to Canada where he found employment with the William Notman and John Fraser photographic studios in Toronto. He added color to their portrait photographs of wealthy customers. The studio's co-owner was John A. Fraser, R.C.A., an accomplished watercolor artist, who instructed him in painting miniatures and watercolors. In 1885 McGillivray Knowles went to Europe, where he studied painting in England and France. Knowles married Ada Cullen, who died in 1887.
Knowles was elected an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1889 based on his reputation as a watercolor artist. He married his former student Elizabeth Annie Beach (1866–1928) in 1890. She was a niece of the well-known Canadian painter Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith. They went to Europe in 1891. Knowles studied in England for two years under Sir Hubert von Herkomer, R.A., and then in Paris for four years under Benjamin Constant, Jean-Paul Laurens, Henri Gervais and Veir Schmidt.
The couple returned to Canada and opened a school of painting, design, ceramics and life classes. A biographer wrote of Knowles at this time, "He was also keenly interested in literature, music, and in his moments of leisure indulged in a passion for carpentry, yachting, motoring, shooting and travel. Some years ago his beautiful studio in Toronto was filled with pictures, rugs, and quaint curios picked up in many parts of the world, and there he and his accomplished wife, herself also a musician and artist . . . kept open house, for they had a wide circle of friends and occupied a prominent place in the social life of the city".
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