Myfanwy Pavelic | |
---|---|
Born | Myfanwy Spencer April 27, 1916 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada |
Died | May 7, 2007 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada | (aged 91)
Education | Privately by Emily Carr |
Known for | Painter |
Notable work | "Katharine Hepburn", "Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau" |
Spouse | Niki Pavelic |
Awards | Order of Canada Order of British Columbia Canadian Portrait Academy |
Myfanwy Pavelic, CM OBE RCA DFA (April 27, 1916 – May 7, 2007) née Spencer, was a portrait artist.
Born in Victoria, British Columbia to an upper-class family, her first interests in fine art came after meeting with Emily Carr on Vancouver Island who later gave a brief series of instruction to Pavelic. Aside from a few months of study with a Yugoslav artist, she was self-taught as a painter.[1] She studied at Miss Edgar's and Miss Cramp's School in Montreal, Canada as a boarder.[2][3] During the Second World War, she held a one-person exhibition of portraits in Canada and donated the proceeds to the Red Cross. She later married a diplomat and had one daughter who suffered a disability.
Pavelic was one of few Canadian artists who had their work shown at the National Portrait Gallery,[4] where her portrait of Yehudi Menuhin[5] was displayed. She later donated the portrait of her friend to the National Portrait Gallery, making her the first known Canadian-born artist to be represented in their permanent collection.
Pavelic's childhood home was donated to the City of Victoria and converted into the art gallery.
In 1984, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada.[4] In 1984 she received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Victoria and awarded the Order of Canada.[6] In 2001, she was made a Member of the Order of British Columbia.
In 1997 she became a founding member of the Canadian Portrait Academy (CPA) and in 1998 won the F.H. Varley Medallion for Best Portrait Painting for her portrait of Pierre Elliott Trudeau. She was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.[7]