Doris McCarthy
Accomplished artist known for Canadian and Arctic landscapes
Photo credit: Doris McCarthy at Fool’s Paradise, 2005. Photo by David Lee.
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One of Canada's most celebrated landscape painters, Doris McCarthy’s remarkable eight-decade career helped shape the country's artistic identity and expand how Canadians see their natural environment.
Born in Calgary and raised in Toronto, McCarthy received a scholarship to attend the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD University) in 1926. She studied under renowned Canadian artist Arthur Lismer, a member of the Group of Seven, and graduated in 1930.
McCarthy developed a distinctive artistic style characterized by bold colours, expressive forms and a deep appreciation for the Canadian landscape.1 She is the only Canadian artist to paint every province and territory in Canada – a remarkable achievement that merited the Order of Canada in 1986.2
She was also an influential educator, teaching art at Toronto's Central Technical School for four decades. Among her students were artists who would make significant contributions to Canadian art, including Joyce Wieland.
She was the first woman elected president of the Ontario Society of Artists, helping advance the recognition and professional standing of Canadian artists. She was also elected president of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour and inducted into the Royal Canadian Academic of Arts in 1974. In 1983, she was proclaimed Canadian Woman Artist of the Year.3
Her achievements earned numerous honours, including appointment to the Order of Ontario in 1992. Her work is represented in major public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario and McMichael Canadian Art Collection. She also wrote the two-volume autobiography, A Fool in Paradise: An Artist’s Early Life (1990) and The Good Wine: An Artist Comes of Age (1991) as well as the third volume, Doris McCarthy: Ninety Years Wise (2004).
In 2015, she was honoured by OCAD University for outstanding professional and artistic achievements, as part of the University’s celebration of its 100th edition of the annual Graduate Exhibition (GradEx 100).
Her longtime Scarborough home, Fool's Paradise, became an artists' retreat, while the Doris McCarthy Gallery at the University of Toronto Scarborough preserves and celebrates her work. Her works are held in public and private collections in Canada and internationally.
Learn more about Doris McCarthy's life and work
1Doris McCarthy, Life & Work by John G. Hatch, Art Institute of Canada