| description: | Mary Riter Hamilton (The Artist), Was Born To John Riter (A Farmer And Sawmill Operator) And Charity Zimmerman (From A United Empire Loyalist Family) In Teeswater, On., In 1873. Her Father Moved The Family To Clearwater, Mb. Where The Family Lived A Pioneer Life. In 1889, Mary Married Charles W. Hamilton And Moved To Port Arthur. Charles Ran A General Store There Until He Died In 1893 And Then Mary Moved Back To Manitoba And Began Her Career As An Artist. In September Of 1894, She Opened A China Painting Studio And Taught The Art. In 1901 She Went To Europe To Further Her Art Studies And Stayed For 9 Years In Paris Where Her Paintings Were Accepted By The Academy. From 1905 On Her Work Was Exhibited Regularly . In June 1906 Mary Hamilton Returned To Winnipeg And Stayed One Year And Opened A Studio And Taught. By Then Her Paintings Were Famous . In 1907 She Was Back In Paris. Due To Her Mother'S Illness Mary Returned Again To Winnipeg In 1911. Following Her Mother'S Death Mary Showed A Collection Of Almost 150 Paintings In Galleries Throughout Canada. She Was Commisioned To Paint Battlefields In 1919 And By 1922 She Had Painted Over 300 Pictures And Many Were Exhibited. Later She Lost The Sight In One Eye And Started Painting "Dress Accessories" And Was Awarded A Gold Metal For Them. In 1929 Mary Moved To Vancouver Where She Died In 1954 At Age 81, And Was Bured In Port Arthur Next To Her Husband. Many Of Her Paintings Were Often Stored Away During Her Life By Various Archives And Not Shown - A Sad Commentary On The Understanding And Appreciation Of Mary Hamilton'S Work. In 1978, An Exhibition Of 35 Works: Portraits, Landscapes, Still-Life And Battlefield Paintings From The Collection In The Public Archives Was Held At The Art Gallery Of Greater Victoria |