WAG Florence Carlyle

Florence Carlyle (1864–1923) was born in Galt, Ontario, but moved to Woodstock, Ontario, when she was just seven years old. Carlyle travelled to Paris in 1890 and spent the next six years studying painting, becoming accomplished enough to have paintings exhibited at the 1893 and 1894 Paris Salons. Although she briefly established a studio in London, she returned to Canada just before her 32nd birthday.

Although Carlyle had spent years overseas, she had worked to develop a presence on the Canadian art scene. From 1892 onwards, she exhibited with the Art Association of Montreal. In 1897, Carlyle was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Canadian Academy. She supplemented her income by teaching in Woodstock, London, and Toronto and worked as an illustrator.

In 1901 she was elected as a member of the Ontario Society of Artists. Carlyle’s works were regularly exhibited in both Canada and the US. Over the next five years, Carlyle would alternate between Woodstock and New York, and between her calendar commissions and non-commercial work. 

In 1913 Carlyle moved to England, eventually settling in Crowborough where she lived in Sweet Hawes cottage with Juliet Hastings. Carlyle continued to paint and exhibit, but both her volunteer work during World War I and her gradually failing eyesight significantly reduced her artistic production. After the war, Carlyle began to write. Her story Mary’s Child was published in a British newspaper in November 1923. Unfortunately, Carlyle never had the chance to see her work in print; she passed away on May 2, 1923, at the age of 58.

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