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scoundrel

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I picked this up at Goodwill the other day for five bucks. There are a few Mary Hamilton’s out there that produce art including a lady who worked for Hallmark cards for 60 years. But I am 90% sure this is the work of the Canadian Mary Hamilton. She lived from the 1860s to the 1950s. She had a very successful and prolific career. Canada considers her their first female artist. They sent her to Europe after World War I to paint all of the destruction. She produced over 350 paintings from the war. Some of her paintings sell for upwards of $50,000.
A lot of them are priced between five and $10,000. This painting has a note on the back. It was written by Mary’s grandson or granddaughter. The painting was done for somebody named uncle Bill, Which I guess would be Mary’s son or nephew. And it was done early in her career when she was going by Mary Matilda Hamilton, not Mary Riter Hamilton. If I indeed have the right Mary Hamilton, this painting is going to pay nicely. Not only is it a nice piece of work, but it was done for a family member, and has a handwritten note from another family member on the back. Collectors love stuff like this. When it sells, I’ll let you guys know what I got for it.
 

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The Canadian War Artist's maiden/middle name was Riter. The middle initial in your watercolor is an M.

"Mary Riter was born in Teeswater, Ontario February 11, 1867.[3] Shortly after her birth, the family moved to Clearwater, Manitoba. She retained her ties with Manitoba in her later life.[2]

In 1889, when she was 18, she married Charles W. Hamilton,"


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Riter_Hamilton
 
Hmmm...maybe it is possible. Her middle name was Matilda and she was only married to her husband (last name Hamilton) a few years in her early twenties before he died. Perhaps during her marriage she used her original middle initial, and then later she switched her middle name to her maiden name to reclaim a bit of her own identity. Maybe shortly after her husband died.

Since she is well documented then I think you should be able to find other examples of her using that same signature.

http://pentictonartgallery.com/mary-riter-hamilton-collection
 
The Canadian War Artist's maiden/middle name was Riter. The middle initial in your watercolor is an M.

"Mary Riter was born in Teeswater, Ontario February 11, 1867.[3] Shortly after her birth, the family moved to Clearwater, Manitoba. She retained her ties with Manitoba in her later life.[2]

In 1889, when she was 18, she married Charles W. Hamilton,"


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Riter_Hamilton

Lol. I knew that was coming. That’s where the other 10% comes in. With that being said, the painting looks like her style, and the frame dates to the period.
Also, the note says it was painted for uncle Bill. That could be a great uncle. Which could have been Mary’s husband Charles. Charles W.(William/Bill)Hamilton.
 

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Lol. I knew that was coming. That’s where the other 10% comes in. With that being said, the painting looks like her style, and the frame dates to the period.
Also, the note says it was painted for uncle Bill. That could be a great uncle. Which could have been Mary’s husband Charles. Charles W.(William/Bill)Hamilton.

Based on the bio in my last post, then it seems like it could only have been done early in her marriage when she first started painting and taking lessons. That's certainly consistent with the note about her being young and maybe that it was done for her husband while he was still alive and she was still learning. Obviously, the trick is finding other authenticated pieces from the same time period, and ideally with the same signature. If this was an early work kept within the family, then there might not have been many other survivors from her earliest days.

There's a book about her published just a few years ago:

No Man's Land; The Life and Art of Mary Riter Hamilton
Hamilton, Mary Riter; Young, Kathryn A.; McKinnon, Sarah M. [Editors]

You might try to get the contact info of one of the authors, and in the meantime figure out which museum has the largest collection and send them some detailed photographs.
 
Based on the bio in my last post, then it seems like it could only have been done early in her marriage when she first started painting and taking lessons. That's certainly consistent with the note about her being young and maybe that it was done for her husband while he was still alive and she was still learning. Obviously, the trick is finding other authenticated pieces from the same time period, and ideally with the same signature. If this was an early work kept within the family, then there might not have been many other survivors from her earliest days.

There's a book about her published just a few years ago:

No Man's Land; The Life and Art of Mary Riter Hamilton
Hamilton, Mary Riter; Young, Kathryn A.; McKinnon, Sarah M. [Editors]

You might try to get the contact info of one of the authors, and in the meantime figure out which museum has the largest collection and send them some detailed photographs.

Yeah that’s my next step. Find a gallery that knows her work and send them a photo. They should peg it.
 
On a sidenote, her life was pretty sad. Her first husband died after four years. She had a stillborn child. Her health really deteriorated in Europe because of the living conditions after the war. She never made any real money from her art, and later in life she ended up in a psychiatric hospital where I believe she died.
 
Does anyone know what this means?
 

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I still believe this could be the Canadian artist, but I gave up researching it. The painting is worthless. It’s obvious from the photo. Anybody else see it?
 
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