Emily Coonan

Emily Coonan (25 March 1885 – 23 June 1971) was a Canadian impressionist and post-impressionist painter, born in the Pointe-Saint-Charles area of Montreal. As a member of the Beaver Hall Group, Coonan mostly did figure paintings. Influenced by William Brymner and James Wilson Morrice in early years and later on by work done in Europe, Coonan's work has features that are related both to impressionism and modernism.

Early life The daughter of William Coonan, a machinist for the Grand Trunk Railway, and Mary Anne Fullerton, she was born in the Pointe-Saint-Charles neighbourhood of Montreal and was educated at the nearby St. Ann's Academy for Girls. Emily was encouraged to study art early on when she was enrolled in art classes at the Conseil des Arts & Manufactures around 1898, with the instructors Edmond Dyonnet, Joseph Charles Franchere, Joseph Saint-Charles, and Charles Gill. She then studied at the Art Association of Montreal with William Brymner between 1901 and 1905. Brymner was the primary instructor for the members of the Beaver Hall Group, in which Coonan took part, and he was especially open to her exploration into the styles of impressionism and post-expressionism, while also supporting her development of a more modernist style. Due to the onset of the First World War, Coonan's trip was postponed to 1920. During her stay abroad, she started to use a stylized version of European modernism in her work and began creating landscape paintings.

Once she returned to Canada in 1921, she became a member of the Beaver Hall Group. Unlike the other members of the Beaver Hall Group who were members of Montreal's Protestant upper class, Coonan was a devout Roman Catholic from a working-class background. As a member of the Beaver Hall Studios, Coonan participated in a few of the four shows that the group put on before the group went their separate ways in 1922. Coonan gained international acclaim as her piece Girl in Dotted Dress (1923) was selected to show in the British Empire Exhibition in England.

Coonan's works are included in the collection of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the National Gallery of Canada.