Maria Tippett

Maria W. Tippett L.L. D., D.Litt (December 9, 1944 – August 8, 2024) was a Canadian historian specialising in Canadian art history. Her 1979 biography of Emily Carr won the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction.

Educated at Simon Fraser University and the University of London, Tippett went on to win several awards and wrote extensive biographies of Emily Carr, Frederick Varley, Bill Reid, and Yousuf Karsh. Tippett has also written, among others, books on the photography of Charles Gimpel, the parents of the AIDS scientist David Ho, Canadian war art and landscape painting in addition to two collections of short stories. In addition to her writing, Tippett held positions and fellowships at several universities, including Simon Fraser University, York University, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and Cambridge University.

Biography Raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Tippett travelled through Europe and the Middle East for three years following high school before attending Vancouver City College and Simon Fraser University. She received a doctorate in history from the University of London. and from the University of Victoria (2006) as well as from Simon Fraser University (2006). Phillips in Print: The Selected Writings of Walter J. Phillips on Canadian Nature and Art (1977) [with Douglas L. Cole] Emily Carr, A Biography (1979) Art at the Service of War: Canada, Art, and the Great War (1984) Breaking the Cycle, and Other Stories from a Gulf Island (1989) Making Culture: English-Canadian Institutions and the Arts before the Massey Commission (1990) By a Lady: Celebrating Three Centuries of Art by Canadian Women (1992) Between Two Cultures: A Photographer among the Inuit (1994) Becoming Myself: A Memoir (1996) Stormy Weather: F.H. Varley, A Biography (1998) Bill Reid: The Making of an Indian (2004) Portrait in Light and Shadow: The Life of Yousuf Karsh (2007) Eating Bitter: A Chinese American Saga (2010) Made in British Columbia: Eight Ways of Making Culture (2015) Sculpture in Canada: A History (2017) Sculpture and its Relation to Writing, Music, Photography and Modernism (editor) (2020) Art for Art's Sake (2022) Canadian Art Matters, New Ways of Seeing (forthcoming)

Papers Selected List "A Life in History: From Making Culture to Making Cultural History" Canadian Historical Review, March (Vol 99 No. 1) 2018 "Jeffrey Rubinoff and Canada" James Fox (ed). The Art of Jeffrey Rubinoff, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2016) "Art Made for Strangers': Re-Thinking Inuit Art" Sir Roy Calne and William O'Reilly (eds). Scepticism (New York: Nova Publishers, 2012) "Canadian Culture" Irvin Stubin (ed). What is a Canadian? (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2006) "Expressing Identity" Beaver Magazine Vol 86 No 1 (2000) "Cultural History: A Subject in Search of a Agenda" Canadian Historical Review, Volume 5 No 3 (1994) "Canadian Art and the Great War" Franz K. Stanzel (ed)., Intimate Enemies: English-German literary reactions to the Great War (Heidelberg: Universitat verlag C. Winter, 1993) "Sea and Art" L.D. McCann (ed). The Sea and Culture of Atlantic Canada (Sackville: Mount Allison University, 1992) "The Origins of the Canada Council: the most generous sugar daddy art has ever known" in Peter Easingwood et al. Probing Canadian Culture (Augsburg: A-V Verlag, 1991) "Emily Carr" Michael Toobey (ed). True North: Canadian Landscape Painting 1896–1939 (London: Barbican Art Gallery, 1991) "Canadian Art and Propaganda During the Great War" Canadian High Commission, (London) [pamphlet] (1989) "The Making of English-Canadian Culture, 1900–1939: the external influences" [pamphlet] York University, 1988 "The writing of English-Canadian cultural history, 1970–85." The Canadian Historical Review Volume 67, Issue 4 (1986).

Exhibitions curated with catalogue Selected List "Contemporaries of Emily Carr" Simon Fraser University Art Gallery (1974) "Ingeborg Mohr, selected works" Simon Fraer University Art Gallery (1983) "Lest We Forget" London Regional Art Gallery (1989) "Charles Gimpel, photographer of Arctic Canada and Collector of Inuit Art" National Library, Luxembourg, (1995) "Marcel Barbeau", Churchill College Art Gallery, 2000.

Awards and honours Butler Book Prize, 2018, short-listed, "Sculpture in Canada, a history" Melva J Dwyer Award, 2018, short-listed, "Sculpture in Canada, a history" Hubert Evans non-fiction Prize, 2016, short-listed, "Made in British Columbia, Eight Ways of Making Culture" Basil Stuart-Stubbs Book Prize, short-listed, 2016, "Made in British Columbia, Eight Ways of Making Culture" Canadian non-fiction Award, short-listed, 2007, Portrait in Light and Shadow: The Life of Yousuf Karsh Dafoe Book Prize, short-listed, 2008, "Portrait in Light and Shadow: The Life of Yousuf Karsh" Honorary doctorate, Simon Fraser University, 2006 (DLitt) Honorary doctorate, University of Victoria, 2006 Hubert Evans non-fiction Prize, 2004, "Bill Reid, the making of an Indian" Honorary L.L.D., Windsor University, 1994 BC Book Prize, short-listed, 1993, "By a Lady, Celebrating Three Centuries of Art by Canadian Women" Van City Book Prize, short-listed, 1993, "By a Lady, Celebrating Three Centuries of Art by Canadian Women" Canada 125 Medal, 1992 elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. in 1992 Canadian Studies Writing Award, 1982 Governor General's Award for non-fiction, 1979, "Emily Carr: a biography" John A. Macdonald History Prize, 1979, "Emily Carr: a biography" Garneau Medal, short-listed, 1980, "Emily Carr: a biography" Eaton's BC Book Award – now the BC and Yukon Book Prize, 1978, "From Desolation to Splendour: changing perceptions of the British Columbia Landscape"