Nesta Bowen Horne

Nesta Bowen Horne (1896–1987) was a Canadian painter. Born in Barbados, she trained in New York, Paris, and London. While she painted landscapes, floral subjects, and semi-abstracts, her specialty was portraiture. She had solo exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1944 and 1946, the latter show devoted exclusively to portraits.

Biography Nesta Maud Mary Bowen was born on 9 February 1896 in Bridgetown, Barbados, the daughter of a civil engineer and artist. She lived in New York for ten years where she attended the National Academy of Design. Horne further studied in Paris at the Académie Moderne under Charles Guérin. In London, she continued her education in portrait painting at the Goldsmith School with Harold Speed. In 1925, she married Thomas Horne in England. Her scenes included a Japanese village along the Fraser River and Chinese market gardens. In 1941, Horne painted Mary Bollert, the first dean of women at the University of British Columbia. She began submitting pieces to the annual exhibitions with the British Columbia Society of Fine Arts.

In 1944, she had her first solo exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery, with oil paintings and watercolours of both still lifes and portraits. Horne also created semi-abstracts. An exhibition of many of these paintings occurred in 1945 at the Spencer's Art Gallery in Victoria. In 1946, Horne had another solo exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery, a rare show consisting only of portraits. Mildred Valley Thornton commended her paintings of children. In 1950, Horne was made a member of the National Arts Club in New York. By 1955, she lived most of the year at Pender Harbour. Horne continued painting into the 1960s. She died on 2 March 1987 in Victoria at the age of 91 years. Burnaby Art Gallery, Canadian War Museum,