Early Life, Family and Training
Born in Montreal, Canada, on January 1, 1907, Marjorie Elizabeth Thurston Smith, known as Jori Smith, began her formal training quite young. At fifteen years old, she enrolled at the Art Association of Montreal in 1922. It was there that she sat in the classes of Randolph Hewton, learning the fundamentals of her craft. Her education continued as she moved on to the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, where she spent five years honing her skills and earning several prizes for her work.
Her development as a painter was shaped by the guidance of those around her, including studies with Edwin Holgate. These years of instruction provided the technical foundation for her later explorations of landscape and portraiture. In 1930, her personal and professional lives became closely linked when she married the fellow artist Jean Palardy. This partnership would remain a constant as she moved through the different stages of her career.
The Charlevoix Period and Artistic Activity
In 1930, Smith and her husband, Jean Palardy, began their first painting trip to the Charlevoix region. This move marked the beginning of a decade spent largely in the area. They lived among the local families, renting a house for two years before eventually purchasing a summer home in Petite-Rivière-Saint-François. This proximity to the rural community allowed her to integrate into the daily life of the region. She drew her inspiration from the people she met during these years, capturing their presence through her work.
During two summers, she traveled through the region alongside the ethnographer Marius Barbeau, assisting him in his studies of the local culture. These experiences helped shape her perspective on the people of rural Quebec. Much of what she observed and felt during this time was later recorded in her memoirs, Charlevoix County, 1930, which she published in 1998.
Technique and Artistic Style
Her hand moved between oil, watercolor, and ink, often working as a draughtswoman or muralist. While she once spent about two years attempting to paint in an abstract fashion, she found the approach did not suit her. She felt a disconnect when working without a direct connection to the physical world. For her, nature acted as the springboard for her imagination. She did not seek to be a slave to the landscape, but rather used it to find the ideas that would eventually take shape on the canvas.
In her portraits, particularly those of children, there is a notable lack of sentimentality. She captured the character and mood of her subjects through a spontaneous execution. This approach allowed her to seize personality and humor without the weight of unnecessary emotion. Her work often focused on the people and landscapes of the Charlevoix region, alongside studies of nudes, still lifes, and various landscapes.
Professional Recognition and Memberships
Her presence in the Montreal art scene was marked by a steady involvement in the groups shaping the local landscape. In 1939, she became a founding member of the Contemporary Arts Society. She also helped establish the Eastern Group of Painters, becoming its only female member in 1938. These affiliations placed her at the center of the shifting currents in Canadian modernism during the 1930s.
The recognition of her work continued through several decades of practice. In 1955, she received the Jessie Dow Prize from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Later, her contributions were acknowledged with the Médaille de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec in 2001. By 2002, she was appointed a member of the Order of Canada. Her standing within the professional community was further solidified by her membership in the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
Notable Works and Collections
Her paintings reside in several significant institutions. The National Gallery of Canada holds her work, including "The Communicant," which dates from 1944. This piece depicts Gilberte Simard of Petite-Rivière, the sister of another subject named Pauline Simard. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts maintains a collection of her work, as does the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal. Additionally, Library and Archives Canada keeps her pieces within its holdings.
The traces of her time in the Charlevoix region are preserved through her various subjects. She captured the people of the rural Quebec communities she lived among, such as those in Petite-Rivière-Saint-François. Her output includes landscapes, still lifes, and nudes, alongside the portraits that define much of her output. These works remain part of the permanent collections in Montreal and across Canada.
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