Katherine Day Part 14 Conclusion

An invitation by Nicolas Eekman for a 1939 joint exhibition of work by him and Katherine Day held in New York. Notice he is looking with affection at a spider while Day is amused by a flower. Eekman was very influential in the 1930's on the budding Canadian artist.

The drawing above is one of Eekman's best known, being a portrait of the injured Don Quixote. This and the image above were included in the invitation to a 1969 show in Brussels.

Part 14
Conclusion

Canadian Artist Katherine Day's Biography Still a Work in Progress

By Ted and Suzanne Currie

     The sheer emotional weight of pleasant nostalgia that comes broadly today, with this alluring aroma of harvest, lingering in the air, takes us back to childhood and the sensory perceptions we experienced of the changing seasons. The chill atmosphere along this picturesque route through Oro-Medonte is invigorating to the spirit of discovery, and travelling these storied country roads is an adventure in time travel; because here, history animates, though the writer is hard-pressed to know exactly why. Suffice that it is an unexplained while glorious sensation, seeing the spectacular painted hardwoods and vivid evergreens, neatly bordering the farm fields, that only weeks ago were wavering with tall ripening corn stalks hauntingly silhouetted against the azure sky of early September. It was scenery that in all its picturesque grandeur, yet strange haunting reality, evoked memories of lives past, days elapsed, while, a moment later, similarly, and electrically provoking philosophical contemplation.
     These are the same roads, dusty lanes, and well packed down walking paths that were travelled many decades ago, by local resident, artist and writer, Katherine Day, who found great delight in the change of seasons, and the stark contrasts of a hot summer and a bitterly cold winter, with its array of blizzards and deep freezes. She watched as the summer haze of humidity, evolved into the cool morning mist of an autumn daybreak, over a landscape rich in agricultural enterprise, and pastures stretching to the nearly obscured Oro-Medonte hills and valleys, of great attraction to the artist in residence. I sense that she still haunts this enchanted place, walking the roadway near her cherished Hawthornes, and finding spirited recreation, acting, for me now, as its most faithful servant. She adored the region of Oro-Medonte, in Simcoe County, and found an endless source of inspiration here, as I do on these frequent motor trips to explore the place she called home.
     "Miss Evelyn Clares. Margaret Manor. Doddington, Kent. Re Studio 1st Weekly. First make a cleverola of 1 pint raw linseed oil warmed in a jackette pot. 1/4 powdered resin (fine) sifted into the oil whilst on the stove, stir continually till melted together. 1 pint hot glue added gradually to above and kept stirred, till the whole is the consistency of golden syrup. Whilst warm and liquid add above to the following matrix: equal parts by measure of white marble-dust, plaster of paris, zinc white, soaked in parchment size and well ground together. Add 2 parts of, by means of the charcolla to 3 parts of the matrix. In a porcelain mortar, mix well and beat with the pestle till it is in a creamy condition and fit for laying on the surface with a palette knife. As it may be brushed on and smoothed over with a knife. Lay in, with three or four coats, pumice each layer before the fresh one is applied. Do not use a flexible surface."
     These notes are written onto the inside cover of a sketch book belonging to "K Day" dated "1935, used while she was studying art while in Europe. It is at around this time that she was a student of Nicolas Eekman, a period that would greatly influence her opinion of art and her capabilities to create it for public consumption.
     I found the Katherine Day collection of archive papers, and sketch books, because I am a career antique hunter. I began scrounging for interesting finds by the age of five, and everyone in our Burlington, Ontario neighborhood, knew that the darkened figure moving-about near their garbage cans, set out for weekly pick-up, was more than likely "that Currie kid again!" I can remember my mother Merle being so embarrassed when some of our neighbors confronted her about "Teddy" rummaging through their garbage. She worried most of all that these people had come to believe I wasn't being properly cared for at home, cast out like one of Oliver Twist's mates, to forage in the urban wild. No, the Currie kid was a hunter-gatherer in the early years of turning pro as an antique dealer. It's this quality and quantity of the writer, and the fact I have been tutored by two of the most aggressive paper and book collectors, in Ontario, being Miles David Brown, and Hugh MacMillan, the author of "Adventures of a Paper Sleuth." This said, there was no way I was going to ignore the cardboard box loaded full of booklets and paper files, stuffed under a neat old table at a local antique mall we frequent, in the City of Orillia, known as Carousel Collectables. It was at this moment of discovery, that I met the biography of Canadian Artist Katherine Day, and embarked on a remarkable story, based in one of the most picturesque regions of the province, known for its deep well of history; especially of the indigenous peoples who dwelled in Huronia, prior to the arrival of the Jesuits in the 1600's. This box invited the antique collector / historian to more fully develop the importance of the find.
     Published with today's posting, is a limited edition print, being number 23 out of 100 printed, showing two jack-in-the-boxes, having the heads of well known Flemish Artist, Nicolas Eekman, and Katherine Day. As was identified in the first part of this 14 chapter biography, the engraving, in card format with printed invitation (this part is missing) was undoubtedly an original notice given to friends, family, and art patrons, for a 1939 exhibition of Eekman's work, in a shared gallery space with his student, Katherine Day. The exhibition we believe, was in New York, but we may be corrected, as our information at present is vague in this regard. Eekman had been Day's private art instructor in Paris in the mid 1930's, as were several other accomplished European artists such as Henri Jannot, who would join with the art movement in Europe known as the "New Forces," in 1935, the same time Day was working with Eekman. The invitation, as you can view it today on this page, suggests that these two jack-in-the-boxes were quite independent in values, likes and dislikes, and style; Day preferring the prettier things of nature, Eekman, finding beauty in what to most would be of mortal danger, should the spider bite. While the art piece promotes the fact the artists have joined together to present their work, there are those who have looked at the graphic, on the urging of this writer, and observed a significance to the stars illustrated on the left side. Could there have been a more serious relationship between the two artists? Miss Day possessed two art gallery notices for Eekman exhibitions as late as 1969, found in her archives collection, showing she maintained an interest in his career accomplishments many years after she returned to homestead in Oro-Medonte. While his art career flourished in Europe, despite the dangers of the Second World War. The Nazis wanted to catch-up with the Dutch artist, who kept on painting through the conflict, but signing a different name to his work.
     It is highly speculative to suggest there was a romance involved in their teacher-student relationship. It can't be confirmed by the impression of a single piece of art, or by the fact they held a show together in the same year that Eekman released his famous drawing of the injured Don Quixote; a work of which he is still revered in art history. In 1939 Katherine Day was establishing herself back in her home region, on a fifty acre property on what is now known as the Horseshoe Valley Road, in the Oro-Medonte area of Simcoe County. It can only be resolved by those who knew her best, many of course deceased by now, whether her return to her childhood home was the result of a perceived failure in the realm of international art, or she had parted ways with a romantic interest. It is only speculation that this enters the story, but it must, based on the graphic that companions today's chapter. Yet without question, Nicholas Eekman did influence the art work and attitude toward the profession, of Katherine Day, and it will be obvious with some of her sketches, published over the past fourteen days, she possessed both enhanced insight and a little bit of applied mischief, with a creative flare for fantasy, even offering a number of unsettling panels, that might to some, all considered, everso slightly, a shade of Eekman's style. Which of course, this biographer would expect, considering the time she spent as his student.
     But make no mistake. Katherine Day was stalwart in her mission to succeed at whatever she set about to accomplish, including designing and overseeing the construction of her first abode, "Hawthornes," and her second, the magnificent fairyland residence she called "Pax Cottage." "Pax" by definition meaning "Kiss of Peace," and is a familiar title used in England, (among many other countries) to adorn similarly appointed cottages. She was a successful contemporary homesteader, and created an environment that inspired her work, and facilitated her explorations of art and nature, and the rich embrace of the rural clime beyond anything that the great cities of the world could provide to the contrary. She had spend considerable time in London, Paris and New York, meeting with some of the finest artists and writers in the world, at that time, many now legendary in accomplishment, yet she chose the quiet hinterland of Oro-Medonte to do, what critics would suggest, was her finest works of art.
     The images in the sketch books, dating back to the mid 1930's, were of course, never meant to be published, as they were indeed, only rough sketches from which to reference later, for larger works if they met her requirements. Yet in the modesty and simplicity of these rough sketches, dwells the magic of her creative essence, which serves rightfully to enlighten us about the foundation she was building, image by image; the experimental sketch of characters, on to broader landscapes, in order to become a better artist / illustrator / print maker. I am eager to see other works of art from the hand of Katherine Day. In an accounting book leading up to her final days at Pax Cottage, before being taken ill, there is evidence of her selling art work, and registering the modest earnings from "panels" that should, by her own successes, have been selling for many hundreds of dollars more. She became well known for her expertise in quilt design, and especially the art and craft of creating magnificent hooked rugs. In fact, one of her better writing projects, included the preparation of a book, which was never published, on the methods of creating these beautiful rugs, many still in existence to this day. I will be publishing this text separately some time in the future, for those interested in rug hooking, and Katherine Day generally, because she was giving instructions based on her art training, and revealing the inspiration she had received from artists, such as well known Canadian Artist, J. W. Beatty. As related, of course, to the effective use of colour to enhance a piece of art. She also explains in the text how nature can be employed to find these interesting and effective colourations, and how the four seasons in Canada should be taken advantage-of, for subject inspiration.
     On the attractive and substantial grave marker, in the Day family plot, at Orillia's St. Andrew's-St. James Cemetery, there is no companion inscription that documents that Katherine Day was an accomplished Canadian artist. An early role model for Canadian women artists thereafter. But it's what she wanted, as she had lived a modest life, and was never one to boast of her accomplishments. Who am I to  intrude upon her integrity further, by then suggesting it is a reference that should be added, so that those who stroll through the picturesque cemetery will find this reference. Her work must thusly stand alone as testament to her creative successes. Her biography is full of merit, make no mistake of that fact, as the illustrations and story should reflect her contribution to the cultural integrity of our region, province and country.
     I am hopeful that in the weeks, months and years, following this template biography, which is a mere shadow of what it could become with new information, that new opportunities for research will be revealed, which can be added to the content of the Katherine Day story. As with other artist biographies I have worked on, the editorial material is never really concluded, as long as there are other sources to tap into, and archive materials that suddenly, or eventually become available. I have no intention of abandoning Katherine Day's story, for as long as I am able to undertake research, and thusly write-up the findings. I want to share images of her work from private collections, if they become available, and I, of course, remain eager to receive submissions of archives material, further regarding her life and times; not just confined to her art work. I am particularly interested in her years of residence at Hawthornes and later at "Pax" Cottage. I would be grateful to find the missing chapters of her manuscript highlighted in Part 13, and I know there are other years of her journals that would infill a great deal of biographical information currently missing.
     The written and art resources, published on this facebook page, will be offered, at our expense, to community archives, regional museums, the archives collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the National Gallery, to assist future biographers researching Ontario and Canadian artists.
     We hope the images published with this series of columns, have over the past several weeks, blended successfully with the biographical material, and we will share any other images received, as they become known and shared with us long into the future. Thank you so much for joining this feature series. It has been a pleasure indeed, to serve the memory of this fine Canadian artist.
     Please click-on the video that companions today's final chapter. It was produced by my son Robert, who also provided the musical accompaniment on the guitar. Robert and I have worked similarly on three other videos and I was delighted when he asked if he could create a short tribute piece for Katherine Day as well. Let us know what you think of the video, which by the way is also being offered to archive collections locally and nationally.