Catharine McAvity

Catharine McAvity

Belleville was never home to this proud Maritimer. She simply entered the world where her young parents were briefly stationed on an assignment for the railway. She was born into the old Prince Edward Island clan of MacNeills from Stanley Bridge, the family that adopted a young Lucy Maud Montgomery. She married into the old New Brunswick business clan, the McAvitys of Saint John or, rather more importantly, Rothesay. Like so many, she rarely travelled or knew the world outside of the Maritimes until later in her life.
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Catharine McAvity (1915-1999) was a prolific and well established artist based in New Brunswick, Canada. She studied with many important artists including Jack Humphrey, Miller Brittain, Tony Onley, Christopher Pratt, Ken Louhhead, Ron Bloor among others.

Her work has been exhibited widely in the Maritimes and featured in an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada. Her work is found in many museums and galleries as well as prominent collections (add link). The University of New Brunswick honoured her by naming a lecture room after her at the Saint John campus.

In 2010-11, a major retrospective of her work was organized by the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John NB. The guest curator for this major exhibition was Ian Lumsden, former curator and director of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton NB. To view the catalogue click here (link).

Her collection and estate is administered by her son, John G. McAvity, of Ottawa and Rothesay, NB. To contact him directly, email John McAvity.