Prints by Lucy Maud Montgomery arrive on campus next week

default-hero-image

World famous Canadian writer Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) is best known as the creator of Anne of Green Gables. However, she was also an avid photogrher and her work as a visual artist will be showcased in an exhibition at the McMaster Museum of Art, which begins Feb. 20 and continues to Sunday, April 9.

At the age of 16, when others in PEI were buying bicycles, Montgomery purchased a camera and began a lifelong enthusiasm for photography and darkroom processes. The people, places and even pets that were personally meaningful and important provided her subject matter.

This exhibition of 156 prints, handpicked from the L.M. Montgomery Collection of almost 2,000 images at the University of Guelph, is both a historic record and an artistic vision from the life and times of Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Some of the photographs relate to Montgomery's works of fiction, including one picture of “Green Gables” and another of a farm house in Park Corner, PEI, which was the setting for two of Montgomery's novels. More importantly, however, they revealed a very personal glimpse into the range and depth of her interests and talents. Equally, they provide a new level of insight into the creator of some 20 novels and a visual supplement to the surprising revelations included in the recently published The Selected Journals of Lucy Maud Montgomery.

There will be a lunchtime talk about the “Visual Imagination of Lucy Maude Montgomery” on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 12:30 p.m. in the Museum.

The exhibit is organized and circulated by the Confederation Centre Art Gallery & Museum, Charlottetown, PEI, with the support of the Museums Assistance Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage. Photographs courtesy of L.M. Montgomery Collection, Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph. Guest curated by Elizabeth R. Epperly.

Museum hours: Tuesday-Friday 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Thursday evening 7-9 p.m.; Sunday 12-5 p.m.