Florence McGillivray The Forgotten Matriarch of Canadian Modernism Her Work, Her Travels, and Her Unsung Influence on Tom Thomson

In the early twentieth century, Florence McGillivray was one of the most accomplished, prolific, and well-travelled female artists in Canada. Her peers recognized her skills and mastery in Post-Impressionistic and Modernistic styles and respected her as a tenured art instructor. But for the most part, history has forgotten her. A name almost everyone has heard of, on the other hand, is Tom Thomson. Tom was a family friend of Florence's, and there is evidence that she enlightened him about the international Modernist movement she had observed in Europe, planting a seed that would change Canadian art forever.