David Milne

David Milne 1882-1953, Canadian painter, b. Ontario. He grew up in Canada and came to the United States in 1903, living for 13 years in New York City, where he studied at the Art Students League. From 1908 on Milne worked mainly in watercolor. He returned to Canada in 1929 and spent the rest of his life there. Milne chose simple, ordinary subjects, which he imbued with dignity and significance. His landscapes, cityscapes, and still lifes reveal a fine decorative sense and fluidity of touch.

Bibliography: See D. P. Silcox, ed., catalog raisonné of his paintings (1998); D. P. Silcox, Painting Place: The Life and Work of David B. Milne (1996); K. Lochnan, David Milne Watercolours (2005).

Milne, David B. (b nr. Paisley, Ontario, 8 Jan. 1882; d Bancroft, Ontario, 26 Dec. 1953). Canadian painter, mainly of landscape. In 1904 he gave up his job as a schoolteacher to study at the Art Students League, New York, and he remained based in the USA until 1928 (although in 1918–19 he served with the Canadian army and became an Official War Artist in Britain, France, and Belgium). After returning to Canada he lived in seclusion in various parts of Ontario, although he was a regular visitor to Toronto. His love of solitude limited the impact he made in his lifetime, but he is now regarded as one of the finest Canadian painters of his time. He greatly admired the work of Tom Thomson, but he was not interested in the aggressive nationalism of Thomson's followers in the Group of Seven. Rather, he was concerned with ‘pure’ painting. His style was vigorous and spontaneous, with a calligraphic quality in the handling. From 1937 he worked mainly in watercolour, a medium he used in an oriental-like way as a sensitive means of expressing his emotional response to nature (Rites of Autumn, 1943, NG, Ottawa). Late in life he also painted fantasy subjects, some of a whimsically religious nature.

Milne, David Brown (1882–1953). Canadian painter, mainly of landscape, born near Paisley, Ontario. In 1904 he gave up his job as a schoolteacher to study at the Art Students League, New York, remaining there until 1907 whilst he supported himself with commercial work such as lettering. He continued living in the USA until 1928, first in New York (where he exhibited at the Armory Show in 1913) and then from 1915 at Boston Corners in the Berkshire Hills in New York State. In 1918–19 he served with the Canadian army and became an Official War Artist in Britain, France, and Belgium. After returning to Canada in 1928 he lived in seclusion in various parts of Ontario, although he was a regular visitor to Toronto. His love of solitude limited the impact he made in his lifetime, but he is now regarded as one of the finest and most individual Canadian painters of his time. He particularly admired the work of Tom Thomson and lamented his early death by drowning: ‘I rather think it would have been wiser to have taken your ten most prominent Canadians and sunk them in Canoe Lake—and saved Tom Thomson.’ However, he was not interested in the aggressive nationalism of Thomson's followers in the Group of Seven (another reason for his comparative lack of public acclaim). Rather, he was concerned with ‘pure’ painting. His style was vigorous and spontaneous, with a calligraphic quality in the handling. From 1937 he worked mainly in watercolour, a medium he used in an oriental-like way as a sensitive means of expressing his emotional response to nature (Rites of Autumn, NG, Ottawa, 1943). Late in life he also painted fantasy subjects, some of a whimsically religious nature.