Yvonne McKague Housser

Yvonne McKague Housser (1897-1996) RCA, OSA

Yvonne McKague Housser was born in Toronto. She studied at the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD) from 1915 to 1920 under G.A. Reid, J.W. Beatty, William Cruikshank, Robert Holmes, and Emanuel Hahn. In 1921 Housser became an assistant instructor with the college, becoming only the second woman alongside Edith Grace Coombs on OCA's teaching staff. The following year Housser departed for Paris, where she continued her studies at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, the Académie Colarossi, and the Académie Ranson. She later studied in Mexico with Emil Bistram and in Cape Cod under Hofmann. Housser returned to Canada around 1923 and continued teaching at the Ontario College of Art until 1949. She also taught at Ryerson Collegiate Institute and at the Doon School of Fine Arts. In 1935 she married Frederick Housser, art critic and financial editor of the Toronto Star, who later authored the book "A Canadian Art Movement: The Story of the Group of Seven." Housser herself was invited to exhibit with the Group in 1928, 1930, and 1931. Housser's work is held within the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Hart House, the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the McMichael Canadian Collection (Kleinburg, ON), the University of Toronto, Victoria University, the Public Library and Art Museum London and many private collections.