Margaret Girvin Gillin

Margaret Girvin Gillin
Born	Margaret Girvin 17 September 1833 Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Died	21 January 1915 Oakland, California, United States
Burial place	Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, California, United States
Education	California School of Design
Occupation	Painter

'Ōhi'a 'ai (c. 1880)

Margaret Girvin Gillin (1833–1915), also known as Margarete Garvin Gillin, was a Canadian painter of portraits and still lifes. She was active in Northern California and Hawaii.[1]

Biography

Margaret Girvin Gillin was born in 1833, in Brantford, Upper Canada. Her younger brother James Walter Girvin (1844–1906) was a writer, librarian, and he owned mercantile stores in Hawaii.[2]

She studied painting in France, and moved to California in 1869, where she continued her studies at the California School of Design (later known as the San Francisco Art Institute). In 1880, she moved to Hilo, Hawaii, but traveled to Hawaii's other islands to paint commissioned portraits. She returned to California in 1884, but made several more visits to Hawaii. She died in Oakland, California on 21 January 1915.[3]

Gillin is best known for her simple, elegant and direct still lifes.[4] The Bishop Museum in Honolulu is among the public collections holding her works.[5]

Footnotes

1. Viator, Jane (2014-09-01). "Santa Clara revisited: as you like it: antiques roadshow offers something for everyone: military history, fine art, modern design, and just plain "fun stuff."". Antiques Roadshow Insider. 14 (9): 5–8.
2. Forbes, David W. (2017-04-30). In Haste with Aloha: Letters and Diaries of Queen Emma, 1881–1885. University of Hawaii Press. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-8248-5786-8.
3. Margarete Garvin Gillin in AskArt.com
4. Forbes, David W., Encounters with Paradise: Views of Hawaii and its People, 1778-1941, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 1992, p. 171
5. Margarete Garvin Gillin in AskArt.com