Marion Long studied studied art with some of the most recognizable artists of the time. Art instruction started at the Ontario College of Art with George Agnew Reid (an artist on our website) and privately with Laura Muntz Lyall. She also studied in New York at the Art Students League with Robert Henri, William Chase and Kenneth Hayes Miller (1907-8), and in Provincetown with Charles Hawthorne (1913). She opened a studio in Toronto in 1913.
In 1922 she was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy (Associate) and in 1933 she became only the second woman to be elected to the Academy as a full Academician, the first being Charlotte Schrieber fifty years prior. This in itself makes Marion Long a significant and important Canadian artist. One that was able to break down the barriers set before her. She was a member of the Ontario Society of Artists (1916), the Ontario Institute of Painters, and she was a member of the Heliconian Club, of which she was the president in 1919.
She was commissioned to paint many well-known Canadian men and women, including a series of seven portraits of men and women of the Canadian armed forces in World War II, now in the John Deutsch University Centre of Queen�s University, Kingston. She was also commissioned to do portraits of the Royal Norwegian Air Force and received the King Haakon VII medal of liberation for services to Norway during World War II. In 1943 she was commissioned by Imperial Tobacco to paint eleven portraits of sailors and other servicemen for a Players Navy Cut campaign.
She exhibited with the Ontario Society of Artists after 1905, and the Royal Canadian Academy after 1905, at the Canadian National Exhibition, the Art Association of Montreal, Wembley, and the National Gallery 1926. She also exhibited in 1942 at Eaton�s in Toronto and Montreal, in 1945 at Carroll Fine Arts Gallery in Toronto, the British Empire Exhibition (1924-5), Paris (1927), Southern Dominions (1936), Johannesburg (1936), London (1937), New York Worlds Fair (1939), Riverside Museum, Canadian Women Artists (1947).
She is represented at the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the University of Toronto, Annesley Hall, Queen’s University, Art Gallery of Hamilton and in many private collections throughout Canada and internationally.
Memberships:
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Associate, 1922; Academician, 1933
Ontario Society of Artists, 1916
Ontario Institute of Painters
Heliconian Club, President, 1919
Writings about Marion Long:
Free Press (Winnipeg) 11 Dec. 1970.
Whig-Standard (Kingston) 26 Oct. 1949.
"A l'Exposition de l'Académie Canadienne des Arts." La Patrie (Montreal) 17 Nov. 1933.
"An Artist Honoured." Toronto Globe 21 Nov. 1922.
"An Interview with Miss Marion Long." The Magnet 6.1 (Mar. 1924): 54, 55.
"Annual Meeting of the Royal Canadian Academy." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (3 Dec. 1928): 34.
"Art and Artists." The Globe (Toronto) 15 Dec. 1920: 10.
"Art Exhibit Shows Men in Services." Montreal Star 8 Jul. 1942.
"Canadian Academy Full of Interest." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 21 Nov. 1921.
"Canadian Art Academy Elects Woman Member." Christian Science Monitor 18 Jan. 1934.
"Come now and let us reason together...." Toronto Farmer 26 Apr. 1924.
"Elected Member of R.C.A." Ottawa Citizen 22 Nov. 1933.
"Exposition artistique à Montréal." La Presse (Montreal) 21 Mar. 1919: 21.
"Family will 'treasure' war poster." Toronto Telegram 5 Aug. 1970.
"Femmes peintres canadiennes." Le Devoir (Montreal) 23 Mar. 1948: 6.
"Fine Work Marks R.C.A. Exhibition." Gazette (Montreal) 20 Nov. 1925.
"First Woman in 50 Years to Get Full Membership R.C.A." Evening Citizen (Ottawa) 18 Nov. 1933.
"High Standard Set by R.C.A. Pictures: Forty-Fourth Exhibition Opened With Private View Last Night." Gazette (Montreal) 17 Nov. 1922: 9.
"Imperial Wants to Find Missing Wartime Models." Toronto Daily Star 31 Jul. 1970.
"In the January number..." Sunday World (Toronto) 24 Jan. 1914.
"Lennoxville Resident Gets WWII Promo Painting." Sherbrooke Record 11 Jun. 1970.
"Marion Long Turns the High lights on low brows at the Art Gallery shows." Mayfair (Mar. 1928).
"Marion Long, 87, Painter in Toronto." Toronto Daily Star 19 Aug. 1970.
"Marion Long, Toronto Artist, First Woman in 50 Years to Become R.C.A. Member." Mail and Empire (Toronto) 18 Nov. 1933.
"Marion Longs' portrait..." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Dec. 1935): 196-7.
"Miss Marion Long has achieved..." Toronto Globe 20 Nov. 1933.
"Miss Marion Long Is Elected R.C.A." Ottawa Journal 18 Nov. 1933.
"Navy Man to Get Wartime Ad." Toronto Telegram 13 Dec. 1969.
"Notes: The General Assembly of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts..." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Dec. 1933) 208-9.
"Ouverture de l'exposition de peintures." La Presse (Montreal) 19 Nov. 1920: 29.
"Paints Members of Armed Forces: Marion Long, R.C.A., has Portraits of Navy, Army, and Airmen at Eaton's." Gazette (Montreal) 9 Jul. 1942.
"Portrait of Wren by Toronto Artist." Telegram (Toronto) 25 Nov. 1944.
"Service Portraits to Adorn Walls of New Queen's Building." Ottawa Citizen 28 Oct. 1949.
"The Work of a New Member of the Royal Canadian Academy." Toronto Saturday Night (Jan. 1934).
"Thieves nab painting." The Varsity 12 Sept. 1985.
"Toiles remarquables par les peintres de Toronto." La Presse (Montreal) 23 Nov. 1925.
"Toronto Woman Artist Thinks Bay St. Beautiful." Toronto Star 20 Nov. 1933.
"Une Exposition d'Art Canadien." La Presse (Montreal) 20 Nov. 1925.
"Wren Officer's Picture Will Be Displayed in Gallery Here." Ottawa Evening Citizen 13 Nov. 1943.
“Art and Artists.” Globe (Toronto) 15 Feb. 1933.
Boutilier, Alicia & Tobi Bruce. The Artist Herself : Self-portraits by Canadian Historical Women Artists / L'artiste elle-même : autoportraits de femmes artistes au Canada. Kingston, ONT.: Agnes Etherinton Art Centre. Hamilton: Art Gallery Hamilton, 2015.
Bridle, Augustus. "Gallery of War-Men is Impressive Exhibit." Toronto Star 9 May 1942.
Bridle, Augustus. "Pictures! Pictures! Who'll Come an' Buy?" Toronto Daily Star 16 Nov. 1921.
Brigden, F.H. "A Review of the Arts at the Canadian National Exhibition, 1932." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Oct. 1932): 230-232.
Brigden, Fred H. "The Fifty-Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Dec. 1936): 217-23.
Brooker, Bertram. "A Review of the Arts at the Canadian National Exhibition, 1932." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Oct. 1932): 232-234.
Canadian National Exhibition. Canadian National Exhibition, Paintings and International Graphic Art, August 25 to September 8, 1923. Toronto: 1923.
Canadian National Exhibition. Canadian National Exhibition: Department of Fine Arts, August 25-September 10th, 1917. Toronto: 1917.
Colgate, William. Canadian Art, its Origin and Development. Toronto: Ryerson, 1943.
Colgate, William G. "First Lady of the Academy." Canadian Magazine 81 (Jan. 1934): 36,40.
Crier, E. Wyly. "The 1934 Annual Exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts." Journal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (Dec. 1934): 175-9.
Davies, Blodwen. "Canadian Women of Brush and Chisel." Chatelaine 3 (Jun. 1930): 9, 42.
Dyas, A.E. "Women's Work at the Exhibition." Toronto Saturday Night 7 Sept. 1912: 29, 36.
Farr, Dorothy and Luckyj, Natalie. From Women's Eyes: Women Painters in Canada. Kingston: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1975.
Fra Angelico. "La Galerie des Arts." L'Autorité (Montreal) 20 Nov. 1915.
Gualtieri, Julia. The Woman as Artist and as Subject in Canadian Painting (1860-1930): Florence Carlyle, Laura Muntz Lyall, Helen McNicoll. Kingston, Ontario: Queen's University, 1989.
Hardcastle, Kitty. "Marion Long - Academician." Toronto Saturday Night (1938?).
Haviland, Richard H. "Marion Long R.C.A, O.S.A.: 'An Artist To Her Fingertips'." Montreal Standard 29 Oct. 1938.
Huneault, Kristina. I'm Not Myself at All: Women, Art, and Subjectivity in Canada. Montreal; Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2018.
Imperial Institute. Imperial Gallery of Art: Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Engravings and Sculpture By Artists Resident in Great Britain and the Dominions. London: Imperial Institute, 1930.
Jones, Hugh Griffith. History of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Montreal: T.A. Dickson, 1934.
Le Passant. "Notes d'Art: Le Salon du Printemps." Le Devoir 21 Mar. 1919.
London Public Library and Art Museum. Painting and Sculpture in the Permanent Collection. London, Ontario: Public Library and Museum, 1971.
MacDonald, Colin S. The Dictionary of Canadian Artists. (Volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker) Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2009.
MacDonald, Rose. "Little Pictures' Show has Quiet Sincerity." Toronto Evening Telegram 28 Oct. 1950.
MacTavish, Newton. Ars Longa. Toronto: The Ontario Publishing Co., 1925.
MacTavish, Newton. The Fine Arts in Canada. Toronto: Macmillan, 1925.
McC., P. (Pearl McCarthy). "Taste is a Boon. Marion Long's Exhibition Illustrates It." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 2 Feb. 1952.
McCarthy, Pearl. "Marion Long's Exhibition Illustrates it." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 2 Feb. 1952.
McCarthy, Pearl. "The Canadian Group on Show Free from Cultivated Oddity" Globe and Mail (Toronto) November 1, 1952.
McCarthy, Pearl. "War Records by Marion Long" Globe and Mail (Toronto) June 2, 1945.
Miller, Muriel. Famous Canadian Artists. Peterborough: Woodland Publishing, 1983.
Miner, Muriel Miller. G.A. Reid, Canadian Artist; George Reid: A Biography. Toronto: Ryerson Press and Summerhill Press, 1946; (reprint) 1987.
Murray, Joan. Ontario Society of Artists: 100 Years. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1972.
National Council of Women of Canada. Canadian Women Artists' Exhibition, Sponsored by Local Council of Women of Kitchener. Kitchener: Canadian Arts Council and Department of External Affairs, 1947.
National Council of Women of Canada. Canadian Women Artists, Exhibition 1982. New York: Riverside Museum, 1982.
National Council of Women of Canada. Femmes peintres canadiennes: Expositions présentée par le conseil national des femmes canadiennes. 1947.
National Gallery of Canada. Exhibition of Contemporary Canadian Painting. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1936.
Ontario Society of Artists. Catalogue of the Forty-Ninth Annual Exhibition of the Ontario Society of Artists, 1921. Toronto: Ontario Society of Artists, 1921.
Ontario Society of Artists. President's Annual Report, 1923. Toronto: 1923.
Pageot, Edith-Anne. "Ambiguités de la réception critique de l'exposition 'Canadian Women Artists', Riverside Museum, New York, 1947." RACAR 27.1-2 (2000): 123-34.
Powell, S. Morgan. "R.C.A. Annual Exhibition is Here for Month." Montreal Daily Star 22 Nov. 1915: 2.
Pringle, Gertrude. "Miss Marion Long." Toronto Saturday Night (24 Apr. 1926).
Purser, Mona. "Norse Airmen's Portraits Fine International Link." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 24 Jun. 1948.
Reynald. "Le 56e Salon de l'Académie." La Presse (Montreal) 25 Nov. 1935.
Robson, Albert Henry. Canadian Landscape Painters. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1932.
Royal Canadian Academy and Ontario Society of Artists. Catalogue of the Joint Exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and of the Ontario Society of Artists, 1918. Toronto: 1918.
Sisler, Rebecca. Passionate Spirits: A History of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, 1880-1980. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1980.
Smith, Frances K. Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University Permanent Collection. Kingston: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1968.
Volden, Donna. "Introductory Essay." Nutana Collegiate Memorial Art Gallery Permanent Collection. Saskatoon: Nutana Collegiate, 1995.
Wrenshall, Irene. "Attracts American Painter - G.R. Breunuch Shows Fine Water Color Sketches of Norway - News Notes of the Week." Toronto Sunday World 24 Jan. 1914.
Note: Biographical information obtained from Canadian Women Artists History Initiative