David Milne

Sensitive and reclusive, renowned Canadian artist David Milne (1882-1953) chose an austere lifestyle with a single-minded focus on his art. Working in oil, watercolour and drypoint prints, Milne sought to reduce visual form of the landscape to its essentials: “...an arrangement of the lines, spaces, hues, values and relations…”

Milne studied at the Art Student's League in NY from 1903-5 and lived largely hand to mouth while pursuing his art. Some success came when his work was included in the historic 1913 Armory Show. In 1917, Milne enlisted but was asked to paint the deserted battlefields of Belgium and France for the Canadian War Records. After the war, he returned to the US and then to Canada in 1929. In 1934, Milne sold a large number of works to Vincent Massey who arranged an exhibition that sparked interest in the artist. Milne spent the balance of his life painting in his secluded studio in Sixmile Lake, Ontario, and exhibiting in Toronto at Douglas Duncan's Picture Loan Society.

Milne's artwork is represented in every major Canadian art museum.