Pegi Nicol MacLeod

Born Margaret Nichol, MacLeod studied at the Ottawa School of Art and MontrÚal's ╔cole des Beaux-Arts. In 1927 and 1928, she travelled to Western Canada to paint Aboriginal communities. After moving to New York City in 1937, she taught summer art courses each year at the University of New Brunswick. MacLeod was commissioned, during World War II, to paint the women of the Canadian armed forces.

Pegi Nicol MacLeod's watercolour and oil paintings are displays of lively, curving lines and dynamic colour. MacLeod took subject matter from the world around her - children, gardens, and crowded city scenes - to convey the energy and bustle of daily life.

The influence of the Group of Seven is evident in MacLeod's earliest landscapes. By 1933, she was beginning to paint in a more expressive, humanist style. She soon experimented with repetitive views, what she called "kaleidoscope vision," and in later works demonstrated a more abstract style. CGP;CSPW;AGO;NGC