Article

Pegi Nicol MacLeod

Published Online September 4, 2007

Last Edited March 4, 2015

In 1936, with Douglas DUNCAN, she helped found the Picture Loan Society. In 1937 she moved to New York but frequently visited Fredericton where she helped found (and taught at) the Observatory Art Centre.
Saint John, NB
Oil on canvas, 1947, by Pegi Nicol MacLeod (courtesy Art Gallery of Hamilton).

MacLeod, Pegi Nicol

 Pegi Nicol MacLeod née Margaret Kathleen Nicol, painter (b at Listowel, Ont 4 Jan 1904; d at NY 12 Feb 1949). MacLeod's images of the contemporary world helped form the first wave of Canadian modernism. Her gift lay in her ability to present life's spontaneity and energy. After studies with Franklin BROWNELL at the Ottawa Art Association, she attended Montréal's École des beaux-arts with fellow students Goodridge ROBERTS and Marian SCOTT. The breakthrough in her style is revealed in her 1933 watercolours of schoolchildren in a garden.

In 1936, with Douglas DUNCAN, she helped found the Picture Loan Society. In 1937 she moved to New York but frequently visited Fredericton where she helped found (and taught at) the Observatory Art Centre. She painted numerous works of the women's division of the armed forces (1944-45) and her oeuvre is composed of almost 1000 works in many media, including designs of hooked rugs.