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Lot 61Evelyn Cools Middleton, Untitled, View of Banff Boathouses Bow River, 1947Wood Block Print. Signed E. Cools and dated '47. Note on reverse states; "Wood block print by Evelyn Cools Middleton done at the Banff School of Fine Arts, Instructor was Walter Phillips, 10 were printed."
Framed. 9 1/2" x 12 1/2". Image 5 1/2" x 8 1/2".
Evelyn Marie Charlotte Alexandra Cools-Middleton was active in the Okanagan Valley arts community for over 45 years. Born in Vernon, B.C., on April 26, 1920, to Joseph and Vera Cools, she was initially tutored as an artist by Jessie Topham Brown. After graduating from Vancouver's Crofton House School for Girls in 1937 and obtaining an Arts Degree in Education from UBC in 1942, she began her teaching career in Armstrong. During the mid-1940s, she spent her summers at the Banff School of Arts studying with A.Y. Jackson, Henry Glyde and other prominent Canadian artists. She developed a particularly close mentorship with Walter J. Phillips, and it is widely believed she was the model he used for the skier in his well known woodblock print, Ski Trail.
In 1947, she earned a Diploma in Fine Arts from the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art in Calgary. On the recommendation of Walter Phillips, who considered her one of his finest students, she was awarded a British Council Scholarship in 1949 to study at the prestigious Camberwell School of Art in England. Following her studies, she spent time painting across post-war Europe before returning to Canada in 1951. Shortly after her return, she met RCAF veteran W. Douglas Middleton; the two married in August 1952, uniting two well-known Okanagan pioneering families. While raising five children between 1953 and 1959, Evelyn temporarily paused her career, eventually inheriting her family's 21-acre lakeshore estate at Carr's Landing in 1955.
Evelyn's legacy is not only as an artist but also as an educator and community builder. In 1958, she and Douglas founded The Paddock Summer School of the Arts on their estate, modeled after the Banff program. For nearly a decade, the school hosted renowned instructors such as Sam Black and Zeljko Kujundzic, offering a rich environment for artists that included on-site cabins and camping. Even after the school closed in 1967, Evelyn remained a driving force in the regional scene, co-founding the Oceola Artist Group, the Oceola Arts Council, and the Okanagan Mainline Regional Arts Council. A lifelong learner, she continued to master diverse mediums; including oils, etching, pottery, and batik well into the 1980s. She died in Winfield, B.C., on July 5, 1989, leaving behind a profound influence on the artistic landscape of the Interior.
She has work in the Permanent Collections of the Kelowna Art Gallery, the Vernon Art Gallery, and the Penticton Art Gallery.
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