JULIA BIRIUKOVA. [1895-1972].

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, she attended the Imperial Academy of Art at Petrograd. At the age of 22 she left Russia in the midst of the Revolution and traveled to Hong Kong, China. Finally her family settled in Rome in 1922. She studied at the Royal Academy of Art, London, England. She arrived in Toronto, Canada, in 1929 and occupied a suite in The Studio Building on Severn Street for 7 years [1930-37] where she formed close associations with Canadian artists J.E.H. MacDonald, Thoreau MacDonald, Carl Schaefer, Lawren S. Harris and A.Y. Jackson. She taught intermittently at the Toronto Central Technical School. In 1942 she became art instructor at Upper Canada College where she taught until her retirement in 1963. The art Gallery at the College was named in her honour where portraits by her and her contemporaries are exhibited. She was a close friend of Thoreau MacDonald and continued to reside at the Thornhill residence until her death at the age of 77. She did portraits in oils and pastels which include: Mrs. Carl Schaeffer, Miss Diana Boon, Walter Adamovitch (violin maker), and many other portraits with titles which exclude the names of her subjects, e.g.: Portrait of a Woman in Red Dress [1935]; Portrait of a Woman in Profile [1928]; Portrait of a Woman in Navy Suit [1935] etc. There is a fine clarity in many of her portraits. She also did figure murals on the altar screen for Christ the Savior Russian Orthodox Church in Toronto. She exhibited her work at the CNE, RCA, OSA, CSGA annuals.

MacDonald. “A Dictionary of Canadian Artists” [vol. I, pp. 281a-282a]

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