Bobs Cogill Haworth
(1904 - 1988) Canadian Group of Painters, OSA, RCA

Bobs Cogill Haworth Biography
(1904 - 1988) Canadian Group of Painters, OSA, RCA

Born in Queenstown, South Africa, she studied at the Royal College of Art, London, England, under Professor Rothenstein, Professor Tristram, and Dora M. Billington and received her degree of A.R.C.A. from the University of London. She came to Canada in 1923 and settled in Toronto. The public became aware of her participation in exhibitions of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour (she was past President); Canadian Group of Painters (member); Royal Canadian Academy (A.R.C.A. 1948); Ontario Society of Artists (member), and she became Honorary President of the Canadian Guild of Potters. She illustrated with her husband the book ‘Kingdom of the Saguenay’ (1936) by Marius Barbeau and also illustrated ‘Habitant Merchant’.

During the Second World War she went with her husband to the coast of British Columbia to make a record of the activities of the Canadian Armed Forces, which assignment they completed with great success. An exhibition of their work was held at the Vancouver Art Gallery when the Vancouver ‘Province’ noted her paintings as follows, “B. Cogill Haworth’s numerous studies are all very spirited. Her penchant for variety of character – full detail embodied in good composition, is revealed with special force in a watercolour of airplanes entitled ‘Canso.’ Also during this period she contributed her designs fro the silk screen prints under the direction of the National Gallery of Canada for distribution fo Canadian servicemen’s quarters at home and abroad also in schools. Her painting “Port au Persil” was chosen for reproduction. Its marine subject matter is typical of the type of scenes Haworth loved to paint.

Further evidence of this can be seen in her “Percé Rock and Driftwood” (reproduced in Paul Duval’s ‘Canadian Water Colour Painting’ published in 1954) which depicts bobbing boats in a choppy sea and Percé Rock off to one side and in the foreground the rolling surf pounding on the driftwood strewn beach. Her canvas “Beach Impressions” was reproduced in the April Issue of the Toronto ‘Saturday Night’, (1949) with the caption. “… The artist is noted for her richly coloured comments on people.” B. Cogill Haworth also created murals and illuminated manuscripts. Her later paintings have been more design conscious or abstract. She gave lectures on ceramics to public institutions and taught this subject at the Toronto Central Technical School and also lectured at the University of Toronto. Her work is in the collections of the following: National Gallery of Canada, the National Gallery of South Africa, the Art Gallery of Ontario and others. She lived in Toronto.

Source: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume II”, compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1979