Jennifer Dickson RA

Born: 17 September 1936, Piet Retief, South Africa
Elected ARA: 24 April 1970
Elected RA: 29 April 1976
Category of Membership: Engraver

Jennifer Dickson trained as a painter and printmaker at Goldsmiths’ College School of Art, London from 1954 to 1959, and her graduate studies in etching were under Stanley William Hayter at the Atelier 17, Paris from 1960 to 1965. She went on to found and direct the graduate printmaking programme at Brighton College of Art (now Brighton University) and was instrumental in integrating photography into the programme in the early 1960s. Dickson moved to Canada in 1969 where she taught at the Saidye Bronfman Centre in Montréal.

Dr Jennifer Dickson RA, Silver Streams (The Lily Terrace, Bodnant) Dickson’s first solo exhibition was held at New Vision Centre, London in 1962. This was rapidly followed by a string of solo exhibitions held annually in countries throughout the world, including the UK, Belgium, South Africa, Jamaica, USA and Canada. A 25 year ‘Retrospective’ of her work was held at Galerie Dresdnere, Toronto in 1985. Dickson’s work has also been included extensively in many international group exhibitions since 1956.

Dickson was made a member of the Royal Society of Painters, Etchers and Engravers, London in 1965, and was elected Royal Academician in 1976 (ARA 1970). In 1988 she was made a Doctor of Laws at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada and was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1995. In 2002 she received the Victor Tolgesy Arts Award from the Council for the Arts in Ottawa for her contribution to the arts in Ottawa, where she lives and works.

Recent solo exhibitions
2011 Wallack Galleries, Ottawa, Canada
2001 Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
2000 Wallack Galleries, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Golin-Harris International, New York, USA
1999 The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, Bankside Gallery, London, UK
1998 Wallack Galleries, Ottawa
Tatar-Alexander Photography, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
AT Kearney, London
1997 Wallack Galleries, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
The City Gallery, London, UK
Art Gallery of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada and tour to The Frederick Horsman Varley Art Gallery of Markham, Ontario, Canada
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
1996 Wallack Galleries, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
The Gallery, Victoria Woolen Mill, Almonte, Ontario, Canada
The City Gallery, London, UK
1995 Wallack Galleries, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Royal Academy of Arts (Print Room)
The Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops, British Columbia and tour to Estevan National Exhibition Centre, Estevan, Saskatchewan; Moose Jaw Art Museum and National Exhibition Centre, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan; Swift Current National Exhibition Centre, Swift Current, Saskatchewan.
1994 Joseph D Carrier Gallery of the Columbus Centre of North York, Ontario, Canada
1993 Wallack Galleries, Ottawa, Ontario
The Ottawa Art Gallery, Arts Court, Canada
Centro Internzionale D’Arte E Cultura, Palazzo Te, Mantua, Italy and tour to Il Centro Culturale Canadese, Piazza Cardelli, Rome, Italy; The Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Wallack Galleries, Ottawa, Ontario (Retrospective 1963-1993)
1992 Wallack Galleries, Ottawa, Ontario and tour to Galerie Dresdnere, Toronto, Ontario and Alex Fraser Galleries, Vancouver, British Columbia
1991 Wallack Galleries, Ottawa, Ontario and tour to Galerie Dresdnere, Toronto, Ontario and Paul Kuhn Fine Arts, Galgary, Alberta
The Nickle Arts Museum, University of Calgary, Alberta
1990 WKP Kennedy Gallery, North Bay Arts Centre, Ontario and tour to Temiskaming Art Gallery, Haileybury, Ontario
Burlington Cultural Centre, Burlington, Ontario and tour to Wallack Galleries, Ottawa.

Public collections
National Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Art Gallery of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
The Art Bank, Canada Council, Ottawa, Canada
The Art Gallery of Brant, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography
Carelton University, Ottawa, Canada
The London Museum, London, Ontario, Canada
Musée d’art contemporain, Montreal, Canada
Musée du Quebec, Canada
Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
National Film Board of Canada
National Gallery, Ottawa, Canada
The Still Photography Division, National Film Board of Canada, Ottawa
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
University of British Columbia, Toronto, Canada
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
Birmingham City Art Gallery, UK
British Museum, London, UK
City Art Gallery, London, UK
Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, UK
Portsmouth City Art Gallery, UK
Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
South London Art Gallery, London, UK
Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, UK
University of Kent at Canterbury, UK
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France
Palazzo Te, Mantua, Italy
University of West Indies, Jamaica
National Gallery of Art, Wellington, New Zealand
Museum of Contemporary Art, Fredrikstad, Norway
National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Ball State University, Indiana, USA
Chicago Art Institute, USA
The Cincinnati Museum of Art, Ohio, USA
Dallas Museum of Art, USA
Evelhjhem Art Centre, University of Wisconsin, USA
Metropolitan Museum, New York, USA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA
Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA
Hermitage Museum, Lenningrad, Soviet Union
Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje

Prizes
Prix des Jeunes Artistes pour Gravure, Paris Biennale (1963)
The George A Reid Award, Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers (1973)
A Special Edition Purchase Award, World Print Competition, San Francisco Museum of Art (1973)
The Walter Moos Award at the First Canadian Biennale of Prints and Drawings (1978)
A Biennale Prize at the 5th Norwegian International Print Biennale (1980)

Contact details for further information
Email membershipoffice@royalacademy.org.uk

• Royal Academy of Arts