Early Life, Family and Training
Louise Scott was born in New York City in 1936 to Canadian parents. Her connection to the canvas began early, as she had been painting since she was fifteen years old. This early habit eventually led her to formal studies in Montreal. She spent time at the Montreal Museum School of Fine Arts and later studied at l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Montréal.
In 1958, her training took her away from North America to the Salzbourg School of Art in Austria. It was there that she studied under Oskar Kokoschka. This period of study helped shape the technical foundation she would carry throughout her life as a painter, printmaker, and illustrator.
Life and Career in Canada
After arriving in Canada as a toddler with her parents, Louise Scott spent her formative years moving between Ottawa, Ontario, and Lockeport, Nova Scotia. By 1958, she had settled in Montreal, Quebec, where she would remain for the rest of her life. This city became her primary base, though she often moved between the urban landscape of Montreal and the coastal atmosphere of Nova Scotia.
Her professional life involved a balance of practice and instruction. She spent several years teaching at Concordia University, which was known as Sir George William’s University during her time there. This period of teaching coincided with a life that saw her dividing her attention between her studio work and her roles as a mother to three children. Around 1995, she maintained a studio on Corkums Island, Nova Scotia, finding a space for her work away from the city.
Technique and Artistic Style
The work often centers on figures with a specific, repetitive geometry. Faces are characterized by roundness, featuring round noses, small mouths, and globular eyes that meet the viewer's gaze. These subjects frequently appear in colorful costumes, often set against backgrounds of oriental wallpaper or medieval tapestries. The compositions sometimes use flattened forms on different planes, making the figures seem to project forward from their surroundings.
Her primary tools are dry pastel on paper and oil paint. She also works with watercolor and graphite to build her images. Beyond these, she has explored printmaking through silk screens, etchings, lithographs, and serigraphs. Her approach to color and light is intentional, seeking to create images that are pleasing to the eye.
- Deux Ballons bleus, un gris
- Pensée solitaire
- Jour de fête au Québec
Where to See the Works Today
Her paintings and prints have found permanent homes in several significant institutions across Canada. You can find her work within the collections of the National Gallery of Canada and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. In Quebec, her pieces are held by the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the Joliette Museum.
Beyond these major galleries, her presence extends to other regional and international spaces. The Kitchener / Waterloo Art Gallery holds her work, as does the Musée Athénée in Geneva. These collections preserve the specific textures of her dry pastels and the colors of her oils, keeping her visual language accessible to those visiting these various museums.
