Women's History Month: Catharine Robb Whyte

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Known for her generosity and love of people, Catharine continues to play a vital role in the vision of the Whyte Museum. Artist, philanthropist, community leader, and friend, she was a significant figure in the Bow Valley. Born in Concord, Massachusetts, Catharine selected the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to study art. There, in 1925, she would meet Peter Whyte. They would marry in June of 1930.

An avid letter and diary writer, Catharine’s descriptions of the places she visited and the people she met are a testament to the vast appreciation she had for the Canadian Rocky Mountains. With over 400 paintings, Catharine was an accomplished landscape and portrait artist. Catharine’s paintings illustrated and reflected her own emotions. As her nephew, Jon Whyte once remarked, “People may read her landscapes as simple depiction but this always dynamic, congenial, considerate, charitable and democratic woman, her face illuminated by a smile and her love of life, created pictures surprising to us who thought we knew her.”

Over the course of her life, she began to dedicate more time to recording and collecting historical material. In June of 1968, she would officially open the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies. Peter sadly passed away in 1966, and did not get to witness the opening of the Museum.



References:

Cavell, Edward and Whyte, Jon. Mountain Glory: The Art of Peter and Catharine Whyte. Banff: Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, 1988.

Christensen, Lisa, Ewen, Anne, and Westra, Monique, Artistry Revealed: Peter Whyte. Catharine Robb Whyte and Their Contemporaries. Banff: Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, 2018.

Scott, Chic. Mountain Romantics: The Whytes of Banff. Banff: Assiniboine Publishing Limited, 2014.

Image:

[Catharine Whyte, Skoki area], [ca. 1931-1946], Peter and Catharine Whyte fonds (V683/III/A/1/PD/2/25/001)

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