Born in Calgary, Doris Jean McCarthy is well-known for her extensive watercolour painting practice. She first studied at the Ontario College of Art from 1926-1930 and later undertook post graduate studies at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, England. A dedicated art educator, she became a founding instructor with Arthur Lismer’s Children’s classes at the Art Gallery of Toronto (1930-35), taught at Moulton College part time and became a full time teacher at the Central Technical School of Toronto in 1933. In the summers she traveled throughout Canada and abroad painting landscapes. She was elected an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1951 and made a member of the Ontario Society of Artists in 1945, serving as president of the organization from 1964-67, and president of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour from 1953-55 and 1956-58. Her works are in the collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Gallery of Hamilton, London Public Library and Art Museum and many private collections. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1986.
Canadian Women Artists History Initiative, Concordia University, Montreal