Rita Mount

Born in 1888 in Montreal, Quebec, Rita Mount’s interest in art began early at the age of ten. Years later, she took art lessons from Montreal painter George Delfosse. Mount studied in Paris at the Cercle Internationale des Beaux-Arts and at the Atelier Delécluze. Later, after being awarded a two-year scholarship, Mount studied in Canada under William Brymner at the Art Association of Montreal. She also took a course in landscape painting in Woodstock, NY under John Fabian Carlson and studied at the Art Students League of New York under Frank DuMond. After completing her studies, Mount returned to Canada and established a studio in Montreal.

In 1934, Mount motored to Banff, sketching on the way. She travelled further west in 1937, as far as Victoria and on her way home stopped in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Other years she painted on Cape Breton Island, NS, and in the Gaspé region and elsewhere in Quebec.

Mount held solo exhibitions at the Art Association of Montreal in 1934 and at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in 1943. Her work has also been on display in Continental Galleries, Watson Art Galleries, Walter Klinkhoff Gallery, Morency Frères Ltée., all in Montreal, and in a number of group shows including those of the Ontario Society of Artists, Art Association of Montreal, Royal Canadian Academy (she was elected A.R.C.A. in 1938), New York World’s Fair in 1939, Coronation Exhibition in London, England, British Empire Overseas Exhibition and a three-woman show with Irene Shaver and Vivian Walker in the Municipal Building, St. Andrew’s East, near Montreal in 1958.

Viewing her 1939 show at the Art Association of Montreal, The Gazette noted, "as a painter Miss Mount’s work is marked by a good sense of picturesque design, fluent brushwork and clean color." She skillfully combined impressionism and decorative realism in her paintings. In Montreal she lived with her sister, Marie, on Outremont Avenue. Mount is represented in the National Gallery of Canada, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. She was a member of the Independent Art Association as well as an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy.