1860 -1930 · Ontario, Toronto, Paris, Montreal and Canadian impressionism

Absorbed children, soft light and attentive intimacy make Laura Muntz Lyall a great figure in Canadian impressionism.

Laura Adeline Muntz was born in 1860 in Warwickshire and emigrated as a child with her family to Ontario. After working as a teacher, she studied at the Ontario School of Art then moved to Paris in 1891. For several years at the Colarossi Academy, she developed a language nourished by naturalism and impressionism, exhibiting at the Salon and carefully observing interiors, women and especially children. Muntz refuses the easy sentimental anecdote. In Interesting Story, the young models become closer around a book; looks, gestures and light reflect a shared concentration. In Interesting Story, the young models become closer around a book; looks, gestures and light reflect a shared concentration. The supple touch and light tones give the scene calm immediacy. Recognized in Canada and abroad, she worked in Toronto then Montreal and taught young artists. In 1915, she married Charles Lyall and took responsibility for her children while continuing her career under the name Laura Muntz Lyall. Her work demonstrates women's difficult but possible access to the artistic profession and transforms childhood into a subject of true psychological presence. The "Laura Muntz Lyall" selection notably compares Interesting History.

Muntz Lyall observes the child without staging him: light reveals attention, thought and an inner world.