Doris Huestis Speirs facts for kids

Doris Louise Huestis Speirs (born October 7, 1894 – died October 24, 1989) was a talented Canadian woman. She was known for her work as an ornithologist (someone who studies birds), an artist, and a poet. An important award, the "Doris Huestis Speirs Award," is given every year by the Society of Canadian Ornithologists. It honors someone who has made amazing contributions to studying birds in Canada. Doris Speirs was also a member of the Art Students' League of Toronto. She loved art and supported artists. She was the first person in Canada to buy a painting by the famous artist Georgia O'Keeffe.

Early Life and Education

Doris Speirs was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1894. Her parents were Archibald Morrison and Florence Gooderham Huestis. She went to Toronto Model School from 1900 to 1902. Then, she attended Havergal College from 1902 to 1914. When she was 17, she traveled through Europe with her music teacher. During this trip, she visited many art galleries. She also collected sepia prints, which are old-style brown-toned photographs.

Her Artistic Journey

Doris Speirs was a self-taught painter. This means she learned to paint on her own. Famous Canadian artists like J. E. H. MacDonald, Lawren Harris, and A.Y. Jackson encouraged her. She was one of the first Canadian painters to try abstract art. Abstract art uses shapes, colors, and forms instead of realistic images.

Exhibitions and Influence

Doris Speirs showed her paintings with the famous Group of Seven. She exhibited with them in 1926, 1928, 1930, and 1931. She also showed her work with the Canadian Group of Painters. She was part of a small group of artists who painted freely and were often self-taught. The Group of Seven supported these artists. Doris Speirs also inspired some of her friends to paint. These friends included Bess Larkin Housser and Marjorie Meredith. Her sister, Marion Miller, also became a successful artist.

Collecting and Sharing Art

In the 1920s, Doris Speirs started buying art. As early as 1924, she visited art galleries in New York City. There, she met important artists like Rockwell Kent, Georgia O'Keeffe, and John Marin. She also met gallery owner Alfred Stieglitz (who was O'Keeffe's husband). In 1925, she bought one of O'Keeffe's paintings from Stieglitz's gallery. This made her the first Canadian to own a Georgia O'Keeffe painting. When Doris Speirs passed away, she left this painting to the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Doris Speirs also came up with a new idea: an art rental system. She asked artists from the Group of Seven to let people rent their artwork. She wrote to The Christian Science Monitor newspaper to explain her idea. Many readers became interested in her art rental system.

A Passion for Birds

By 1937, Doris Speirs stopped painting. She started focusing more and more on studying birds. She became a strong supporter of the Wilson Ornithological Society. She was also a member of the American Ornithologists' Union and the Cooper Ornithological Society. She helped start the Margaret Morse Nice Ornithological Club and the Pickering Naturalists' Club.

Doris Speirs made important contributions to bird literature. She wrote a lot about the evening grosbeak and Lincoln's sparrow. Because of her important work, the Society of Canadian Ornithologists gives out the "Doris Huestis Speirs Award" every year in her honor. She also wrote poems. A collection of her poems, called Exercise for Psyche, was published in 1973. These poems were written between 1922 and 1972.

Personal Life

Doris Speirs was a member of the Church of Christ, Scientist. She first married W. Gordon Mills, who passed away in 1916. He was an executive at Eaton's, a large department store. He was also a poet and an art critic. He was an elected member of the Art Gallery of Toronto.

Later, Doris Speirs met J. Murray Speirs. He was studying ornithology in graduate school. They married in 1939. He later became a professor of zoology at the University of Toronto. Doris Speirs had two children. She passed away in Ajax, Ontario, in 1989.