Geography Lessons: Nellie Duke and Sophie Atkinson

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Yuri Auney

Nellie Duke (Helen M. Duke), "Kalamalka Lake, B.C.," n.d.

watercolour on paper, 9 x 12 in.Collection of the Kelowna Art Gallery. Gift of Miles and Jean Treadgold, 2021.

Opening Reception: Friday, May 12, 2023, from 6 to 8 pm.

The landscapes and locations of the Okanagan and Columbia Basin form the inspiration for a presentation of watercolour paintings at the Kelowna Art Gallery.

Guest curator and art historian Carolyn MacHardy has chosen to feature two British-born artists who were active in the area in the 20th century — Nellie Duke (1889-1980) and Sophie Atkinson (1876-1972). MacHardy has titled the exhibition Geography Lessons. 

Visitors will have the opportunity to view over forty watercolour paintings by the two artists, on loan from private collections and from public art galleries and museums across British Columbia.

“Looking at the geography of this region through the eyes of Nellie Duke and Sophie Atkinson, we see a land where the Illecillewaet Glacier had not yet almost completely receded; where a view to the west from the east side of Kalamalka Lake did not reveal the slash of a four-lane highway; and where the tops of hills had not been shaved off for development,” explains Carolyn MacHardy.  

In 1926, Nellie Duke and Sophie Atkinson arrived in British Columbia and became active in the local arts community. Their separate, but similar, life paths overlapped in their explorations of the Okanagan Valley and Interior BC, which became the primary subject matter for their plein air watercolour paintings. Despite the challenges of making a living as an artist during this period, both Duke and Atkinson made artwork that was greatly valued by the people in their respective communities.