With no formal training, Eveline Marie Alexander was possibly taught drawing and painting by her father Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Cornwallis Mitchell of the Royal Artillery, the Royal Military College’s military drawing master. She married Sir James Edward Alexander in 1837, and the couple would go on to have five children. In 1841, Lady Alexander accompanied her husband to Canada on an eight-year tour of duty. The Alexanders resided in London, Ontario from 1841 to 1843. During her time in London, Lady Alexander produced her well-known sketch of a May 1943 military steeple chase – the first such event in North America. The work, when lithographed in England in 1845, came to be considered a collector’s item.

In 1958, another work by Lady Alexander surfaced. While researching a book review on Soldier’s Glory by Major General Sir George Bell, London Free Press editor William Heine was informed by Bell’s descendants of a watercolour sleigh scene by Lady Alexander in their possession. The work is speculated to have been a gift in commemoration of group sleighing outings in the winters when both the Bells and Alexanders were stationed in London, Ontario.

Lady Alexander’s artwork can also often be found illustrating her husband’s writings.

Biography by Kelsey Perreault

SOURCES

Concordia University. “Alexander, Lady Eveline Marie.” Canadian Women Artists History Initiative. https://cwahi.concordia.ca/sources/artists/displayArtist.php?ID_artist=112.

Harper, J. Russell. Early Painters and Engravers in Canada. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press, 1970.

Petteys, Chris, et al. Dictionary of Women Artists: An International Dictionary of Women Artists Born Before 1900. Boston, Massachusetts: G. K. Hall, 1985.

Poole, Nancy Geddes. The Art of London, 1830-1980, Nancy Poole. London, Ontario: Blackpool Publishing, 1984.