A successful painter of portrait miniatures in water colour on ivory, Winnipeg-born Elizabeth Maude Macvicar's (1881-1965) output included private commissions, solo and group juried exhibitions, as well as private exhibitions of her work throughout Canada, and at least once in the United States, during a career that flourished during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Macvicar attended the Winnipeg School of Art and studied miniature painting on ivory in London, England, visiting the famous Wallace Collection of miniatures in that city, and also touring Italy. A member of the Manitoba Society of Artists, she exhibited her work in the group and juried annual exhibitions of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1922, 1923, 1925 and 1927; in the first "open exhibit" of the Manitoba Society of Artists in 1926; at a Hart House exhibition at the University of Toronto in 1930; and in numerous private exhibitions in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, London, Ontario, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. She completed private commissions in all of these cities, as well as in Victoria, Seattle and New York. Macvicar was commissioned to paint a miniature of His Excellency, Lord Willingdon, Governor General of Canada, 1926-1931. She also enjoyed working with children and completed scores of miniature portraits on ivory of the sons and daughters of the wealthy and well-connected. She also painted miniatures of service men and women during the Second World War, as well as large water colour portraits of Canadian women in the services.
