Sir Edmund Wyly Grier
(1862 - 1957)

S.E.W. Grier Biography
(1862 - 1957)

Born in Melbourne, Australia, the son of Dr. Charles Grier and Maria Agnes Monro, Edmund Grier was interested in drawing and painting at a very early age. The Griers moved to England when Wyly was a small boy and they settled in Bristol where he went to school. They moved again, this time to Canada in 1876 where he entered Upper Canada College, Toronto. There he received a general education and showed marked ability in drawing. When he graduated from the College he returned to England with his family to the seaside town of Weston-Super-Mare where his father practiced medicine amongst the many well-to-do families. But his father gave up his practice there in 1879 so that he (Wyly) could attend the Slade School of Art in London under Alphonse Legros (painter and engraver). The Griers during that period lived in modest lodgings of the Bayswater district and Wyly travelled to and from the Slade by bus or underground.

From London Grier went to Rome in 1881 where he studied at the Sculoa Libera. Evenings he attended the British Academy where he studied sculpture in wax and clay. Ernest Bowman (son of the London oculist) and H. Strachey (brother of the “Spectator’s” Editor) were his chums during this period. Invited to a tea in Rome, Grier met Alfred Gilbert who urged him to take further study in Paris. In the spring he took Gilbert’s advice and enrolled in the Académie Julian. His father gave him just enough money to make ends meet. He found a room in the Garre Mont Parnasse and purchased from the vacating tenant, a bed, table, three chairs, heater, bath tub and trapeze! On his way to the Académie he walked a mile to the bank of the Seine where he stopped for coffee and a roll then continued over a bridge and arrived at the Académie about 8:30 am. In the evenings he returned by the same route, stopping for one franc dinner. Grier had his overcoat stolen at the Académie by a male model who (paradoxically) was posing for a portrait of Jesus Christ. Grier was warned that if he laid a charge of theft against the model it could mean a stiletto in his back. He had been taking boxing lessons from a boxer by the name of “Frisco” and felt in good enough form to challenge the thief to a fight. It took place in the school where two sets of gloves were conveniently available. The witnessing students assured Grieg that he had recovered the worth of his coat. There, at the Académie he studied under Bouguereau and Tony Robert-Fleury. He proved himself to be an outstanding pupil. During his first year he gained sixth place for an original competition in design.

Grier studied at the Académie for three years then returned to Weston-Super-Mare, England, and later to London. There in 1886 he exhibited a landscape with the Royal Society of British Artists where his work must have passed the scrutiny of James Abbott McNeill Whistler who was then its president. The same year he exhibited a portrait of his younger brother Louis entitled “An Amateur” (his brother was seated in a large room surrounded by musical instruments. Grier continued to exhibit with the Royal Academy in 1889, 1890, 1892 and 1895. In 1890 he won a gold medal at the Paris Salon.

In 1891 Grier returned to Canada and settled in Toronto. There he opened a studio and specialized in portraits. “The Star Weekly” gave this description of his first Canadian studio, “it was a humble enough place…heated with a big iron stove. With very youthful ambition he set out to paint a picture to capture a place on the walls of the fourth exhibition of the academy (R.C.A.). It was called “The Connoisseur”. His father was his model, and posed for him in a very colourful dressing gown, in a room which displayed various objects d’art. He held in his hand a rare piece of china.” The article went on to tell the story of how a charwoman had moved Grier’s easel too close to the iron stove and the painting had become blistered necessitating him to scrape and begin again. His second attempt was completed just in time for the opening of the R.C.A. exhibition. The painting was accepted by the judges and caught the eye of Princess Louise who requested that the artist be presented to her. Later Grier submitted a second portrait of his father which won him admission as an associated of the Royal Canadian Academy. They were the only pictures he painted of his father and both brought him recognition.

In 1895 Grier married Miss Dickson an accomplished pianist from Niagara-on-the-Lake. Both enjoyed drawing room music – Grier had a good baritone voice and his wife often played as his accompaniment. In 1900 he decorated the altar of the old Loretto Abbey in Toronto. He won a silver medal at the Pan American Exhibition at Buffalo in. 1901. From 1897 to 1903 he served with the Royal Canadian Artillery and rose to the rank of Major in Command of the 9th Field Battery. In 1903 he became vice-president of the Canadian Military Institute. His other interests included riding, shooting, fishing and canoeing. He was also active in several art groups including the Ontario Society of Artists (c.1896) (Pres. 1908-1913), Arts and Letters Club (he was a founding member in 1908 and its first vice-president). It was in 1909 that Grier was host to 80 members of the Arts & Letters Club at his studio. It was believed that Grier’s studio housed the only Bechstein grand piano in the city. At an earlier meeting Grier had proposed that the Club be called the Arts & Letters Club. He was on the publication committee of the Club’s magazine “The Lamps” first issued in October of 1911. The magazine was filled with reproductions of works by club members.

Through the years he earned a great reputation as painter of portraits and did hundreds of them. His work appeared in the exhibition of the Ontario Society of Artists where in 1915 the work of artists who were later to form the Group of Seven were attracting attention. It was at the Arts & Letters Club that Grier criticized Tom Thomson’s work and was countered by Arthur Lismer. A greater debate took place at the Empire Club in 1925 when Wyly Grier and A.Y. Jackson set forth the pros and cons of the Group of Seven’s work. Both spoke well but Jackson seemed to have carried the day with his ‘earthly style of speech, enormous colour and moving attachment to his cause.’ Grier’s speech however was even-tempered and rather impressive. Augustus Bridle in his “The Story of the Club (Arts and Letters)” noted the following, “Diction of Grier’s speeches was always as well-modelled as his portraits, and the horses he rode as a young cavalry officer.” Grier was elected president of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1929. His subjects included: Sir Edmond Walker (Chairman of the Board of Trustees, NGC, 1909-24); Hon. Joseph Thompson (one-time Speaker, Ontario Legislature); Lieut-Col. Wm. C. Michell, M.C., V.D. (supervising principle of high schools); daaughter of A.J. Matheson, Esq. (Ottawa); John W. Dafoe, LL.D., F.R. S.C. (Editor, Winnipeg Free Press); Harry Anderson (managing director, Toronto “Globe & Mail”); Arthur B. Wood (Pres., Sun Life Assurance Co.); W.J. Dobbie, M.A., M.D., C.M. (Physician-in Chief, Toronto Hospital for Treatment of T.B.); E.C. Fox (Chairman, Board of Trustees, Tor. Gen. Hosp.); H.H. Langton (one-time librarian, U. of T.); King George V; Sir John A. MacDonald; Sir Oliver Mowat (premier of Ont., 1872-96); Sir William Meredith (Chief Justice of Ont., 1912-23); and many others.

Grier received an honorary Doctor of Civil Law from the University of Bishop’s College in 1934. He was knighted in 1935 while still president of the Royal Canadian Academy. In 1938 he was commissioned by the Nova Scotia government to restore and clean portraits hung in Province House, Halifax. He lectured and wrote. Many articles and was for a time art editor for “The Week” also member of the Canadian Author’s Association. He was president of the Royal Canadian Academy for ten years. He died in 1957 (his wife in 1954). He was survived by three sons: Crawford G.M. Grier (Tor.), Edmund Geoffrey Grier (Mtl.), John E. Grier (Tor.), and two daughters: Stella Grier (A.R.C.A., Tor.) and Mrs. V.W. Scully (Hamilton). He is represented in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada and Province House, N.S..

Source: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume 2: G-Jackson", compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1979