As a young woman shadowing her father’s cousin, John Wycliffe Lowes Forster, Caroline Helena Armington rebelled against her parents’ wishes and explored the dream of becoming an artist. Training and working as a nurse in Guelph and later New York, Armington continued her fascination with art, often visiting galleries and museums for inspiration. Upon meeting Frank Milton Armington, the young woman would visit her beau in Paris with his family and later marry there. The pair’s influence in each other’s practices is readily apparent in the impressionistic short brush strokes of pigment and emphasis on non-traditional interpretations of light and shadow.
Studying in Paris, Armington honed her skills and developed a style rooted in European traditions. Known as a prolific etcher, Armington’s accomplishments in the field of print design can also be seen with the dedication to detail and application of pigment in short strokes. In near-pointillist technique, the picturesque landscape of “Barge on the Canal” highlights the artist’s ability to delicately build up a composition while keeping the compositional integrity of the scene intact.
