Rae Hendershot (1921-1988)

Rae Hendershot was a 20th c. Canadian painter. As much a formalist as an astute and subtle observer of life, she worked across genres in an impressive range of paint and drawing media, representing the female life cycle with wide ranging vision.  Motherhood, creative identity, obscurity, and the power of seeing are central themes in her art.  

Historically, Hendershot's work forms a unique bridge between the Modernist legacy and emerging post-Modern consciousness. In her series of paintings on the theme of Demeter and Persephone, she reimagines history painting as a form that places women’s experience at the centre of the artistic endeavour, a form that is both a self-conscious fiction and a window onto intimate human experience. 

Established in 2018, the Rae Hendershot Project oversees the archives and estate of Rae Hendershot and through its initiatives is dedicated to bringing the artist's work to wider audiences.