Margaret Shelton

Canadian [1915-1984]

Alberta Society of Artists, Society of Canadian Painters, Etchers and Engravers, Canadian Society of Graphic Artists

Margaret Shelton was born August 15, 1915 on a farm near Bruce, east of Edmonton, Alberta, of English parents. She grew up in the Drumheller Valley in south-central Alberta. From an early age she began to draw and was encouraged by both parents and teachers. Her talent was already apparent by age 14 (1929) when she had produced some paintings and four very creditable pen-and-ink sketches, which are still in existence. Throughout her high-school years, she sketched her surroundings, roaming the hills and mine works, drawing and painting whatever seemed of interest.

While attending Normal school (a teacher’s college in Calgary) during 1933-34, she also attended evening classes at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (PITA) where she felt fortunate to study drawing and painting under the direction of A.C. Leighton, the celebrated English landscape painter. From 1934 to 1943 she attended PITA on scholarships, under the tutelage of Leighton and H.G. Glyde among others. In the summers, she enjoyed sketching old barns and mountain scenes. In 1941 she learned Japanese wood block printmaking techniques from W.J. Phillips.

Shelton taught school periodically for a few years and worked at an advertising agency in Toronto for six months as a commercial artist before deciding to commit to undertaking a full-time painting and printmaking career.

Unlike earlier Canadian artists including the CPR artists….and the Group of Seven, Shelton chose to interpret nature directly, without any romantic notion that it stood for or represented something else. Hers was a simpler and less spectacular rendering of the world than that of earlier romantic artists. She selected straightforward scenes which she depicted in a well-executed representational style that relied on nature for its impulse.

Margaret Dorothy Shelton was a prolific artist, best known for her delicate watercolour paintings and her intricate woodcut and linocut prints. With a deep passion for nature and the diversity and beauty of the Alberta landscape, Shelton’s interpretations are distinctively vital and energetic. 

Her contributions to the development of printmaking in Canada are significant, having created hundreds of prints in her career. Her works form part of the collections at the National Gallery in Ottawa and the Glenbow Museum in Calgary. She exhibited with the Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers (CPE), the Canadian Society of Graphic Art (CSGA) and the Calgary Sketch Club.

Source: Patricia Ainslie, Margaret Shelton: Block Prints 1936-1984, Glenbow Museum, exhibition catalogue, Calgary, Alberta, 1984

Margaret Shelton image

A Few Notable Results from Hodgins Art Auctions for Margaret Shelton

Margaret Shelton

FISHING ON THE BOW; 1979
linocut in six colours; ed. #167/200
5 x 6 in.

Sold for $ 3,159 – May 2014

Margaret Shelton

GAWDUN’S SHACK; ca 1940
oil on wood panel
12 x 17 in.

Sold for $ 2,223 – May 2017

Margaret Shelton

MT. EDITH; 1967
oil on board
16 x 20 in.

Sold for $ 2,106 – September 2022

Margaret Shelton

SHASTA DAISIES
oil on board
20 x 24 in.

Sold for $ 2,106 – May 2014

Margaret Shelton

MT. TEMPLE
oil on board
18 x 24 in.

Sold for $ 2,070 – November 2009

Margaret Shelton

ROBIN HOOD HILLS, DRUMHELLER; 1942
colour woodcut on paper; ed. #15/50
9 x 11.5 in.

Sold for $ 2,070 – February 2009

We are always seeking works by Margaret Shelton to be included in future auctions.

If you are interested in selling with us, or wish to get our opinion of the value of your artworks, please contact us for an appointment to evaluate your artwork for auction.

Alternately, you can easily submit details of your artworks through our Request of Auction Estimates form.

More Extensive Results from our Previous Auctions for Margaret Shelton

862.50
Price Realized: $

Artist: Margaret Shelton

Title: DEVIL'S GAP, LAKE MINNEWANKA

Date: 1952

Medium: colour linocut on paper; ed. #46/200

Dimensions: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 in.

Notes:

signed, titled, dated & editioned

500.00
Estimate:
600.00
 - 

LOT: 5

Auction: 2006 May | Hodgins Art Auctions

977.50
Price Realized: $

Artist: Margaret Shelton

Title: MT. WILSON, GRAVEYARD FLATS

Date: 1977

Medium: watercolour on paper

Dimensions: 13 1/2 x 19 in.

Notes:

signed & dated
Provenance: Kensington Fine Arts, Calgary

700.00
Estimate:
1,000.00
 - 

LOT: 4

Auction: 2006 May | Hodgins Art Auctions

805.00
Price Realized: $

Artist: Margaret Shelton

Title: TABLE MOUNTAIN, ROSEDALE

Date: 1941

Medium: colour linocut on paper; ed. #123/200

Dimensions: 4 3/4 x 5 1/2 in.

Notes:

signed, titled, dated & editioned

500.00
Estimate:
600.00
 - 

LOT: 3

Auction: 2006 May | Hodgins Art Auctions

690.00
Price Realized: $

Artist: Margaret Shelton

Title: ST. MARY'S BANFF

Date: 1979

Medium: linocut in five colours on paper; ed. #126/200

Dimensions: 4 1/2 x 5 3/4 in.

600.00
Estimate:
700.00
 - 

LOT: 453

Auction: 2005 November | Hodgins Art Auctions

402.50
Price Realized: $

Artist: Margaret Shelton

Title: VERMILLION LAKES

Date: 1944

Medium: linocut on paper; ed. #37/100

Dimensions: 9 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.

400.00
Estimate:
500.00
 - 

LOT: 450

Auction: 2005 November | Hodgins Art Auctions

575.00
Price Realized: $

Artist: Margaret Shelton

Title: UNTITLED; ABANDONED BARN

Date: 1982

Medium: watercolour on paper

Dimensions: 9 3/4 x 13 in.

600.00
Estimate:
800.00
 - 

LOT: 448

Auction: 2005 November | Hodgins Art Auctions

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