Born Grace Juliet Chisholm in 1902 in Oakville, Juliet was the great-granddaughter of Oakville’s founder, William Chisholm. She began her artistic career where she grew up in New York City, exhibiting with the Society of Independent Artists. Juliet went on to actively pursue a career as an artist in 1920s Paris, where she studied at the École des Beaux Arts.
After having lived in France for many years, Juliet returned to Canada to study medicine, earning her M.D. in 1940. She worked as a pediatrician at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto and served as a Captain during the Second World War and later in China with operations of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. In China, apart from actively using her medical knowledge, Juliet captured the energy, life and character of the country through the most accessible medium she had—photography.
Juliet returned to Oakville where she continued to innovate medically and create artistically. She opened a private medical practice on the grounds of Erchless Estate and illustrated representations of Oakville that were published in her sister Hazel’s 1953 book: Mill on the Sixteen: The History of an Ontario Port.
Juliet led an extraordinary life. Her affluent upbringing, various disciplines of study, professional training and work took her around the world exposing her to a broad range of ideas, cultures and human conditions. Juliet’s pieces are expressions and recordings of what she saw and felt: on canvas, paper, and film.
Juliet, Her Life & Art introduces the art and life of Juliet Chisholm Turney. The story of her artistic trajectory is told through drawings, paintings, sketches, illustrations and photographs which form part of the Oakville Museum’s Permanent Collection at Erchless until September 29, 2013.
Juliet Exhibit at ErchlessJuliet Exhibit at Erchless