Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Nan Cheney fonds
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Fonds
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Physical description area
Physical description
91 cm of textual records;279 photographs;107 slides
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, Nan Cheney spent part of her childhood in Havana, Cuba, then studied art at Tulane University. She completed the “Art as Applied to Medicine” program at Johns Hopkins University (1921-23) where she worked under medical artist Max Brodel. She was a well-known B.C. portrait painter as well as a medical artist for the University of British Columbia, and McGill University. In 1924 she married Dr. Hill H. Cheney and in 1937 they moved to Vancouver. Cheney met and corresponded with many Canadian artists and she enjoyed a close friendship with Emily Carr in the period before Carr's work had gained general acceptance. Cheney collected material about Emily Carr until December 1979.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds consists of 71 holograph letters from Ethel Wilson to Cheney, as well as correspondence from Wallace Wilson, Mary [Dodds] and Dorothy McNair. There is also correspondence between Nan Cheney and various artists, including Emily Carr, between the years 1938 and 1984. Cheney's subject files on Canadian artists are included in the fonds, along with newspaper and periodical clippings, memorabilia, photographs and manuscripts.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Three immediate sources of acquisition for the records have been determined: material noted in the inventory housed in boxes 1 to 4 were deposited by Nan Cheney at the University of British Columbia Library; a second group of records identified as Addendum 1, housed in boxes 5 to 7-13, were donated from her home after her death in 1985; and a third group of records identified as Addendum 2, housed in box 7-15 through box 9 (oversize), were acquired in 1991.
Arrangement
The material has been arranged in two parts – letters and items by or about Emily Carr and general material about other Canadian artists that Cheney divided into subject files. Arrangement of the records has generally followed the series order devised at UBC Library Special Collections by George Brandak in 1980, Deborah Gill in 1986, and Norman Amor in 1991.
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
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Restrictions on access
Some restrictions on access apply.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Inventory available. PDF document attached.
Generated finding aid
Associated materials
Related material can be found in the Ethel Wilson fonds.
Accruals
No further accruals expected.
General note
Photographs, negatives, and slides were separated for preservation reasons. These items are located in the Nan Cheney Photographs series and are stored in photograph storage according to format - slides, negatives, prints.
General note
Photograph Identifier: BC-1849
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Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Carr, Emily (Subject)
- Wilson, Wallace (Subject)
- Dodds, Mary (Subject)
- McNair, Dorothy (Subject)