Background
The daughter of William Coonan, a machinist for the Grand Trunk Railway, and Mary Anne Fullerton, she was born in the Pointe-Saint-Charles neighbourhood of Montreal and was educated at the nearby Saint Ann"s Academy for Girls.
The daughter of William Coonan, a machinist for the Grand Trunk Railway, and Mary Anne Fullerton, she was born in the Pointe-Saint-Charles neighbourhood of Montreal and was educated at the nearby Saint Ann"s Academy for Girls.
She went on to study at the Conseil des arts & metiers and then at the Art Association of Montreal with William Brymner. In 1912, she visited France, Belgium and Holland with Mabel May. In 1914, Coonan received a travel grant from the National Gallery of Canada and, in 1916, she received a scholarship from the Montreal Women"s Art Society which allowed her to return to Europe.
She took inspiration from the French impressionists and James Wilson Morrice.
Although she continue to paint later in life, Coonan stopped participating in public exhibitions after 1933. She died in Montreal at the age of 86.
She became a member of the Beaver Hall Group in 1921.