One of the leading abstract painters in Canada and a founding member of the Painters Eleven, Alexandra Luke was married to Ewart McLaughlin, and the couple gave financial support to the founding in 1967 of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. Named for Ewart's grandfather, an amateur artist, the facility was for the exhibition of local artists and for the establishment of a public art gallery in Oshawa. The Gallery had specific dedication to the Painters Eleven, who exhibited abstract art.

Alexandra Luke had two identities. Her artist name was Alexandra Luke, but personally she used Margaret Alexander Luke McLaughlin. She was highly prominent in her community, and many of her upper-class friends had n...