Vancouver Art Gallery

The Vancouver Art Gallery mission is to preserve and present work by artists in BC. They are successful.

The most famous of British Columbia's artists is Emily Carr. The first to bring post-impressionism to the province, Emily Carr captured the spirit of the BC Northwest Coast in her art.

Born in prim Victoria, Emily Carr was an eccentric. An unmarried female artist, she traveled alone in the early 1900s up and down the coast to paint aboriginal villages and totem poles, landscapes and forest scenes.

Old time Coast Village, 1929 by Emily Carr.

A white woman, she managed to secure the trust of First Nations communities suspicious of strangers.

In her autobiography, Klee Wyck, she asks the missionary to translate a Native chief's assessment of her:
"What did he say?"
"Not much. Only that you had no fear, that you were not stuck up, and that you knew how to laugh."

Klee Wyck became Emily Carr's native Chinook name. It means "Laughing One".

After her death, the Gallery acquired a large collection of her paintings, drawings, ceramic works and writings. Emily Carr is the reason why I go to the Vancouver Art Gallery. In her paintings, I see the essence and rhythm of the deep green darkness of the Northwest Coast. Her art expresses the feeling of this province.

Emily Carr was associated with the well-known famous group of Canadian landscape artists, The Group of Seven, particularly Lawren Harris, her mentor and friend. Some works by these artists, Lawren Harris and A.Y. Jackson are in the Vancouver Art Gallery collection as well.

Leon's Place, Room 1 by Vancouver artist Karin Bubas.

Sometimes I'm just not educated enough for the rest of the Art Gallery.

I struggle to see the artistic value in a sculpture made of garbage or a photo of a messy room. I try to understand the insightful social commentary part of it though.

Compared to many parts of the world, British Columbia is artistically young. The original First Nations works are at the UBC Museum of Anthropology. Later works by artists in BC, and most of the Gallery's British Columbia collections, date from the mid-19th century on. Many audio/video pieces, photo-conceptual work and photography are in the collection.

You will not find all works are on display. The Gallery has lived in a former provincial courthouse building in downtown Vancouver for almost 30 years.

Built in 1906 by Victoria architect Sir Francis Mawson Rattenbury, it was revamped by Vancouver architect Arthur Erickson's firm in 1983. They're growing out of the space now and looking for a new home. If you want to see a particular piece, make sure to call first to ensure it's on exhibit.

The Vancouver Art Gallery also excels at hosting traveling exhibits from around the world. Picasso, Andy Warhol, Leonardo da Vinci and many other famous artists from around the world have graced the walls.

Sometimes you don't even have to go inside. For the 2010 Olympics, Michael Lin hand-painted a huge mural across the north facade of the Gallery. The florals matched the early-blooming cherry blossoms.

There are always beautiful things to see at the Gallery. Of course by now you know that my bias is with Emily Carr's work. It's a treat to see her renditions of this Northwest Coast I know so well. In her art, I see my favourite landscapes in a new light. I can't wait for my next visit.

(Note: Tuesday evenings from 5-9pm the Gallery is open by donation)

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