After walking through the brightly lit rooms of Entangled: Two Views on Contemporary Canadian Painting (previous post) at the Vancouver Art Gallery I wandered into a cozy, dimly lit space displaying Emily Carr paintings in the show 空/Emptiness: Emily Carr and Lui Shou Kwan.
The paintings are gorgeous: the Vancouver Art Gallery has some of the best examples of Carr’s work I’ve seen. They are damn fine paintings–bold, strong, studied.
Grey, 1931-32 Emily Carr
untitled (Tree on a Rocky Profile) 1922-25 Emily Carr
A Young Tree, 1931 Emily Carr
This is work to be experienced in person. Many of us have seen her art reproduced on mugs, greeting cards and book bags and think we know it. I have thought, “Oh, yeah. Emily Carr. Eccentric west coast woman painting trees.” Then I encounter some of these paintings and think, “Wow. Gorgeous. Lush. Remarkable…….. I wish she hadn’t had such a struggle to make a living, and could have spent more time painting.” (Sad and sobering facts: Carr could not always make a living from her artwork, and spent much time and energy for many years managing tenants in a rental house and engaging in other schemes to earn money. In 2015 one of her paintings sold at auction for $1.53 million. Click here for a National Post article about the sale.)
It seems I have a short memory, for I have expressed the very same views about her paintings in other posts I’ve written. Click here and here to read other brief postings about her works.
untitled, 1931-32 Emily Carr
Abstract Tree Forms, 1931-32 Emily Carr
Emily might be horrified to know her images are on greeting cards, magnets and bookmarks. Or maybe she would have laughed at the irony of it.
I like to think she would be amused…
Agreed.
So glad you forwarded. i will be in Vancouver so will be able to see these paintings. her work really takes you to a different place.
It’s true; enjoy Vancouver!
Thanks Terry. All are grand but I particularly was taken with “Grey.” Perhaps because I’ve never seen a Carr painting that wasn’t vibrant with colour. I would love to pop over to Vancouver for a look but we are headed south to Mexico on Friday. Adios, Diane
Adios, Diane! Just think of all the great art in store for you!
I unsubscribed from your Art Caravan account because my esty@shaw account is no longer active. I think I subscribed to my gmail account but not sure. Anyway – I’d like to be subscribed, and just want you to know why I unsubscribed the shaw account 🙂
E
Glad you’re back!