Canadian Dreams

This is a set of Lawren Harris paintings together. From Opabin Pass, Rocky Mountains is at top left. North Shore, Baffin Island, is at bottom left. Top right features North Greenland. And at bottom right is Lake Harbour, South Shore, Baffin Island. These paintings were done in the 1924-30 period.

Girl On A Hill is a portrait from 1928 by the artist Prudence Heward. It is an oil painting of a dancer, Louise McLea.

Fir Tree And Sky is an Emily Carr work from 1935-36. One of our most accomplished artists, Carr was a contemporary of the Group of Seven, well known for her works depicting the Pacific Northwest. Her style is modernist but representational.

Another Carr painting is this one, Graveyard Entrance, Campbell River, an early work by the artist dating to 1912 and taking in First Nations subjects that would dominate her work throughout her life.

Here we have another perspective of the courtyard garden.

Transformation Mask is an undated sculpted work by the British Columbia artist Marven Tallio, depicting his First Nations cultural background in an impressive way.

Norval Morrisseau was one of the giants of First Nations artists in Canada. Artist And Shaman Between Two Worlds is a 1980 acrylic capturing Anishinaabe spirituality on canvas.

I finish the Canadian gallery with two more paintings by one artist, Alex Colville. Hound In Field is a 1958 painting; the accompanying panel says he often painted dogs during his career, and his daughter noted that her father "wasn't sentimental about animals, but he thought that they were essentially good and he didn't think that people were inherently good." Cynical, perhaps, but there are times I must agree.

To Prince Edward Island is a 1965 painting, a self portrait of sorts with the artist and his wife on a ferry to the island. Colville deliberately obscures our views of both himself and his wife Rhoda in a way that can be a bit unsettling. Tomorrow we start to have a look at some world art.