by Susan E. Carr

Created on: July 07, 2010

Emily Carr (December 13, 1871 – March 2, 1945) is one of Canada’s icons of art.  As is the case for many artists, her success was achieved relatively late in life.   Not only was Emily a painter, she was also a writer.   Much of what we know about her is given to us through her own books such as “The Book of Small” in which she outlines her perspective on life as a child and adolescent growing up in the Victorian era in Victoria, British Columbia.   From these accounts one learns that “free-spirited” Emily often found it difficult to fit into the strict expectations and exacting roles that were common at the time. 

Following the death of her parents, Emily travelled to San Francisco (1890) to study art, something that she would not have been able to pursue if her parents were alive.    She also travelled to England (1899) where she spent time at the Westminster School of Art in London as well as schools in Cornwall, Bushey, and Herfordshire.   Emily spent a year in France (1910) studying at the Academie Colarossie in Paris.    The following year (1911) Emily moved back to Canada and British Columbia where she would remain.

Other than those who tutored her and influenced her style of painting and use of color, the most important influence on Emily and her art was the First Nations cultures of British Columbia and Alaska.  This is where her real journey began and ultimately where it would end.  Her visits to a mission school beside the Nuu-chah-nulth community of Ucluelet (1898) Vancouver Island, and Skagway (1908) inspired her to paint the totem poles she saw in these communities.   Her goal was to learn as much as possible from the images and their meanings, but more importantly to ensure that they were recorded, and not lost.   In many ways, this is likely one of Emily Carr’s most important contributions to Canadian cultural history.

As is often the case, financial considerations forced Emily to return from her adventures and after spending a few years in Vancouver, as an art teacher, she went back to Victoria (1913) where she would remain.   At the time, her art was influenced by postimpressionism and Fauvism, and therefore considered alien, conservatism being the acceptable norm.  Emily gave up her art in order to make her living which she did as a potter, dog breeder and boarding house landlady.

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