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Artistry Revealed: Peter Whyte, Catharine Robb Whyte and Their Contemporaries

June 17 - October 21, 2018

New Exhibition and Publication Bursting with Stunning Artwork by Peter and Catharine Whyte

Something extraordinary began to take shape in Banff during the 1930s that would have far-reaching implications and touch the lives of this small community in Canada’s first national park.” With that begins the story of Peter and Catharine as told through the new exhibition and publication Artistry Revealed: Peter Whyte, Catharine Robb Whyte and Their Contemporaries. The exhibition and accompanying publication celebrate the two artists, whose work reflected their connection to the mountain landscapes of the Canadian Rockies and their love of the Bow Valley community. 
Peter Whyte and Catharine Robb Whyte, two individuals from vastly different backgrounds, met at the School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. At Boston, Peter and Catharine, both aspiring career artists, immersed themselves in the tradition and craft of fine painting. That Peter and Catharine would ultimately marry and establish themselves in Peter’s home town of Banff, was both unlikely and surprising for those in the know. Yet thanks to an element of serendipity and celestial alignment, their union resulted in a sizable body of art and the museum they endowed.
The exhibition Artistry Revealed: Peter Whyte, Catharine Robb Whyte and Their Contemporaries features some of the Whytes’ artistic academic accomplishments and many later painterly achievements. Included along with Peter and Catharine are paintings and drawings by artists who influenced their careers, touched their lives and with whom they painted. All the selected works are from the Whyte Museum collection, the majority of which were gifted by Peter and Catharine.
Complementing the many images in the exhibition are multimedia interpretive materials, numerous community engagement and public outreach programs, educational resources, didactic texts, extended labels and a virtual tour of the Whytes’ beloved log home. In addition, a full-colour bilingual publication, with contributions from past and present Whyte Museum curators, documents the exhibition and serves as a historic marker for future researchers. 

In celebration of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies’ 50th anniversary, Artistry Revealed is on at the Whyte Museum from June 17 to October 21, 2018. After its premiere here in Banff, Artistry Revealed will travel to the Audain Art Museum, Whistler, BC, from May 11 to September 2, 2019.