Early Emily Carr Acquired by Audain

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Emily Carr, “War Canoes, Alert Bay,” c. 1908, watercolour on paper (courtesy of Audain Art Museum Collection)

The Audain Art Museum in Whistler, British Columbia, has acquired the Emily Carr watercolour painting, War Canoes, Alert Bay.

Held for years in private collections, the painting was likely made around 1908. It was unveiled this week alongside the oil on canvas of the same name, painted in 1912, that is also part of the museum’s permanent collection. 

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Emily Carr, “War Canoes, Alert Bay,” 1912

oil on canvas, 33"x 40" Audain Art Museum, Whistler, B.C. (Photo courtesy of Vancouver Art Gallery)

“After returning from her trip to France in 1911, Carr reworked this watercolour into a larger-scale oil on canvas painting, incorporating the vigorous visual language and 'new way of seeing' she had cultivated from her trip abroad. Her shift to an expressive use of vivid colour and bold brushwork creates an unconventional, light-filled mood with a dynamism not seen in the earlier work on paper,” according to the news release.

“This signifies an extraordinary reunion of two closely-related Carr masterworks, more than one hundred years after they were painted.”

Museum founders Michael Audain and Yoshiko Karasawa made the new watercolour acquisition possible.

“Yoshiko and I spent many years enjoying the vibrant oil on canvas before donating it to the museum nearly a decade ago,” Audain said.

“To now have both pictures housed together permanently contributes to the unparalleled quality of the museum’s Emily Carr collection.”

Both Carr paintings are on view now at the Audain Art Museum.

Born in Victoria, BC, Carr is one of Canada's best-known artists. She died in 1945.

Source: Audain Art Museum

Also see: Emily Carr Painting Bought for $50 US to Go to Auction

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