Surrey artists' paintings donated to the Surrey Art Gallery certified as national treasures

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Robert Michener, "Fly Fishing Mid-May" (1996)

Robert Michener, "Fly Fishing Mid-May" (1996), oil on linen. Gift of the artist, 2012

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Ann Nelson, "Early Spring", Sooke (2010)

Ann Nelson, "Early Spring", Sooke (2010), oil on canvas. Gift of the artist, 2012

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Robert Michener, "Fly Fishing Mid-May" (1996)

Robert Michener, "Fly Fishing Mid-May" (1996), oil on linen. Gift of the artist, 2012

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Painters, Robert Michener and his wife, Ann Nelson have lived in Surrey for many years, and are well known for their gentle images that express their experiences of the natural landscape. In 2012, both artists donated paintings for the Surrey Art Gallery’s permanent collection. The Gallery now owns three paintings by Michener and three by Nelson.

In recognition of these gifts, the Surrey Art Gallery is exhibiting four of their paintings as part of its spring exhibition series. The exhibition titled Wild Idyll: Robert Michener and Ann Nelson is on display until May 20.

While the Gallery typically plans its exhibitions years in advance, receipt of these gifts was recognized as important for the Surrey Art Gallery. The curators wanted to recognize the accomplishment of these Surrey resident artists as soon as possible. Councillor Judy Villeneuve, who serves on the Acquisitions Committee for the Gallery commented, “The Surrey Art Gallery’s collection has work by a number of western Canada’s most important artists, and among them are significant pieces made by many artists from Surrey. The Acquisitions Committee was very pleased to accept the wonderful paintings by Robert Michener and Ann Nelson. These pieces reflect the values of many Surrey residents who appreciate our natural environment.”

As part of its process to confirm the value of the artwork donated to the collection, some artworks are submitted to Canada’s Cultural Property Export Review Board, to verify whether they are of national significance. This process involves the Gallery submitting a written argument explaining the relevance of the artwork in context to national and international art history, as well as appraisals by independent art experts. The certification of cultural properties by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board encourages the transfer of cultural property from private hands to the public domain. This process ensures that cultural properties of outstanding significance and national importance are preserved in Canadian organizations and made accessible to the public.

The Gallery is pleased to announce that all of Robert Michener’s works in the collection have been certified as national cultural properties, which means they are now essentially documented as national treasures.

About the Artworks

Robert Michener’s large scale painting Fly Fishing Mid-May from 1996 is a panoramic vision of nature, drawn from his childhood memories of fly fishing in the Root River Valley. Michener‘s painting describes a dream-like environment as though viewed from above. The soft colours and the single fisherman pursuing his catch-and-release pastime evoke a mood of harmony with nature and interconnectedness of life. Michener writes, “I [have] often placed figures in vast wilderness landscapes to suggest a view of man living as part of nature, rather than the traditional Western view which asserts man’s separateness from and supremacy over the rest of nature.” This work along with a second major painting Gentle on My Mind, 1970, were designated cultural properties by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board, as significant works of art.

Ann Nelson’s Early Spring, Sooke from 2010 is from a series of works that explore the coastal geography of southern British Columbia. In this work, the artist presents a dramatic reawakening of nature in spring through the composition’s high vantage point and the energetic application of paint over the surface.

In addition to these two recent acquisitions, an earlier painting by each artist is also on exhibit. With Springfield Llama Farm # 5, Spring Morning, 1992 (also a designated cultural property) Michener paints a peaceful and idyllic farm scene from the Cowichan Valley. This image celebrates a real place and time, and expresses the joy of spring and the birth of new life. Nelson’s Skunk Cabbages II, 1984, is a bold and colourful study of the Campbell River watershed located near the artist’s home in south Surrey. The artist presents a dizzying maze of shrub and marsh land punctuated by the bold yellow blossoms of the skunk cabbage.

About the Artists

Robert Michener was raised in rural Minnesota, which had a profound impact on his painting. He wrote that “I chose to paint landscape because of my boyhood intimacy with nature and because I believe that the most urgent challenge facing humanity is to discover a viable way to live with nature.” Michener received a BA in art at Hamline University in St. Paul, and a MFA from the University of Minnesota. After graduation, he travelled extensively through Europe and the Middle East, viewing historical art. Upon returning to the United States, he taught at the Universities of Minnesota, Western Washington, and Cincinnati. In 1973, he immigrated to Canada, took up a teaching post the Vancouver School of Art (now the Emily Carr University of Art ⁺ Design), and became a Canadian citizen in 1978. Michener has exhibited extensively across Canada, the United States, and Europe. He is represented in more than 200 public private and corporate collections.

Ann Nelson is a Surrey-based-artist who studied art at Douglas College and Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Her work explores the BC landscape, with a particular interest in the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island as well as the Lower Mainland. Her works can be found in private and public collections across Canada, in the United States, Europe, and Asia.