Emily Carr

Emily Carr
Carr in 1888
Born
Millie Emily Carr

(1871-12-13)December 13, 1871
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
DiedMarch 2, 1945(1945-03-02) (aged 73)
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Education
Known forPainting (The Indian Church, Big Raven), writing (Klee Wyck)
MovementPost-Impressionism

Emily Carr (December 13, 1871 – March 2, 1945) was a Canadian artist who was inspired by the monumental art and villages of the First Nations and the landscapes of British Columbia.[1] She also was a vivid writer and chronicler of life in her surroundings, praised for her "complete candour" and "strong prose".[2] Klee Wyck, her first book, published in 1941, won the Governor General's Literary Award for non-fiction[3] and this book and others written by her or compiled from her writings later are still much in demand today.

Carr's keynote paintings, such as The Indian Church (1929), were not widely known in Canada at first. But her stature as one of Canada's most important artists continued to grow. Today, she is considered a cherished figure of Canadian arts and letters.[4] Scholars and the public alike regard her as a Canadian national treasure[5] and the Canadian Encyclopedia describes her as a Canadian icon.[6] She has been designated a National Historic Person[7] and had a Minor planet 5688 Kleewyck named after her anglicized native name.[8][4][5] As one scholar in her 2014 book on Carr, put it, "we love her and she continues to speak to us".[9]

Emily Carr lived most of her life in the city in which she was born and died, Victoria, British Columbia.

  1. ^ Morra, Linda M. (2005). "Canadian Art According to Emily Carr". Canadian Literature. 185: 43–57. ISSN 0008-4360. Archived from the original on February 3, 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  2. ^ Kathleen Coburn, "Emily Carr: In Memoriam" Canadian Forum, vol. 25 (April 1945), p. 24.
  3. ^ "Governor General's Literary Award". ggbooks.ca. Governor General of Canada. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Emily Carr: Timeline". royalbcmuseum.bc.ca. Royal BC Museum. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Carr, Emily (2021). Unvarnished Emily Carr: Autobiographical Sketches by Emily Carr, edited by Dr. Kathryn Bridge, Preface. Victoria: Royal BC Museum. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  6. ^ Shadbolt (June 23, 2013). "Emily Carr". Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  7. ^ "Carr, Emily National Historic Person". www.pc.gc.ca/. Gov't of Canada. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  8. ^ (5688) Kleewyck In: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer. 2003. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_5383. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7.
  9. ^ Bridge (2014), p. 8.