Emily Carr Collected Introduction by Ian M. Thom. Douglas & McIntyre, 152 pages, $19.95.
Emily Carr is now one of our most revered artists, but she did not enjoy that status when she was alive.
What success she did achieve in her lifetime came late and was divided between her book, Klee Wyck, which received a Governor General's Award for Literature in 1941, and her later paintings.
Ian M. Thom, Senior Curator at the Vancouver Art Gallery introduces this collection with a concise overview of her career. He guides us through her artistic development and references those important stages to the artwork included in the book.
Beginning with an early ink drawing titled Snowdrops from 1894 we are shown an evolution of Carr's work as she explores various approaches and is influenced by other artists. There are noticeable turning points, such as her first exposure to native Indian culture, which she captures with a historian's accuracy for colour and scale. Later on her contact with the Group of Seven painters results in a more expressive style and the stronger connection between the landscape and the totem poles she was drawn to.
While not a complete catalogue of her output, the 120 beautifully reproduced images provide a powerful overview to the breadth of her works.
