Skip to content

Daniel Izzárd's artistic legacy on view in pop-up gallery

Artist’s wife hosting show in the atrium of Park Royal North
Pilar Izzard
West Vancouver’s Pilar Izzárd celebrates a lifetime in art with a pop-up gallery in Park Royal North, featuring the work of her late husband Daniel Izzárd and sculptures by Lyle Sopel.

Daniel J. Izzárd : A Retrospective at Park Royal North. Pop-up gallery runs until Dec. 30 in the atrium of Park Royal North, West Vancouver. Open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Other hours by appointment. For more information visit izzardfinearts.com.

Travel and art are two elements that go hand-in-hand throughout the thread of Pilar Izzárd ’s life.

As the wife of the late painter Daniel Izzárd (1923-2007), she became connected with all aspects of visual expression but she was also involved with the art world long before she met her husband.

Born in La Paz, Bolivia, to Spanish parents, Pilar spoke only Spanish at home and attended a French school.

“Bolivia was one of the best places for a child to grow up,” she says. “I went to a private school, a sacré-Coeur, where all the nuns were from Paris. It was just beautiful living there. After that I got married at a young age, 16, and my whole life changed.”

Pilar had three kids in tow when she moved to Peru where she lived for five years. Studying colonial art and archeology she landed a job as representative of two airlines, 500 hotels and the island of Tahiti.

The experience in the Latin American travel industry helped her when she moved to the West Coast of Canada in the 1970s where she became regional manager of Hudson’s Bay’s travel agency. In 1979, Pilar started her own company in Dundarave, Travel Time International, and operated it for many years before handing the reins over to her daughter.

It was through Travel Time International that she met Daniel Izzard. The artist visited the agency to book a European trip and came away with a lifelong companion.

“After I met Daniel I left the travel company and started working with him,” says Pilar. “He was president of Portrait Society of Canada and I was the executive director. It was very exciting because we met some of the best portrait artists in the world. My life had always been connected with art.”

She was also the Honorary Bolivian Consul in Vancouver from 2001-2013.

When Diego Rivera’s daughter, Lupe Rivera, came to Vancouver to talk about her father’s artistic legacy she stayed as a house guest at Pilar’s West Vancouver home and the two became fast friends.

Art remains ever-present in Pilar’s life and work. “I am very blessed here on the North Shore. I have six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Life is good.”

Daniel Izzárd’s work had not been seen in public for several years. A pop-up gallery in Park Royal North will have his paintings on view through Dec. 30. Sculptor Lyle Sopel, a friend of Izzárd ’s, also has eight pieces on display.

“I’ve been Daniel’s representative for almost 25 years now,” says Pilar. “The exhibit gives a new generation a chance to see his work.”