and the first exhibition by the Group of Seven took place in Toronto. But for Emily, consumed as she was by the requirements of each day, the world had shrunk. In 1919 her sisters Edith and Clara both died. Gone were the days of travel and exploration. She painted, but her output was severely curtailed and her outings to sketch were limited to the immediate neighbourhood. She had sporadic contact with other artists who passed through Victoria, and here and there she occasionally exhibited a picture or two. But the necessity of earning money left her tired and without the spark that is essential for creativity. The artist in her did not die, but lay dormant.
Many years later she would write about her years as a landlady, dramatizing them in one of her most popular and best-loved books, The House of All Sorts, but for fourteen years, until 1927, Emily Carr became, as she said herself, a little old lady on the edge of nowhere.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A Canadian Artist
In 1927, at the age of fifty-six, Emily Carr despaired of ever realizing the vision she carried within herself. She assumed that her career as an artist was over. There had been no major works or exhibitions in over a decade. But sometimes in life it can seem as if fate is at work. Call it a conjunction of disparate events, call it serendipity or just coincidence. Nineteen twenty-seven was Emilyâs annus mirabilisâa miracle year. Seemingly overnight she was plucked from obscurity and placed in a national spotlight, beginning the incredible flowering that would be her greatest achievement.
This is what happened. The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa was planning a major exhibition entitled Canadian West Coast Art: Native and Modern. Emilyâs work came to the attention of the galleryâs director, Eric Brown, and he visited her studio, selecting paintings, rugs, and pottery for inclusion in the exhibition.
In November, Emily travelled to Ottawa for the opening. The works on display consisted of Native art and artifacts,mixed with the paintings and sculpture of such contemporary Canadian artists as A.Y. Jackson, Lawren Harris, and Edwin Holgate. A number of women artists were also included, among them Pegi Nicol, Anne Savage, and Florence Wyle. Emily had the greatest number of works, twenty-six paintings, as well as rugs and pottery. She was also asked to design the cover of the exhibition brochure, which she did, using borrowed Native motifs, and which she signed âKlee Wyck.â
Her visit to Ottawa, as well as Toronto and Montreal, was a revelation. She saw for the first time the works of the Group of Seven painters, and met some of them, as well as a number of other artists. She was praised for her work, and for the first time, she found herself in the company of artists who shared her interests and, more importantly, accepted Emily as one of them.
When she looked at the paintings by Harris and others in the group, Emily saw, as she noted in her journal,
a world shorn of fretting details, purged, purified; a naked soul, pure and unashamed; lovely spaces filled with wonderful serenity.... I think perhaps I shall find God here, the God Iâve longed and hunted for and failed to find. Always heâs seemed nearer out in the big spaces, sometimes almost within reach but never quite. Perhaps in this newer,wider, space-filled vision I shall find him . . . above the swirl into holy places.
The transformation of Emilyâs fortunes might have seemed like a sudden apotheosis but, with hindsight, we can see that many strands in her life were slowly coming together, and the point where they all met was where Emily happened to be waiting. And when the strands separated again, she was one of them, a major tributary.
Early twentieth-century Canada was a tentative enterprise, a nation in transition from colony to independence. Many political thinkers believed in a vision of Canada as a country united from sea to sea, incorporating not only
Many years later she would write about her years as a landlady, dramatizing them in one of her most popular and best-loved books, The House of All Sorts, but for fourteen years, until 1927, Emily Carr became, as she said herself, a little old lady on the edge of nowhere.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A Canadian Artist
In 1927, at the age of fifty-six, Emily Carr despaired of ever realizing the vision she carried within herself. She assumed that her career as an artist was over. There had been no major works or exhibitions in over a decade. But sometimes in life it can seem as if fate is at work. Call it a conjunction of disparate events, call it serendipity or just coincidence. Nineteen twenty-seven was Emilyâs annus mirabilisâa miracle year. Seemingly overnight she was plucked from obscurity and placed in a national spotlight, beginning the incredible flowering that would be her greatest achievement.
This is what happened. The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa was planning a major exhibition entitled Canadian West Coast Art: Native and Modern. Emilyâs work came to the attention of the galleryâs director, Eric Brown, and he visited her studio, selecting paintings, rugs, and pottery for inclusion in the exhibition.
In November, Emily travelled to Ottawa for the opening. The works on display consisted of Native art and artifacts,mixed with the paintings and sculpture of such contemporary Canadian artists as A.Y. Jackson, Lawren Harris, and Edwin Holgate. A number of women artists were also included, among them Pegi Nicol, Anne Savage, and Florence Wyle. Emily had the greatest number of works, twenty-six paintings, as well as rugs and pottery. She was also asked to design the cover of the exhibition brochure, which she did, using borrowed Native motifs, and which she signed âKlee Wyck.â
Her visit to Ottawa, as well as Toronto and Montreal, was a revelation. She saw for the first time the works of the Group of Seven painters, and met some of them, as well as a number of other artists. She was praised for her work, and for the first time, she found herself in the company of artists who shared her interests and, more importantly, accepted Emily as one of them.
When she looked at the paintings by Harris and others in the group, Emily saw, as she noted in her journal,
a world shorn of fretting details, purged, purified; a naked soul, pure and unashamed; lovely spaces filled with wonderful serenity.... I think perhaps I shall find God here, the God Iâve longed and hunted for and failed to find. Always heâs seemed nearer out in the big spaces, sometimes almost within reach but never quite. Perhaps in this newer,wider, space-filled vision I shall find him . . . above the swirl into holy places.
The transformation of Emilyâs fortunes might have seemed like a sudden apotheosis but, with hindsight, we can see that many strands in her life were slowly coming together, and the point where they all met was where Emily happened to be waiting. And when the strands separated again, she was one of them, a major tributary.
Early twentieth-century Canada was a tentative enterprise, a nation in transition from colony to independence. Many political thinkers believed in a vision of Canada as a country united from sea to sea, incorporating not only
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