Emily Carr is a name synonymous with words such as “artist” and “Canada,” but I would also like to add in “environmentalist” and “writer” too. She was a woman of many talents, whose legacy lives on today. Emily Carr is perhaps best known for her mesmerizing portraits of Canada’s west coast and Native cultures. This Emily Carr artist bio is close to my heart.
Emily Carr Artist Bio: The Early Days
December 13, 1871, was the day that Emily Carr was born into the world. The location was Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. If that place sounds familiar, it may be because you’ve heard me talk about it; yes, that is where I currently live.
Carr grew up in Victoria with English parents (Richard and Emily), one brother and four sisters. Her parents had three additional sons, but they either died at birth or soon after death. Carr’s father encouraged her in her artistic inclinations as a child. She took art lessons however she did not seriously begin her painting career path until after he had passed away in 1888. There was no documented artistic history in Carr’s family.
After the death of both of her parents, Emily Carr traveled to San Francisco to study art. At this point she was a late teen. Following that experience, she went to England. These travels were where she acquired her basic painting skills. Much further art skill development came when she later went to France. In France, the freedom of expression was welcome, allowing her an openness to her artistic methods. There she began to practice more modern ways of painting. She studied for one year at the Academie Colarossi in Paris. The subject? Art.
Development as an Artist
By the 1920’s, Emily Carr decided to return to Victoria. It was at this point that she had a major development in her artistic career. She began to meet with the Group of Seven, which was a circle of Canadian landscape painters. Within this group, and with their influences, she began to paint about Native culture and the rainforest in BC. In attempts to learn more about the customs and lifestyles of the First Nations people, she sought out time with the tribes within their villages.
Her painting drew the attention of Eric Brown of Canada’s National Gallery. The Director of the Gallery, Brown invited Carr to place an exhibit of West Coast aboriginal art. The Ottawa-based Gallery exhibit was a success, so much so that it also went to Toronto and Montreal. The exhibit consisted of 26 of Emily Carr’s oil paintings, as well as pottery and rugs she made that had aboriginal-influenced designs on them.
As well as being known for her paintings, Emily Carr is acclaimed for her writing efforts. She made the transition to writing after her health declined. In 1937, when she had a heart attack and a second one in 1939. This was followed only one year later by a stroke.
She wrote several novels, many of which documented her time spent with the First Nations groups. Her book Klee Wyck published in 1941 and it won her the Governor-General’s Award for nonfiction. It was an autobiographical book of her experiences with the First Nation’s people, and it also included her sketches. Other books by Carr include The House of All Sorts (published in 1944) and The Book of Small (1942 publication). Carr passed away on March 2, 1945.
Emily Carr Artist and Personal Inspiration
Emily Carr never married. Perhaps she assumed that if she became a wife then a child would soon follow and that might get in the way of her career. Indeed, this issue is still one for many women today who unsure whether work-family balance is possible.
Carr is well-known for her love of nature, animals and cultures. She bred dogs as an adult and had a range of pets that varied from birds to rats. Likely her pets were her children. She also loved travelling across BC, as was apparent by her paintings of the local area.
Emily Carr is admirable to me personally for several reasons. She grew up in the same city as me – Victoria! – and, like me, she left the city for a short time only to return again later. As well, she was a creative spirit from childhood, as was I.
Also, I admire her because of the magnificent works she created of her local area on Canada’s west coast. While she had traveled abroad, it was right in her homeland that she took to painting and enjoying the nature around her. In addition, her artwork clearly illustrates her love of nature, culture and freedom.
As well, when Emily Carr was growing up, women were not taken seriously as being contributors to society in Canadian cities outside of Toronto and Montreal. Carr’s paintings, sketches, and books showed that women could make valuable contributions to society.
She revealed the beauty of women in addition to the beauty of Canada’s landscapes.
Emily Carr Artist Bio: Its Impact Today
Today, Emily Carr’s legacy lives on.Many people call her a Canadian icon and is undoubtedly one of the best-known artists in our country.
In British Columbia, the Emily Carr University of Art and Design offers students opportunities to earn a Bachelor of Design, Fine Arts or Media Arts Degree. Her work hanging in art galleries, including the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.
Her legacy and artwork are well known not only in Canada but around the world too.
Is there a female artist who you admire?
Another wonderful introduction to a fellow Canadian artist here Christy. I’d heard of her now thanks for filling us in about her. :)
Deb, it is my pleasure to highlight here work here. Having you take time to visit means the world to me xx
I love visiting your pages. So much to learn. <3 It just seems these days I'm so behind in catching up, but eventually I get there. :)
I admire Maud Lewis. I saw her art when I visited Halifax. It made me smile.
I read that she spent much of her time alone as a child because she was uncomfortable around other children because she was much smaller than them and was born with hardly no chin.
Maud’s life as an artist began when her mother started her painting Christmas cards.
Emily Carr is my choice! :-)
Aweeeee :)
I’ve always been a huge O’Keeffe fan and my trip to Sante Fe and the surrounding areas was glorious because of that reason. I had started to read up on Karr a few years ago when planning a trip to BC, but then had to move far way. Now that I’m back North, I need to put a Canada visit on my list again. Would love to see some of Karr’s work in person.
Yes, Carr’s work is wonderful (“C” not “K”) and I look forward to having you come visit here in BC! Be sure to let me know when that becomes a possibility :)
Thanks so much for posting this. I had never heard of Emily Carr, but was delighted to read about her here. She was surely a woman ahead of her time. I need to check her out further.
Thanks, Michelle. That’s very neat to me that I could introduce you to her work and her life in general… She is one of the reasons I am proudly Canadian. I hope you are having a nice day xx
Thank you for this. I didn’t know she wrote. And I didn’t know about her paintings of Native American culture. Why American, when she lived in Canada? (There’s me sounding provincial. sorry!)
Thank you Cynthia for your comment and your catch of my error here. It should be Native, not Native American. My apologies and I will edit the document now.
I like Georgia O’ Keeffe and Mary Cassat, among others, probably because it’s what I remember from when I studied. Shortly, I will send you a link of an artist, which incidentally, is also Canadian. I like your featured artist here very much because of the way she handled light and form.
Some of the work by Emily Karr reminds me of Matisse and Van Gogh. The artist I meant is this one:
http://www.colettetheriault.com
I like animal portraiture a lot, and she’s also a teacher I believe (or gives workshops).
The blog is interesting because it shows you the progress of her work.
Thank you for the recommendation, Maria!
Yes, Carr had a great artistic eye, for sure. I find it fascinating to see how objects transform on the artist’s canvas. Thank you, Maria.
I wasn’t aware she wrote. A few years (well many) back I saw an exhibit of her totems in Vancouver
https://www.google.ca/search?q=Emily+Carr+Totem+poles+vancouver+exhibit&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=909&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=U7WqVI7JGoOeyQTt6oGgCw&ved=0CBwQsAQ
It was there I bought a mug with Emily Carr written across it. Now, the name is almost all fading and it saddens me because it was my favorite mug.
Very interesting post, Christy.
Totems also?… Amazing… This woman was a genius indeed!..
I much enjoyed the post dear Christy and particularly found touching and worth highlighting the fact that she she created artworks mainly based on the geography and landscapes of of her local area on Canada’s west coast, even when she had travelled abroad and could have found other sources of inspiration.
Great post… I am glad to learn about Emily Carr!. Hugs and best wishes CB, Aquileana :D
Exactly, Aqui, I was inspired too by her love of her homeland that came shining through in her works. Perhaps just as you look up to Argentine Pope Francis then I would look up to this Canadian artist… Maybe this was a BOOM moment, after all?! Thank you for taking time here and for your beautiful comment, Aqui-pie :)
That’s very cool Carol that you got to see that exhibit. How wonderful that you are familiar with Emily Carr’s works and even had the mug! Perhaps you will have to find another one soon to replace it, and visit this BC gal Christy in the process :) Sending a hug!
I admire my friend Ayse Juaneda, a Turkish French Artist and Art Teacher who blogs at https://aysejuaneda.wordpress.com/ She’s did 2 watercolor paintings of me in 2013, and then months later in February 2014, when she found out I was depressed, did another to surprise me with, to cheer me up! It’s the one below, based on one of my actual photos.
In thanks, I wrote the haiku below for her!
“Thank You Haiku For My Friend Ayşe Juaneda”
by Ry Hakari
Nice Ayse is a
Turkish Delight who paints a
smile on my sad face!
Hi Ry, That’s great that you got that art done and the haiku is nice too. I had to delete the images (though I enjoyed them) as they were quite large and, in my opinion, took away from Carr’s work. I know you understand. Here’s to creativity!
No problem, sorry about that! I forgot that the original files were so large! :)
It’s allllll good :) Hope your day is a creative one!
Hasn’t been so far in the sense of creating myself, as I’ve been catching up on comments for hours, and I still have to catch up on reading yesterday’s and today’s blogs, which may have to be my creativity for the day! It’s still creative though, so it’s ok! What is not ok is the smell coming in from the hall outside my apartment door. I think someone spilled split-pea and ham soup. That’s what I’m telling myself the smell is at least!
Ms Carr’s work was featured in Seattle often when I was growing up, maybe it was because of how close our cities were. I had an art teacher who loved her work when I was growing up.
Thank you for this piece, love the in-depth piece.
How wonderful to hear about your connection to Emily Carr, Val. I am glad you’ve been exposed to her work before. Your appreciation of the post is wonderful. Thank you.
Beautiful & Thank you for writing and sharing.
Thank you, my friend xx
An interesting biography :)
I appreciate your support (as does Ms. Carr!) xx
Hi Christy… Miss. Carr’s work is extraordinary indeed and it is a fascinating, in depth piece you have written and I thank you. Her heritage and the time she spent with the West Coast Native people is something I will be doing additional research on. I have always loved the Haida Gwaii works.
I had the privilege to study water colour under another Canadian Artist, Euphemia McNaught, who was also part of the group of seven. She resided in a place called Beaverlodge in the Peace Country of Northern Alberta. Though the time we spent together was short Euphemia was a lady filled with great wisdom and contributed greatly to the movement of ladies earning their rightful place in the ranks of some of the best artists Canada has to offer. She passed away in 2002 at the age of 100.
I also had the good fortune of training under Bill Reid, the West Coast woodcarver and artist. Bill was also a very close friend with Miss. Carr, and he often spoke of her accomplishments. Yet another great Canadian artist who passed away in 1998.
Great article Christy…
Hugs from Alberta
Hi Rolly,
Wow, I had no idea of your associations with the Group of Seven’s McNaught. Fascinating! Thank you for sharing more about this and for enlightening us about another of the group members. Reid sounds like he shared a lot with you about Emily Carr, which would be great conversation indeed. I appreciate your time taken to comment and share your own experiences as they relate to Carr!
beautiful
Thanks so much. She had an impressive life!
I was not familiar with Emily Carr until I read this post, and look forward to learning more about her. I am especially interested in her as an environmentalist. Thank you so much for this post!
Thank you, Judith! She has beautiful paintings but, as I explain, she’s so much more than that. Your comment encourages me!