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Lucius R. O'Brien
Canadian 1832 - 1899
The Glacier of the Selkirks 1886
watercolour over graphite on wove paper,
mounted on wove paper, mounted on linen |
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| The Canadian Prints & Drawings collection is the most comprehensive collection of its kind, comprising over 7000 prints, drawings and watercolours. The collection provides a survey of the development of these media in the fine arts of Canada, beginning with the first known Canadian watercolour - Thomas Davies' View of Halifax of 1757 - to works made by the artists of today.
The jewel of the 18th and early 19th century collection are the twenty watercolours, prints and botanical studies by Thomas Davies. Davies works are complemented by significant holdings of such important "garrison" artists as James Pattison Cockburn, John Elliott Woolford, George Heriot, Charles Ramus Forrest all of whom depicted Quebec City and British North America as recorded on their official travels. Among other important military artists represented are Augustus Levinge of New Brunswick and Robert Petly in Nova Scotia.
Although professional artists were few and far between during the pre-confederation period, the collection happily contains a series of drawings by the sculptor François Baillargé and drawings and watercolours by the leading portrait painter of the time, William Berczy. Also represented in the collection are, for example, Robert Field of Halifax, William Eagar of Newfoundland and Halifax. Post-confederation Canada in the 19th century witnessed a growing number of trained professional artists. For many the watercolour became their medium of choice, and this collection includes major works by James Duncan who specialized in views of Montreal, Lucius O'Brien, John A. Fraser, F.M. Bell-Smith all of whom undertook sketching trips on the newly built Canadian Pacific Railway to the Rockies, and Alan Edson who explored the landscape of the Eastern Townships. William Armstrong and William G.R. Hind were among the first professional artist in Toronto while Daniel Fowler who settled on Amherst Island near Kingston, bequeathed a number of the still life watercolours that won him International acclaim. |
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Betty Goodwin
Canadian 1923 -
Shirt No.4 1971
soft-ground etching on wove paper
© Betty Goodwin |
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| Printmaking by artists in the pre-confederation period was remarkably rare, yet a few important examples such are represented in the collection. It was not until the late 19th century that artists took up the etcher's needle with any seriousness. The collection holds fine examples of these first "artist's prints" by T. Mower Martin, Wyatt Eaton, John Hammond and Elizabeth Armstrong Forbes who made her career and reputation abroad directly in the circle of James MacNeill Whistler. By the beginning of the Twentieth Century printmaking gained favour with more artists. Among the most skilled printmakers at this time were Clarence Gagnon, H. Ivan Neilson, Dorothy Stevens and Herbert Raine, all represented with comprehensive collections. As well, the collection has comprehensive holdings of the most innovative printmakers of the next generations: David Milne, L.L. FitzGerald, W.J. Phillips, Edwin Holgate, Betty Goodwin and Yves Gaucher. The representation of printmaking for the remainder of the Twentieth century surveys the activities of our printmakers throughout the country, focusing on individual artists and regional activity, as well as the development of specific print media and print workshops.
The Canadian drawing collection is particularly strong in the Twentieth Century . While it contains examples by important artists throughout the country from Jack Shadbolt and Emily Carr in British Columbia, the Automatistes in Quebec to Miller Brittain in New Brunswick, the collection also contains large holdings by such significant artists as David Milne, L.L. FitzGerald, Carl Schaefer, the Group of Seven, Greg Curnoe, Joyce Wieland, Betty Goodwin and Michael Snow. |
For access to high-quality reproduction, artists' biographies, video interviews and information on the entire collection of the National Gallery of Canada visit http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/
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