PHOTO ESSAY

Regarding Emily

Taking a fresh look at Emily Carr

By Rachel Giese
June 6, 2006

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Courtesy National Gallery of Canada.

Above the Gravel Pit (1937)
oil on canvas, 77.2 × 102.3 cm

In the 1930s, Carr began experimenting with oil-on-paper sketches to capture the immediacy and vastness of the surrounding landscapes. In a letter to Eric Brown, she explained, “Woods and skies out west are big. You can’t squeeze them down.” Of the creation of this particular painting, she wrote, “I am striving for a wide, open sky with lots of movement … My desire is to have it free and jubilant, not crucified into one spot, static. The colour of the brilliantly lighted sky will contrast with the black, white and tawny earth.”