| The Indian Church | |
|---|---|
| Church at Yuquot Village | |
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| Artist | Emily Carr |
| Year | 1929 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas[1] |
| Dimensions | 108.6 cm × 68.9 cm (42.8 in × 27.1 in) |
| Location | Art Gallery of Ontario[1] |
The Indian Church[2][3][4][5] (renamed Church at Yuquot Village in 2018 by the Art Gallery of Ontario)[6] is a 1929 painting by Canadian artist Emily Carr.[7] Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris bought the painting to showcase it in his dining room,[7] and called it Carr's best work.[1][8] In 1930, the work was shown in the Fifth Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art organised by the National Gallery of Canada. In 1938, the painting was chosen for an exhibition titled A Century of Canadian Art, at the Tate Gallery. The exhibition was described by Vincent Massey as "a most representative showing of Canadian painting and sculpture, including all schools and all periods."[1]
The Indian Church is considered a "transitional" painting because it reflects the transition of Carr's artistic work from purely depicting Native Art to shifting her focus toward the land.[7] In her 1946 autobiography, Growing Pains, Carr wrote that she "felt the subject deeply".[3] She painted it at Friendly Cove, near a lighthouse.[3]
When Carr saw her painting in Harris's home, she exclaimed: "The house must have bewitched this thing! It was better than I had thought."[7] However she could not continue to look at it, because people in the room were saying kind things and she could not accept praise and felt embarrassed when others complimented her about her work.[7]
The Indian Church is one of Carr's most reproduced works,[4] and was donated to the Art Gallery of Ontario by Charles Band upon his 1969 death.[9]
- ^ a b c d Lisa Baldissera. "Emily Carr Life & Work". Art Canada Institute.
- ^ Kate Braid; Wayne Larsen (10 December 2013). Canadian Artists Bundle: Emily Carr / Tom Thomson / James Wilson Morrice. Dundurn. p. 116. ISBN 978-1-4597-2790-8.
- ^ a b c Emily Carr (1 December 2009). Growing Pains: The Autobiography of Emily Carr. D & M Publishers. p. 304. ISBN 978-1-926685-94-6.
- ^ a b Lewis Desoto (17 February 2009). Extraordinary Canadians: Emily Carr. Penguin Canada. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-14-317513-1.
- ^ Emily Carr; Doris Shadbolt (1993). The Emily Carr Omnibus. Douglas & McIntyre. pp. 452–453. ISBN 978-1-55054-031-4.
- ^ "Art gallery renames Emily Carr's 'hurtful' Indian Church, but critics say it's the wrong approach". National Post. 22 May 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Phyllis Marie Jensen (14 December 2015). Artist Emily Carr and the Spirit of the Land: A Jungian Portrait. Routledge. pp. 97–100. ISBN 978-1-317-51886-0.
At this stage, several paintings are best described as transitional as they blend her First nation Art with her later focus on the land. Indian Church (1929) is a prime example of this transition. Lawren Harris praised it, bought it, hung it in his dining room, sent it to exhibitions and bequeathed it to the Art Gallery of Ontario. (p. 98) [...] Emily tells of seeing her painting Indian Church (1929) in Harris's Toronto home and thinking "The house must have bewitched this thing! It was better than I thought." Yet, she found herself unable to look at it because people were saying kind things and she was unused to praise and felt embarrassed. (p. 98)
- ^ Kate Braid (1 January 2001). Emily Carr. Dundurn. pp. 104–105. ISBN 978-1-77070-707-8.
- ^ Joan Murray (10 January 1996). Confessions of a Curator: Adventures in Canadian Art. Dundurn. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-4597-2237-8.