Robert Davidson: Eagle of the Dawn

Politics & Social Sciences

JONAITIS, Aldona

Jones, Marianne

Thom, Ian M.

Social Sciences

University of Washington Press

In the past few decades, contemporary Native American artists of the Northwest Coast have made a name for themselves as among the most dynamic and important artists working in North America. Challenging Traditions celebrates this success by presenting the work of forty top living artists whose works highlight the exciting combination of contemporary vitality and traditional roots.For more than a century, Native Americans were actively discouraged from pursuing their traditional cultures by both the church and state, but they persisted in keeping alive their arts and ceremonies. With the rise of cultural and political activism, Native art is now flourishing on an unprecedented scale. Many artists are examining the meaning and purpose of Native American art in the twenty-first century, while following traditions and boldly experimenting with innovative subjects, techniques, and materials.Ian Thom explores these contradictions by describing the career, working methods, and philosophy of each artist, all of whom he interviewed especially for this book. He also discusses at least two significant recent works by each artist.Both senior and younger artists from the Northwest Coast are featured, working in a variety of media and styles: groundbreaking abstract painting and metal sculpture, painstaking woven spruce root hats and ceremonial woolen robes, works in glass, masks, carved panels, painted drums, striking political paintings, "Haida manga," jewelry, carved argillite works, and bentwood boxes.This book is a beautiful, provocative introduction to contemporary Native American art of the Northwest Coast, in the words and works of some of its leading lights. Among the artists and their work are:--Robert Davidson (Haida)--Alano Edzerz (Tahltan)--Preston Singletary (Tlingit)--Dempsey Bob (Tahltan-Tlingit)--Beau Dick (Kwakwaka'wakw)--Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun (Coast Salish)--Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Haida)--Shawn Hunt (Heiltsuk)--Jay Simeon (Haida)

Challenging Traditions: Contemporary First Nations Art of the Northwest Coast

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Gordon Appelbe Smith, painter and printmaker, was born in Sussex, England in 1919. He emigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba with his family in 1933. In 1937 he studied at the Winnipeg School of Art. He exhibited for the first time in his career in 1938 with the Manitoba Society of Artists. Smith joined the Canadian infantry and was posted for service in Britain, Scotland, and then Sicily, where he was severely injured and was discharged from the army. In 1946 he graduated from the Vancouver School of Art and began teaching there a few months later. In 1947, Smith had a solo exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery. In 1951, he traveled to study at the California School of Fine Arts.In 1955, Gordon Smith won first prize at the first Biennial of Canadian Painting at the National Gallery of Canada for his painting Structure With Red Sun. In 1956, he joined the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, and exhibited at the Guggenheim International show in New York. In 1961, he had his first commercial show at the New Design Gallery in Vancouver. In the 70's, Smith had several solo exhibitions at the Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, and the Marlborough-Godard Gallery in Montreal and Toronto. In 1976, the Vancouver Art Gallery held a retrospective on Gordon Smith's work. In the 80's Smith continued to exhibit with Bau-Xi gallery in Vancouver and Mira Godard Gallery in Toronto. In 1994, Smith withdrew from the Bau-Xi Gallery to exhibit at the Equinox Gallery in Vancouver. In 1997, Gordon Smith had a retrospective exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery.In 1996, Gordon Smith was appointed to the Order of Canada. In 2001, he was appointed to the Order of B.C. for outstanding achievement. His works can be found in the collections of numerous Canadian and international museums, and corporate collections across Canada. He is regarded as one of the leading abstract artists in Canada today

Gordon Smith: The act of painting

Hunter, Andrew

Vancouver Art Gallery

Smith, Gordon A.

Douglas&McIntyre

Art BC presents -- in full colour -- 100 outstanding works by 84 of British Columbiaï??s foremost artists. Finally, we have the much-needed history of the visual arts in British Columbia, one that also properly integrates our great heritage of First Nations art into the mainstream. In the introduction, Ian M. Thom outlines the art history of the province over the past century. He also writes clearly and thoughtfully about each work individually, setting it in context to reflect the times in which it was made, describing the artistï??s achievements, and placing the artist and the work into the art history of British Columbia.

Art BC: Masterworks from British Columbia

This book is out of print. This copy is in pristine condition. It has not been opened until today. E. J. Hughes (1913-2007) is famous for his strong and appealing images of the landscape and seascape of British Columbia and of Canada. His paintings are well loved for their compelling clarity tinged with an air of mystery, a sense of wonder and love of the beauty of shore, sea and sky. His unique talent for depicting the landscape in a way that both he and viewers believe it should be, rather than the way it actually is, allows a newer and deeper understanding of this part of the world. This book, lavishly illustrated, with 100 full-colour and 25 black-and-white images, is the first full-scale volume to honour the artistic life and work of Hughes. It was written by Vancouver Art Gallery Senior Curator Ian Thom, published in 2002 by Douglas &amp; McIntyre, and was the catalogue of the 2003 Hughes exhibition organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery.

E. J. Hughes

Hughes, E. J.

Douglas & McIntyre, Ltd

Contemporary First Nations artists of the Northwest Coast have long been among the most dynamic, important artists working in North America. Their art is a visible manifestation of the extraordinary cultural explosion that has transformed First Nations life up and down the B.C. coast.
 Through their own words and artwork, Ian Thom examines the career, working methods and philosophy of forty active artists, all of whom he has interviewed. Featured in Challenging Traditions are their works, often combining new materials and old traditions, as well as extensive passages from conversations with these established and up-and-coming artists from the Pacific Northwest Coast, including:
 <ul>
 <li>the painting and sculpture of Robert Davidson (Haida)</li>
 <li>glass sculpture by Alano Edzerza (Tahltan) and Preston Singletary (Tlingit)</li>
 <li>carvings by elders Dempsey Bob (Tahltan-Tlingit) and Beau Dick (Kwakwaka’wakw)</li>
 <li>paintings by Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun (Coast Salish)</li>
 <li>the “Haida manga” of Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas</li>
 <li>jewellery by young artists Shawn Hunt (Heiltsuk) and Jay Simeon (Haida)</li>
 
</ul>

Throughout the history of the Vancouver Art Gallery, gifts from private art collectors have played a vital role in building and expanding the institution's collection, providing economic support for artists and encouraging discussions of history and culture within the community. The gallery has regularly recognized the quality of these private collections and acknowledged the dedication of their owners with such exhibitions as Real Pictures: Photographs from the Collection of Claudia Beck and Andrew Gruft (2005); Determined Pursuit: Highlights from the Longstaffe Collection (2004); Vancouver Collects (2001). Continuing in that tradition is Shore, Forest and Beyond, an exhibition of 100 works gathered from the collection assembled by Michael Audain over the past two decades. While his focus has been largely on representations of British Columbia's geography and culture-together with the works of British Columbia-based artists-from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, another facet of the collection focusses on Mexican modernism through the works of Diego Rivera and Rufino Tamayo, among others. Arranged thematically, the exhibition and this accompanying publication address the breadth of the collection as well as Audain's donations to the Vancouver Art Gallery's holdings. Among the highlights of their Northwest Coast holdings are mid-nineteenth-century masks by Haida, Nuxalk, Salish, Tlingit and Tsimshian carvers as well as contemporary works by such First Nations artists as Robert Davidson, Reg Davidson, Beau Dick, Richard Hunt, Brian Jungen, Marianne Nicolson and Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. Other notable aspects of the British Columbia collection include paintings by Emily Carr, B.C. Binning and E.J. Hughes together with contemporary works by Roy Arden, Gathie Falk, Rodney Graham, Angela Grossman, Ken Lum, Takao Tanabe and Etienne Zack. Taken together, these artworks speak evocatively to diverse conceptions of place and acknowledge the importance of Audain and his partner, Yoshiko Kurasawa, as patrons who have contributed significantly to the development of Canada's West Coast as an important centre of contemporary culture. This book accompanies a show at the Vancouver Art Gallery from October 29, 2011 to January 29, 2012.

Shore, Forest and Beyond: Art from the Audain Collection

Arnold, Grant

A unique collection spanning two hundred years of British Columbia’s remarkable visual art. Art is a window into culture and history, and there is no collection that portrays the astonishing breadth of British Columbia’s art from the eighteenth century to the present as superbly as the one at the Audain Art Museum in Whistler. This beautiful book brings together in a single volume many highlights from the museum’s permanent galleries. Among the early works are exquisitely produced First Nations masks, many of them repatriated to British Columbia from collections around the world. Also of significant interest are a wide selection of works by Emily Carr and E. J. Hughes that span their entire careers, as well as some of the most vivid depictions of the regional landscape by Frederick Varley and William Weston. Stunning examples of modernism by Lawren Harris and B. C. Binning presage images by innovative practitioners such as Jack Shadbolt, Toni Onley, Gordon Smith and Claude Breeze. And most familiar to contemporary audiences are innovative works by photo-conceptual artists such as Jeff Wall, Rodney Graham, Ken Lum and Stephen Waddell and career-defining contemporary art by First Nations artists such as Bill Reid, Robert Davidson, Beau Dick, Brian Jungen, Sonny Assu and Marianne Nicolson. Interviews with John and Patricia Patkau, the award-winning architects of the building, and art collector and philanthropist Michael Audain set the works in context. This is the definitive guide not only to the museum but to the history of art in British Columbia.

Masterworks from the Audain Art Museum, Whistler

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Figure 1 Publishing

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Thom, Ian M.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Thom, Ian M.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Thom, Ian M.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Robert Davidson: Eagle of the Dawn

Challenging Traditions: Contemporary First Nations Art of the Northwest Coast

Gordon Smith: The act of painting

Art BC: Masterworks from British Columbia

E. J. Hughes

Challenging Traditions: Contemporary First Nations Art of the Northwest Coast

Shore, Forest and Beyond: Art from the Audain Collection

Masterworks from the Audain Art Museum, Whistler