Marilyn Jones | Emily Carr Chronicler

The relationship between Marius Barbeau and Emily Carr was one of the most consequential in Canadian art history. Although they were never close personal friends, Barbeau became one of her earliest and most influential champions at a pivotal moment in her life. After decades of artistic struggle, financial hardship, and professional isolation, Carr was 56 years old when she finally caught the break that transformed her career and long eluded her.

Tate Gallery’s A Century of Canadian Art was one of the most important international exhibitions in the history of Canadian art. Organized by Canada’s National Gallery and opening at London in October 1938, it was the first comprehensive historical survey of Canadian art ever shown overseas. It introduced British audiences to the breadth of Canadian artistic achievement, from early colonial portraiture and religious carving to modern landscape painting by the Group of Seven…

Emily Carr, aged 39, returned for her second trip to Europe in 1910 and spent 16 months working and living in France. By that time, Carr had been painting seriously for about 20 years. She had studied in San Francisco and in England, and she had started travelling to and painting Indigenous communities on Vancouver Island. Read more: How Marius Barbeau Helped Launch Emily Carr’s Career On her return…