Emily Carr was a Canadian artist and writer. She was one of the first painters in Canada to adopt a Modernist and Post-Impressionist painting style.
Background
Emily Carr was born on December 13, 1871 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, in the family of Richard and Emily (Saunders) Carr. Emily Carr was the second-youngest of nine children. The Carr home was on Government Street, in the James Bay district of Victoria, a short distance from the legislative buildings and the town itself.
The Carr children were raised on English tradition. The family home was made up in lavish English fashion, with high ceilings, ornate mouldings, and a parlour. Carr was taught in the Presbyterian tradition, with Sunday morning prayers and evening Bible readings. Richard Carr called on one child per week to recite the sermon, and Emily consistently had trouble reciting it.
Carr's mother died in 1886, and her father died in 1888.
Education
Emily was educated at home until age seven. Then she attended local primary and secondary schools, and had private art lessons. She studied at the San Francisco Art Institute for two years in 1890–1892 before returning to Victoria. In 1899 Carr traveled to London, where she studied at the Westminster School of Art. In 1910-1911 Emily attended Academie Colarossi in Paris, France.
Career
Carr took a teaching position in Vancouver at the "Ladies Art Club" that she held just for a month because she was unpopular amongst her students due to her rude behaviour of smoking and cursing at them in class, and the students began to boycott her courses.
In 1898, at age 27, Carr made the first of several sketching and painting trips to aboriginal villages. Her oil paintings and other works housed in museums, galleries, and collections, including Vancouver Art Gallery. In 1928 Emily illustrated a book on Indians by Marius Barbeau. Beginning in 1913, she ran a boarding-house, made pottery and carpets, and bred sheepdogs.
Religion
Emily had a “distrust for institutional religion.”
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
... an artist of stunning originality and strength.
