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LOT 118

BCSFA CGP
1871 - 1945
Canadian

Street, Alert Bay
oil on canvas, 1912
signed M. Emily Carr
32 x 23 3/8 in, 81.3 x 59.4 cm

Estimate: $2,000,000 - $3,000,000 CAD

Sold for: $2,401,250

Preview at:

PROVENANCE
Dominion Gallery, Montreal, on consignment from Emily Carr, titled as Alert Bay, Mother in Foreground (A64), August 4, 1944
Acquired from Emily Carr by Dominion Gallery, Montreal, titled as Street, Alert Bay, October 28, 1944
Captain A.P. Van Stolk, Montreal, October 28, 1944
Dominion Gallery, Montreal, December 15, 1944
Laing Galleries, Toronto, April 1, 1945
Private Collection, Florida, circa 1959
By descent to the present Private Collection, Toronto

LITERATURE
“Miss Carr Replies,” The Daily Province (Vancouver), April 8, 1912, page 5
Paintings and Watercolours by Emily Carr, Dominion Gallery, 1944, reproduced front cover and listed
“Works by Emily Carr at Dominion Gallery,” The Gazette (Montreal), October 21, 1944, reproduced
Iris Smallwood, “Author, Artist, Emily Carr Is Also Fascinating Person,” The Standard (Montreal), November 25, 1944, reproduced
“Emily Carr,” Canadian Art, vol. 2, no. 3, March 1945, pages 115 – 119, reproduced
Emily Carr, Growing Pains, 1946, page 309
Marius Barbeau, Totem Poles According to Location, National Museum of Canada, 1950, vol. 2, reproduced page 678, titled as Alert Bay in 1912, listed page 873
Marius Barbeau, Totem Poles According to Crests and Topics, National Museum of Canada, 1951, vol. 1, Totem Poles, a description of the whale totem, page 289
Maria Tippett, Emily Carr: A Biography, 1979, pages 75, 76 and 92

EXHIBITED
Dominion Hall, Vancouver, Paintings of Indian Totem Poles and Indian Life by Emily Carr, opened April 16, 1913
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Exhibition of Canadian West Coast Art - Native and Modern, December 2 – 31, 1927, traveling in 1928 to the Art Gallery of Toronto and Art Association of Montreal, listed as either catalogue #3, titled as Alert Bay, West Coast, or as catalogue #11, 22 or 23, titled as Alert Bay
Dominion Gallery, Montreal, Paintings and Watercolours by Emily Carr, October 19 - November 9, 1944, titled as Street, Alert Bay / Une rue, Baie Alert, catalogue #2
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, extended loan, 1979 – 1981
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Emily Carr, June 29 - September 3, 1990, catalogue #25
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Emily Carr: New Perspectives on a Canadian Icon, June 2 - September 4, 2006, traveling in 2006 - 2008 to the Vancouver Art Gallery; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; and Glenbow Museum, Calgary, catalogue #32
Vancouver Art Gallery, extended loan, 2007 – 2017
Vancouver Art Gallery, In Dialogue with Carr: Douglas Coupland, Evan Lee, Liz Magor and Marianne Nicolson, July 1, 2010 - January 3, 2011


Literature continued:

Paula Blanchard, The Life of Emily Carr, 1987, pages 120 and 121

Doris Shadbolt, Emily Carr, 1990, the 1912 oil on canvas entitled Alert Bay (with Welcome Figure), a view of this street from the opposite direction, reproduced page 106

Ian M. Thom, Emily Carr in France, Vancouver Art Gallery, 1991, page 28

Gerta Moray, Northwest Coast Native Culture and the Early Indian Paintings of Emily Carr, 1899 - 1913, PhD thesis, University of Toronto, 1993, vol. 1, Carr’s trip to Alert Bay and images discussed pages 251, 254, 257, 273 - 278 and 369 - 372; vol. 2, listed page 15, reproduced E.1/35, unpaginated

Charles C. Hill et al., Emily Carr: New Perspectives on a Canadian Icon, National Gallery of Canada, 2006, pages 63 and 107, reproduced page 145, illustration #105

Gerta Moray, Unsettling Encounters: First Nations Imagery in the Art of Emily Carr, 2006, a photograph of this street by C.F. Newcombe in 1913 reproduced page 88; the 1909 watercolour entitled An Indian Village with a view of this street reproduced page 155; the circa 1908 watercolour entitled Alert Bay, of this street from the opposite direction, reproduced page 165; the circa 1912 oil on canvas entitled Totem Pole, in the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, with a close-up of the first totem, reproduced page 173; Carr’s Alert Bay visit discussed pages 86 - 89, 94 - 95 and 124; and her studio works after the trip discussed pages 133 - 135

Sarah Milroy and Ian Desjardin, editors, From the Forest to the Sea: Emily Carr in British Columbia, Art Gallery of Ontario and Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2014, culture in Alert Bay discussed pages 52 – 57; a photograph of this street reproduced page 52; and the oil on canvas Totem Pole (Alert Bay) reproduced page 53

For full cataloguing, essay and images in PDF format, please click here.


Estimate: $2,000,000 - $3,000,000 CAD

All prices are in Canadian Dollars


Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information posted, errors and omissions may occur. All bids are subject to our Terms and Conditions of Business. Bidders must ensure they have satisfied themselves with the condition of the Lot prior to bidding. Condition reports are available upon request.