Indian War Canoe (Alert Bay)

Emily Carr had a keen interest in the life and ways of the Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast. Between 1907 and 1913, she visited many villages, bringing back more than two hundred sketches depicting their art and activities. In her works, she tried to grasp the spirit of their culture. This brightly coloured war canoe, executed in the summer of 1912, also recalls the Fauvist painting she had seen in France. Not until the exhibition Canadian West Coast Art: Native and Modern, in 1927-1928, did the isolated artist received her first major recognition, and her meeting with artists from the East, particularly Lawren Harris, launched her career.