Discover the power of art on your next trip to Vancouver with a visit to the Vancouver Art Gallery, one of North America’s most exciting and innovative visual arts institutions. Four Iconic works by renowned Canadian Modernist painter Emily Carr are on view as well as ground-breaking exhibitions and selections from the permanent collection. Open 7 days a week, a visit to the Gallery is an opportunity to meditate on more than a century’s worth of Canadian and international art, from historical masters to contemporary visionaries.

Enhance your experience by attending one of the Gallery’s engaging special events, educational tours or programs designed for families, youth and art enthusiasts of all ages. Weekly Family Programs are featured every Sunday—free for children 12 and under—your kids will gain a unique appreciation for the arts with activities that bring the exhibitions to life.

Spend time in the Gallery Store; a locals’ favorite for one-of-a kind-gifts or refuel in the Gallery Bistro; an eatery with a reputation for great food and an outdoor patio that is one of Vancouver’s hidden gems.

History, the Permanent Exhibitions and Emily Carr

The Vancouver Art Gallery had been telling stories through art for nearly 90 years. It made its debut in 1931 with a collection of British historical paintings and only seven works by Canadian artists. Those humble beginnings became the foundation for a collection of more than 12,000 pieces including significant works by Indigenous artists as well as collections in the recently established Asian Institute for Art. The gallery has a rich repository of works by Vancouverites such as Jeff Wall, Stan Douglas, Rodney Graham, Roy Arden, Ian Wallace and others as well as historical landscapes, 17th-century Dutch paintings and one of North America’s most important photographic collections by icons such as Ansel Adams, Cindy Sherman and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

The Vancouver Art Gallery has an impressive record of exhibitions by historical, international masters such as Monet and Picasso as well as presentations of important works by Emily Carr and other respected British Columbian, Canadian and Indigenous artists. Historical projects are often exhibited concurrently with contemporary art presentations, connecting past and present perspectives. We recommend you check the Gallery website for current exhibition information.

CURRENT AND UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

The Tin Man Was A Dreamer: Allegories, Poetics and Performances Of Power  – March 21 to August 23, 2020

Presented at a time that coincides with presidential and congressional election campaigns in the United States, ‘The Tin Man Was a Dreamer: Allegories, Poetics and Performances of Power’ subtly responds to this historical moment by examining the ways in which power is constructed, experienced and communicated.

Victor Vasarely: Sharing Forms – June 27 to October 18, 2020

Organized by the Centre Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, in collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery, this vibrant exhibition offers a selected survey of the art of Victor Vasarely, internationally renowned for his paintings, screenprints, sculptures, graphic design and architectural integrations. Recognized as the founder of the Op Art movement, Vasarely sought to bring harmony and happiness to the broadest possible audience through the widespread production and distribution of art and applied design.

Rhythm, Rapture And The Tree of Life: Emily Carr and her Contemporaries  December 7, 2019 – June 26, 2020

Emily Carr (1871–1945) is an iconic Canadian artist who is widely recognized for her paintings of the forested landscapes of British Columbia that evoke the possibility for transcending the material world through the colour, shapes and rhythms of nature.

This exhibition looks at the art of Emily Carr in relation to work by her female Indigenous and Euro-Canadian contemporaries in this region.

Shuvinai Ashoona: Mapping Worlds – February 22 to May 24, 2020

Shuvinai Ashoona: Mapping Worlds presents drawings by the Inuk artist Shuvinai Ashoona created over the past two decades.

Ashoona was born in Cape Dorset, Nunavut, in 1961 and is a mid-career artist who has lived in Kinngait, on the southern tip of Baffin Island, for most of her life. Her work demonstrates her wide-ranging interests in different narratives that blur the boundaries between the worlds of reality and fantasy, past and future.

lineages and land bases – February 22 – May 24, 2020

lineages and land bases presents a comparison of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh basketry and Emily Carr’s late landscape paintings alongside artworks from the Vancouver Art Gallery’s permanent collection from the 1960s onward to explore ideas of subjectivity and personhood in relation to the natural world.

Modern in the Making: Post-war Craft and Design in British Columbia – April 10 – September 20, 2020

In the three decades following the Second World War, thousands of people immigrated to British Columbia seeking the benefits of its resource-based economy, mild climate, natural amenities and inventive spirit. This optimistic post-war environment fostered the development of exceptional design and craft practices deeply influenced by the tenets of modernism: simplicity, fine craftsmanship and functional design for everyday use.

Comprising 300 works, Modern in the Making: Post-War Craft and Design in British Columbia examines the furniture, ceramics, textiles, fashion, jewellery and industrial design that defined West Coast modern living in the mid-20th century. It reveals the multiple ways that modernism was interpreted in British Columbia, with inflections of local histories, immigration patterns, diverse materials and other realities, while recognizing that this cultural movement was inherently tied to colonial expansion.

First Image Credit: Emily Carr, Deep Forest, c. 1931, oil on canvas, Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Emily Carr Trust, Photo: Vancouver Art Gallery