Overview of Emily Carr the Artist

Running head: EMILY CARR, THE ARTIST 1
Emily Carr, the Artist
Name
Institution

EMILY CARR, THE ARTIST 2
Emily Carr, the Artist
Introduction
There are many factors may make the artist famous. Some of these factors include quality
work and creativity. Also, hard work, as well as developing an individual style, remains at the
heart of becoming a good artist. The artist who will be discussed in this paper is Emily Carr.
Emily Carr was born in the year 1871 in Canada. She was the youngest in the family of five
daughters. The children of Carr were raised on the tradition of English. Emily was a westerner
and an independent woman who gained recognition at a time when women artists and western
Canadians were not recognized globally. Emily lived in a time where there are limited
opportunities for women. Emily travelled extensively across the world, learning from American,
European, as well as indigenous form and acquiring formal training with private professionals.
Many people saw the trips of Emily into the deep forest as somewhat eccentric as well as the
appropriate thing. In the mature paintings of Carr, for example, the tremendous Indian Church
(1929), nature remains a furious vortex of organic growth portrayed with curving shapes that
help in the creation of the impression of constant transformation.
The paintings of Emily were known as well as popular. For instance, her book, 'Klee
Wyck' won the award in the year 1941. Emily became famous due to many reasons. First of all,
the most significant predictor of fame mainly for an artist in this world is having a network of
communication and contact from different nations (Pearson, 2016). Emily travelled extensively
around the globe, learning from American, European to gain a network of contact as well as
communication with other people. Many researchers argue that artist is cosmopolitan and it has
the capacity of reaching different countries when there is a network. Emily indeed had a network
of contact with different artists from Canada and other parts of the world, such as France. The
other thing that makes Emily prosper in her work is the ability to take the risk. Most of the risks

EMILY CARR, THE ARTIST 3
taken by Emily are calculated as well as based on experience. Emily was not afraid of making
drastic changes in her art. But most of the risks taken were not reckless. The ability to take the
risk made her improve her work through the learning of different things from other people and
then making changes where necessary. This, in turn, improved her work.
The family of Emily played an essential role in the prominence of Emily. The parents of
Carr were British immigrants who had lived in Victoria, where her father developed to be one of
the prosperous merchants at that time. Richard Carr, who is the father of Emily, had a significant
influence on Emily (Halliday, 2015). Richard greatly encouraged the artistic inclination of Emily
in different ways. For instance, Richard sent Emily to public schools instead of the private
schools that were considered as the proper education for the girls. His gift to her daughter, Emily
on her 11th birthday, was a book entitled, The Boy's Book of Natural History', and he
strengthened her independence as well as spirit.
Additionally, his authoritarianism, as well as sternness, contributed to her early sense of
rebellion and alienation. This she depicted in most of her journals and books that she produced
all over her life (Fidyk, 2014). Emily father used his resources to ensure that she went to school
and acquire the necessary knowledge and skill needed. He also allowed Emily to follow her
career in art by sponsoring some of the essential study trips outside the country.
A study trip to England also contributed to the success of Emily. At a tender age, Emily
went to Francisco mainly to study art (Bjørhovde, 2014). And after she returned home, she
started painting in watercolour as well as created art classes mostly for the children. In 1989
Emily travelled to England, and this did advance her career in art (Braid & Larsen, 2013). When
she returned to Canada, she became aware that the larger world of art incorporated more than
actual conventional art which she practised at that time. Her urge to finding more about the new

EMILY CARR, THE ARTIST 4
modernist art also contributed to her success. In the year 1910, Emily was determined to discover
more about the new modernist art; she travelled with her sister to France. In France, she entered
different classes at Studio Colarossi. Emily had a private study with Harry Gibb, who was the
British expatriate. This private study significantly improved her art. Emily was greatly
influenced by the Fauvists and the post-impressionists she met while studying in France (Jensen,
2015). Also, in France, Emily created her own bold, colourful style of painting that she brought
back to Canada. Also, the influence of PNS (Pacific Northwest School) pushed her life to the
next stage. In the year 1924, Emily exhibited at the PN shows in Washington. She met with Mark
Tobey who again came to visit her in her studio in the year 1928 (Kürtösi, 2011). Working
together with Mark in her studio improved her understanding of modern art, experimenting with
Mark’s methods of cubism and abstraction.
The preoccupation of Emily with the indigenous culture also triggered her prominence.
Emily addressed the issues that face the people through her work. And the use of Aboriginal
images has served to draw attention to her social relevance (Shaw, 2015). Also, her fervent
involvement with nature and the environmental issues that affect the people made her become
one of the successful women artists. Emily is viewed as an environmentalist because he painted
prophetic, insightful images of both clear cut mountainsides and lush forest (Modigliani, 2018).
She was deeply respectful as well as aware of the cultural diversity of the country she was living
in. Emily indeed attempted to capture the spirit of Canada in a contemporary style. The main
themes in most of the work that Emily did were nature and natives.
Emily represented the issues that affect women in the society. During that time, most of
the women had devastating obstacles that prevented their growth. Because of this, Most of the

EMILY CARR, THE ARTIST 5
people, especially women, supported her work because she tried to uplift them. Through her
work, most of the women gain recognition and respect from their male counterparts.
Also, having a well-established business mind, Emily was good at setting goals, making
effective plans, as well as working out the best method to attain them. Emily also knows how to
work efficiently and effectively with other people in the industry while maintaining self-
discipline and self-control. Emily chose those who she associated with carefully. These made
her met good people who encouraged her in her career (MacKenzie, 2019). For instance, meeting
Lawren Harris was the best thing that advances the art of Emily. Harris became a pivotal mentor
to Emily. We all know that successful artists often benefited from having a good mentor who
also an artist. As a mentor, he assisted Emily to develop her art practice. He provided Emily with
counsel, expertise; advice, encouragement, as well as motivation that she may need to attain her
goal (Zerbe, 2016). Also, Emily gained essential knowledge and experience from the group in
which the leader was her mentor. Harris, who was a man full of wealth and a leader to the group,
became an enthusiastic supporter of Emily. Therefore, it is clear that Emily’s artistic direction
was greatly influenced by Lawren Harris and the Group not only by the work of the group but by
the belief of Harris in Theosophy (Somerville, 2017). Emily became strongly influenced by the
thought of Theosophic, like the other artists of her time. Harris made Emily led a spiritual way of
life and fear of God. This made her be successful in life. The fear of God also made her learn the
importance of relating well with other people in the industry. Other things inspired Emily to be
one of the best in the industry. For example, it is true that the monkey was inspired by Woo, the
monkey (Tippett, 2019).
Additionally, Emily was prosperous because she created a new way of painting of her
own. Her work was different from most of the other artist in the industry during her time. Even

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though Emily is generally compared with Georgia O'Keeffe, most of her works were quite
unique. It is true that the reputation of Emily today was due to her original work. The two themes
that Emily used in her work, Aboriginal culture as well as the natural world where are of the
factors that made most of the ordinary individuals in Canada and other parts of the world to
access her work (Roche, 2012). The national events and ceremonies that Emily attended also
made her famous because many people knew her through these events. For instance, Emily was
invited to attend numerous exhibitions in Canada such as West Coast Aboriginal art (Webb &
Laing, 2015). Through these exhibitions, she managed to meet with important people in the
industry. For instance, she met with one of the famous group in Canada known as the Group of
Seven. This group made many people remember her because the members of the group promoted
her work.
Emily learned the importance of working hard in attaining the set goals. Working hard
taught her determination, dedication and discipline. This is true because to attain anything in life;
an individual has to hard work (Roberts, 2018). Though Emily had many challenges, such as the
death of her parents, she continued to work hard mainly by pursuing her goal and completing her
education. Today, Emily is known by many people because of the good things she did during her
time. Lastly, persistence indeed remains the quality that enabled Emily to continue doing her
work even though she encountered many challenges. Emily had persistence in learning new
skills, and this made her produced quality work which most people enjoy today.
Conclusion
This paper discussed some of the reasons for the prominence of Emily Carr. This paper
discussed the work of Emily because she was the only women in Canada during her time that
changed the ideas that many people had on women. She developed her way of painting by

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producing original work. From this paper, we found that Emily became famous because of her
creativity and following her goals strictly. She learned how to present her ideas in original ways,
and this did her work to be original. Also, we learned that having a close mentor is one of the
factors that make Emily successful in the industry. She knew how to select people to interact and
share ideas. From this paper, we learned that many traits might make a person successful in life.
Some of them are being ambitious, observant, as well as original, can make an individual
successful. We also learned the importance of having a supporting family. Emily father took her
to school and also supported her career mainly by buying her a book during her birthday
celebration.

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References
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171-182.
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