British Columbia Women Artists, 1885-1985: An Exhibition Organized by Nicholas Tuele at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

Patricia Vervoort is an assistant professor of art history at Lakehead
University.

Organized by Nicholas Tuele, Curator of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, this exhibition catalogue celebrates women artists of B.C.; the exhibition toured the province from December 1984 to February 1986. Tuele’s introductory essay explains the exhibition’s purpose as “a first step in resurrecting certain lost chapters of our province’s history.” An “Index of B.C. Women Artists” is included, along with pleas for additional names and information. Christine Johnson-Dean’s essay is entitled “B.C. Women Artists: 1885-1920,” and “B.C. Women Artists: 1920-1950” was written by Roberta Pazdro. A Bibliography, a list of the Exhibition Contents (68 works), and twelve color plates (plus two on the covers) complete the catalogue. No “indigenous art” is included and the exhibition has “no central theme so as to be as inclusive as possible.”

As the essays make clear, this small catalogue represents a beginning step in recording the artistic activity of women in British Columbia. The index of over 700 names also points out some of the research difficulties encountered; some names occur without dates, others have only birth or flourishing dates. Some are maiden names only — such as Sophia Pemberton, though her two marriages are mentioned in the text. Roberta Pazdro lists some of the problems encountered in compiling the history of women artists such as the changing of names and the lack of works or papers in public collections. Most of the names are unfamiliar, thus this catalogue does achieve its purpose of drawing attention to the amount of artistic activity in B.C. over the last century.