Emily Carr 1871 - 1945

Dominion Gallery, Montréal
Private Collection, Montréal

Emily Carr in France, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, June 22 - September 22, 1991, no. 39

Ian M. Thom, Emily Carr in France, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, 1991, p. 29, and p. 41, reproduced in colour.

In 1910 and 1911, Emily Carr studied in France with a series of instructors who would open her eyes and encourage her to experiment with tone and perspective as she hadn’t before. During this time, her confidence and artistic style would undergo a profound change, particularly in the spring and summer months; as Ian Thom asserts, “the watercolours from the summer of 1911 are perhaps the most important of the works which Carr executed in France.”

The days spent beneath the bright Breton sun would see Carr work with a vigour undiscovered during her earlier periods of study in San Francisco, London and Paris, where, stifled by the bustle and pollution of city life, she felt exhausted, inhibited and uninspired.

Fauvist influences are notable in several components of the work—the building across the way and the folds of the woman’s skirt are distinguished by freely applied brushstrokes, and the lefthand interior background is demarcated by flat, loose planes of colour. In stark contrast to these elements, however, are the knitter’s carefully-wrought, lifelike hands and the attentive, focused expression on her face, which Carr has lovingly distinguished, indicating her admiration for the woman diligently working on her craft.

In Woman Knitting, Carr imbues a quiet interior scene with electrifying energy. Sunshine dances on the windowsill, flooding the room with luminosity, while an exhilarating palette of blues, greens and purples elevate the everyday task to a moment of sheer delight.