Canadian Art Research Articles

The royalists, the realists, and the radicals: A comparative analysis of arts funding in Canada and The United States

As part of Task Force deliberations, The Cultural Policy Institute was engaged to collect comparative data on selected arts institutions in Canada and the United States. Our research is intended to provide a comparative context along several key dimensions underlying the prospects for expanded private support. The effort included interviews with Canadian arts administrators for their perceptions of the funding climate in Canada, and their suggestions for government actions to help expand private sector support.

Infinite Variety or a Canadian 'National' Theatre: Roly Young and the Toronto Civic Theatre Association, 1945-1949

The founding of the Civic Theatre Association in Toronto in 1945, and its four-season production history until 1949, provide a microcosm of the embryonic development stage of post-World War II indigenous Canadian theatre. Created through the merger of fourteen Toronto-area amateur companies under the leadership of the film and theatre critic Roly Young (1903-48), the CTA sought to finance adequate theatre facilities and to provide work opportunities and appreciative audiences for Canadian artists and playwrights. Young's opposition to the principle of government arts subsidies to create a Canadian 'national' theatre placed him in direct conflict with the organizational work of John Coulter and Herman Voaden at the Arts and Letters Club and the Canadian Arts Council.

THE ACQUISITION OF EARLY CANADIAN ART IN THE PICTURE DIVISION OF THE PUBLIC ARCHIVES OF CANADA AND IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA

Besides the library, the art historian's most important tool is obviously the art gallery. But there is still another, perhaps less obvious tool, namely the archives. They offer the art historian the opportunity to examine original documents which can help in establishing provenance, authorship, etc., of a work of art. Use of archival collections can also help in tracing the history of a region or time period, the use of a medium, and the development of a style. Those carrying out research in Canadian art have at their disposal good examples of these two important tools in the National Capital Region of Ottawa-Hull, namely the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) and the Picture Division (PicDiv) of the Public Archives of Canada (PAC). To broaden the discussion of the contributions these two types of institutions make, and to illustrate the difference between them, this essay examines acquisition policies of the PicDiv and the NGC. The PicDiv may be referred to as a national department of history; the N...

Issues and Concerns in Teacher Education: From Critical Period to Rebirth?

discipline, intrinsically and extrinsically. While an intuitive mode and a philosophical stance that promoted creativity and self expression for their own sake was a natural and seemingly easy attitude for art educators to adopt in the 1960s and early '70s, the economic and social realities of the 1980s necessitate a different approach. In 1975, a cursory glance at Canadian art education indicated that it flourished in an utopian landscape. The relatively short history of growth in Canadian art education (MacGregor, 1979) indicates that in less than thirty years, dedicated professionals created a climate in which visual arts became a respected subject that encourages imaginative and holistic thinking. In 1955, C. D. Gaitskell became the first president of The Canadian Society for Education Through Art. As a result of his efforts, bringing together art educators from the provinces, visual arts education acquired a national forum. In the expansionist period that followed, the characteristics of Canadian art education became more diverse. New curricula were developed to accommodate avant garde attitudes in visual art forms such as video, film, and photography. Programs expanded and diversified as money became available to purchase expensive equipment and build the elaborate facilities which seemed necessary to support participation and learning in contemporary visual arts studies. Aspiring artists increasingly turned to established degree programs to receive academic and professional training. Rifts between the professional artist and art educator narrowed as artists

A Splendid Harvest: Germanic Folk and Decorative Arts in Canada. Michael Bird , Terry Kobayashi

<i>A Splendid Harvest: Germanic Folk and Decorative Arts in Canada</i>. Michael Bird , Terry Kobayashi

Canadian art publications: history and recent developments

This article traces the history of Canadian art publishing from the eighteenth century to date, closely paralleling the development of art historical scholarship in the country. A statistical survey of art publishing 1975–80 is followed by details of recently published key works in the fields of architecture, sculpture, painting, drawing, graphic arts, folk decorative arts, photography, North American Indian and Eskimo art. A substantial bibliography is appended. This paper was delivered to the Section of Art Libraries at the 1982 IFLA Council in Montreal.

The tyranny of distance: art libraries in Canada

The history of art libraries in Canada, in the context of the development of the study of Canadian art history is explained. A brief description of the background and scope of important libraries in the categories public, university, architecture, art school, and art gallery and museum libraries is provided. This paper was delivered to the Section of Art Libraries at the 1982 IFLA Council in Montreal.

Northrop Frye and the Bible: A Review Symposium

The publication of The Great Code, the first volume of Northrop Frye's longawaited study of the Bible, seemed to demand a special response on the part of the University of Toronto Quarterly. Professor Frye has of course been a distinguished member of the University of Toronto for many years; he has also been a good friend to this journal. For ten years, between 1950 and 1959, he wrote the 'Poetry' section of 'Letters in Canada,' these columns subsequently being reprinted in The Bush Garden (1971), and he has made other contributions to the Quarterly, the most recent being an article specially written for our fiftieth anniversary issue, The Arts in Canada (Fall 1980). Moreover, until a few months ago (when it was derided to revise the administrative arrangements of the journal), he served diligently and conscientiously on the Honorary Advisory Board.

Theosophy and the Canadian Idealist Tradition: A Preliminary Exploration

Between the years 1890 and 1930, many prominent Canadian artists, writers, feminists and other intellectuals were influenced by the teachings of the Theosophical Society. Troubled by the religious implications of Darwinist thought, their Christian beliefs were further undermined by the impact of the first war and the ensuing economic depression. While they initially turned to Theosophy out of a need for answers in their struggles with religious doubt, these men and women came to feel that "the new religion" at once accounted for and actively inspired them in their search for a genuinely Canadian art and culture.

Celebrating the Nation: History and the Canadian Theatre

The style is of another time. The impulse behind it — as well as the size of the language — is unmistakeably Wagnerian and, as such, more than a touch Romantic for contemporary sensibilities. The images, however, are our own. It was in the 1928-1929 Yearbook of the Arts in Canada, a major attempt at focussing the present for the future, that critic Augustus Bridle wrote:

From Art to Theory: Canada’s Critical Tools

Mavor Moore has cited the filmmaker John Grierson to the effect that “first comes the need, then the art, then the theory”.’ To study the art and theory of Canadian theatre and drama, one must also interject the bibliographic maxim “before books can be studied, they must be known to exist”. What research methodology should we employ to arrive at an accurate understanding of the Canadian art of the theatre? In ourcurrent preliminary stage of scholarship, which in English-Canada is still largely an initial mere identification of Canadian authors and a description of their works, no present bibliography can be considered as completely authoritative.

Fields of Force in Canadian Art, 1930 to 1980

Most of what is important in Canadian art has been achieved within living memory, and this fact underscores how young and fragile are the creative traditions of this country. Until the turn of this century Canada got along very well with other people's achievements so far as art was concerned — English, French, European, and latterly American. This was true even of the artists themselves, whose paintings were traditional in subject and technique and were intended to recall other times and places — some European in spirit like Krieghoff, some English like Homer Watson and Paul Peel.

THE ART AND PICTORIAL PRESS IN CANADA; TWO CENTURIES OF ART MAGAZINES. Karen McKenzie , Mary F. Williamson

Previous articleNext article No AccessBOOK REVIEWSTHE ART AND PICTORIAL PRESS IN CANADA; TWO CENTURIES OF ART MAGAZINES. Karen McKenzie , Mary F. Williamson Helene RobertsHelene Roberts Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 7, Number 6OCTOBER 1979 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/arlisnanews.7.6.27946208 Views: 3Total views on this site Citations: 1Citations are reported from Crossref Journal History This article was published in the ARLIS/NA Newsletter (1972-1981), which is continued by Art Documentation (1982-present). Copyright © 1979 ARLIS/NORTH AMERICAPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:I. Schapera Tswana Concepts of Custom and Law, Journal of African Law 27, no.22 (Jul 2009): 141–149.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021855300013188

CANADIAN ART: WRITING AND PUBLISHING

CANADIAN ART: WRITING AND PUBLISHING

The Nature of Folk and Vernacular Art in Canada

The Nature of Folk and Vernacular Art in Canada

Arts Day: Words, Words, Words

The politicization of Canada’s arts community has been a consummation devoutly wished by many through the years but it took more than just wishing in these economically-troubled times to make it into something of a reality. The catalyst was a series of announcements in recent months about freezes and cuts in arts funding. In short order, the angered voices of many of Canada’s artists could be heard in protest. No voice was louder, though — or more effective — than that of the 1812 Committee, a group of some three dozen major arts organizations, which led the good fight to make the government aware of what even modest cuts could mean in the field. One particular move by the Committee was to have October 26th declared as a national Arts Day and on the 26th a number of the country’s most distinguished artists hied themselves off to Ottawa to make their displeasure known to Parliament. The Honorable Members — obviously recognizing a unique opportunity to make political hay with a community they rarely noticed — proceeded to argue publicly about who was doing more for the arts in Canada, surely one of the first times in recent Canadian history that politicians felt it to their advantage to show such support. The following is a transcription of the Parliamentary debate that day as reprinted in the government publication, Hansard. The actual motion to declare October 26th Arts Day in Canada — a motion that was, all appearances to the contrary, never officially passed — was made by New Democratic Party Member Cyril Symes of Sault Ste. Marie.

The Group of Twenty-Nine by Mary C. Sullivan, Environmental Theatre by Richard Schechner, Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain by Al Chung-liang Huang

For several years now, government and non-government bodies alike, have been crying for up-to-date statistics about the arts in Canada. No matter how many studies are conducted, there is always one more needed (and the need is probably well-justified). Now comes a new Canada Council study called The Group of Twenty-Nine which threatens to become the statistical base upon which much future funding of the performing arts in this country will be resting. For that reason alone, the study is of extreme importance to the entire Canadian arts community.

The Liberal Program

The following is a Liberal Party policy statement relating to the Performing Arts in Canada. The statement was written for CTR by the Hon. Hugh Faulkner, Secretary of State.

Nationalism and the French Canadian Drama

The ongoing struggle for the creation of a genuine, independent Canadian culture and political identity has resulted in a peculiar alliance between Canadian arts and politics since the second World War. Unable or unwilling to make the necessary economic and political decisions to fully guarantee Canada’s national sovereignty, the federal government, particularly since the creation of the Canada Council in 1957, has encouraged the artistic community to create the kind of national consciousness that would prevent the complete Canadian cultural, economic and political assimilation into the U.S. orbit.

Trends in Canadian Art

The question of the kind and value of the relation of Canadian art and culture to the art and culture which impinge on the consciousness of Canadians from without the borders of Canada has been discussed intermittently and with varying bias since the speeches of Lord Lorne in 1879 and 1880 advocating and commemorating the foundation of the Royal Academy. An initial willing cultural tutelage gave way to a period of increasingly assertive national independence in the first decades of the present century, when the still outstanding work of Canadian art was accomplished; The issue continues in hot debate, particularly “on the air,” with the assumption that, in contrast to the nature of scientific, technical, and economic trends, which no one supposes can or should be peculiar to Canada or uniquely Canadian, art should be in some way uniquely representative or expressive of a Canadian spirit, and that what it derives from circumstances that are not peculiarly Canadian is inimical to the development of a genuinely Canadian culture.