In connection to an exhibition he curated at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2016 called I Had An Interesting French Artist To See Me This Summer: Emily Carr and Wolfgang Paalen in British Columbia, Colin Browne wrote the text for a book catalogue of the same name in which he recounts and explores the relationship between Carr and surrealist painter Wolfgang Paalen who was member of the Paris avant-garde in the 1930s. The pair met in the summer of 1939 when he travelled to North America with his wife, Alice Rahon, and their friend, Eva Sulzer. As an artist and collector, Paalen was keenly interested in the art and culture of indigenous peoples of North America, later settling in Mexico where he published an art journal Dyn in which he continued to investigate the integration of "the enormous treasure of Amerindian forms into the consciousness of modern art." The catalogue also records the correspondence between Paalen and West Coast collector William Arnold Newcombe (1884-1960) who served as go-between for Carr and Paalen. In a letter to a friend Carr wrote, "I can't get the surrealist point of view most of their subjects revolt me." But Paalen evidently saw similarities with Carr's approach the she failed to appreciate. Colin Browne's study examines the stylistic synchronicity of their paintings, evidenced by a melding of a painting by each artist to serve as the cover of the catalogue.

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RARE EMILY CARR PAINTING HEADED FOR WHISTLER

One of the most important paintings of Canadian artist Emily Carr has recently been acquired by the Audain Art Museum in Whistler. Entitled Le Paysage, the picture was painted in 1911 during the period in which Carr was studying in Brittany, France, under British artist Harry Gibb. "What makes this painting phenomenally important in Canadian art history is that it is definitely one of two Carr works that were accepted for the 1911 Salon d'Automne at the Grand Palais,"; says Darrin Martens, the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chief Curator at the Museum. The Salon d'Automne is an annual art exhibition held in Paris since 1903 which became the showpiece of innovation in 20th century art. In 1905, the Salon bore witness to the birth of Fauvism and in 1910 the launch of Cubism by artists such as Picasso and Braque. "It's amazing to think that a virtually unknown artist from Victoria, BChad two paintings accepted by the jury of this prestigious exhibition, particularly given that works by women were so rare," says Michael Audain, whose family foundation put up just under $1 million for the Museum to acquire the picture from a private collector. "But, on this occasion, Emily Carr had two works up on the wall in the same company as great artists of the day: Bonnard, Braque, Leger, Matisse, and Picasso. Imagine what that must have done for her self confidence,"; Audain adds. Originally called Le Paysage and later just "Brittany";, the picture is known to be genuine as Emily Carr sent it to Dr. Max Stern at the Dominion Gallery in Montreal with this information. She also wrote on the back in her own hand "exhibited in Paris Salon."; The other painting, Autumn in France, which accompanied this work has been in the National Gallery of Canada's collection since 1948. "It is tragic that when Emily Carr returned to Victoria with art which reflected shades of French Impressionism, it provoked such ridicule that for a decade she virtually gave up painting,"; says Martens. "Yet, the acceptance of this picture by the Salon d'Automne is a testament that Carr had the potential of becoming an important artist even if she had never returned to our shores."; In recent years, Emily Carr has been receiving international attention. In 2012 her work was featured at the important documenta (13) exhibition in Kassel, Germany, then in November 2014 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery near London, and early this year at the d'Orsay Museum in Paris. Whistler's Audain Art Museum houses one of the leading collections of Emily Carr's works, along with in-depth holdings of First Nations and contemporary art from the Northwest Coast. In 2019 the Museum will mount the first exhibition of Emily Carr's French work, which so influenced her later development to become Canada's best known artist. - Media Release:December 11, 2017 by the Audain Foundation and the Audain Art Museum