Tuesday, December 27, 2005
book report: The Forest Lover
The Forest Lover
by Susan Vreeland
This is a fictionalized account of part of Canadian painter Emily Carr's life and work. I didn't previously know very much about Carr, apart from the fact that she was a Canadian woman painter around the turn of the (20th) century. The novel starts when Emily is already in her 30s, having studied art and painted for many years, and finally gaining some independence from her rather stifling family after the deaths of her parents. Her sisters strongly disapprove of her artistic passion, but Emily defies them and continues on her own course.
During the course of the novel, Emily travels out into the wilds of British Columbia in order to paint First Nations people and artworks, such as longhouses and totem poles. Vreeland skillfully underscores the passion and curiousity that Carr must have had to withstand the primitive conditions and the suspicious attitudes that both native and white people had about her intentions. The reader can feel the emotion that Carr put into her work.
The novel also fictionalizes an account of Carr's trip to France to study with avant-garde French painters, during what would become the Impressionist movement. I personally found this part of the novel less satisfying, perhaps because not much is really known about how Carr passed her time while in France. Her work was exhibited at a respectable salon, which seemed like a victory for a woman at the time.
The biggest disappointment for me was after I finished the novel and went to look up Carr's paintings online. The novel had given me the expectation that Carr's work was bold and shocking and emotional... and I found it kind of tame and boring. Perhaps I am not viewing it in the proper historical context? Anyway, the book is still a terrific window into the time and place where Emily Carr lived and worked, and she is a delightful character to read about.
by Susan Vreeland
This is a fictionalized account of part of Canadian painter Emily Carr's life and work. I didn't previously know very much about Carr, apart from the fact that she was a Canadian woman painter around the turn of the (20th) century. The novel starts when Emily is already in her 30s, having studied art and painted for many years, and finally gaining some independence from her rather stifling family after the deaths of her parents. Her sisters strongly disapprove of her artistic passion, but Emily defies them and continues on her own course.
During the course of the novel, Emily travels out into the wilds of British Columbia in order to paint First Nations people and artworks, such as longhouses and totem poles. Vreeland skillfully underscores the passion and curiousity that Carr must have had to withstand the primitive conditions and the suspicious attitudes that both native and white people had about her intentions. The reader can feel the emotion that Carr put into her work.
The novel also fictionalizes an account of Carr's trip to France to study with avant-garde French painters, during what would become the Impressionist movement. I personally found this part of the novel less satisfying, perhaps because not much is really known about how Carr passed her time while in France. Her work was exhibited at a respectable salon, which seemed like a victory for a woman at the time.
The biggest disappointment for me was after I finished the novel and went to look up Carr's paintings online. The novel had given me the expectation that Carr's work was bold and shocking and emotional... and I found it kind of tame and boring. Perhaps I am not viewing it in the proper historical context? Anyway, the book is still a terrific window into the time and place where Emily Carr lived and worked, and she is a delightful character to read about.
Labels: artists, book reports
