100 Years of French Art and How Canada Was Influenced

Vancouver Art Gallery French Moderns: Monet to Matisse 1850-1950 ANDAffinities: Canadian Artists and France On until May 20, 2019 Before New York, it was France that held the highest status as the birthplace of the latest art movements in the Western world. The exhibit, French Moderns: Monet to Matisse (1850-1950) at the Vancouver Art Gallery…

The Universality of Guo Pei’s Designs

Guo Pei: Couture Beyond Vancouver Art Gallery October 13, 2018 – January 20, 2019 This season’s blockbuster, not-to-be-missed show at the Vancouver Art Gallery is Guo Pei: Couture Beyond. The Guo Pei exhibit features everything from Chinese wedding dresses, to religious iconography, to the dress worn by singer Rihanna at the Met Ball in 2015….

Murakami Storms Vancouver

  It’s February 1, 2018, 8:40 a.m. and Murakami is already getting wired in for the media preview interview at the Vancouver Art Gallery for the opening of his show, The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg. I’m surprised to see him there so early, before most of the media and staff have arrived. And it’s not…

Every Painter Paints Herself

“Her Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura) shows the artist, through her own eyes; beautiful, graceful, and at the same time confident and powerful” I was thrilled when I found out that Artemisia Gentileschi‘s self portrait was coming to Vancouver. This rare Baroque female painter has long held my fascination and her Self…

New at the Vancouver Art Gallery

  The most valuable purchase I have made since moving to Vancouver was to buy memberships to the Vancouver Art Gallery for myself and my son. When I brought the memberships home and showed them to my son he was interested. When I told him that the membership came with two extra passes and if…

Picasso at the Vancouver Art Gallery – What Is Great Art?

“The question my date asked was: ‘What makes a great artist?’” The question my date asked was: “What makes a great artist?” I was a little stumped. Four years studying art history hadn’t really prepared me to answer that question. I tried, with the typical caveats: “it depends who you ask”, “men were usually the…

MashUp With the Whipper Snapper

The complimentary tickets to the Vancouver Art Gallery have been sitting in a cup on my desk for months now. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to go; it’s finding the time. It couldn’t be just anyone I went with, it had to be my son. That was the intent behind the gift. My coworker’s…