London, with its crowds, its coldlandladies, and itsendless interest inthepast appalled her. TheFrench artisthadsaid"Western Canada isunpaintable." But shestoredher ideasuntil the time when shewouldbeable to usethe material. Shelooked at the forests andthe Indianvillages and she painted them. Emilybeganto savehermoney in a shoe for studyabroad. A French artistappeared andsaidthatCanada hadnoscenery, theonlyplaces to learnto paintwereLondon andParis. Fromthedescriptions it isevident thatherthreeyears there laid thefoundations emotionally andartistically for herfuturedevelopment as a Canadian.Onreturning to herdrearyhome in Victoriashebeganto teach. After her parents' deathEmily Cart rebelled againstthe cruelsisters with whose wayof life shecouldnot conform.With remarkable strength of mind fora Victorian girloffifteen, shepersuaded herguardian tosend hertoart school in SanFrancisco. How coulda passionate Canadian develop inthisatmosphere, more English thantheEnglish, conventional, religious to a degree of evangelicalism, peopled by missionaries and remittance men? Perhapsthe atmosphereof her home drove her within herselfand she grew. Herfather,anEnglishman, haddeveloped a prosperous business inVictoria whileBriti'shColumbia was still a crowncolony. Bornin Victoriain 1871,Emily Cart suffered herfirstgrowing painswhile Canada was in thethroes oftheCanadian nationalism engendered b圜onfederation. It isofspecial interestto thestudent of Canadian social history aswellasto thestudent of painting, forin it wefind the passionate desire to express Canada,the beautyand solemnity of nature, thehistoryandcustoms of the Indiantribesof the Pacific Coast,thereactions of a youngcolonial to VictorianEngland,humorous andoftenvitriolicpictures of Victoria and Vancouver, and finally the development of the Canadianart movement. Written in the formof shortessays, Growing Painsis thepersonal andsincere storyofthedevelopment ofa creative mind. With thepublication of KleeWyckshewasestablished asan essayist, andnow Growinœ Painsplaces heraspossibly ourmostskilfulwriterof autobiography. RR hadbeenrecognized before herdeathasa greatCanadian painter.
it'Growing Pains: The Autobiography of Emily Carr. Collardhasnot aimedat anythingpretentious.He hasaddeda useful itemto McGill'snonetoolargebibliography, andwhenhehasnotalways tolda newstoryhehasrevived theoldonegracefully andwiththecare,affection, andpridethat onemightexpect froma graduate of its Department of History. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Ģ12 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW But Mr.
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