Vancouver, circa 1962 from the opening pages of George Kuthan’s book Vancouver: Sights & Insights. This colourized variation is a scan of an electronic reproduction of what could be an aquatint or perhaps a hand coloured drawing. None of the images in the above mentioned books are shown in colour, but this print demonstrates the possibilities. The print came from Robert R. Reid’s studio, via Heavenly Monkey. Robert was a close friend of George Kuthan, and this colour treatment was likely done by Robert in more recent years. From the Heavenly Monkey website:

…The two met at Reid’s printing shop in Vancouver in 1951, shortly after Kuthan’s arrival in Canada. Born in Klatovy, Czechoslovakia in 1916, Kuthan was a medical student at the University of Prague when the Nazis closed it, in 1939. It was at this time that he turned his attention to art, which he studied at Prague’s School of Decorative Arts for the next six years. After the war he went on to study painting and various forms of printmaking in Paris for several years. What few published details of his life exist indicate he enjoyed some success while there, making his decision to emigrate to Canada somewhat puzzling (especially since he first landed in Saskatchewan!). Shortly after arriving in Vancouver, he was introduced to Reid…

More biographical information about George Kuthan can be found here, and a pamphlet from 1964 from the Private Press of Robert R. Reid dedicated to George’s work can be seen here.

Ship in BC Marine Drydock, Vancouver by Orville Fisher. I’m not sure what the date was, but I wonder if it was also dated 1935, the very same year that colleagues Paul Goranson and EJ Hughes each made a print on the shipping trade in Vancouver. I thought it was appropriate to post the past three images in a row, as I just happened to come across these images all at once! Here’s a quote from this article in the Saturday Night Magazine from 1939: 

In 1933 Edward Hughes and Orville Fisher graduated from the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Art and Paul Goranson completed his third year. All three took the drawing and painting course. Fisher and Goranson studied for another year with Fred Varley, one of the Group of Seven, and Hughes also did some post-graduate studying. Then began the heart-breaking grind of trying to paint for a living…

I don’t know where this was reproduced, but if I recall correctly, this reproduction came from the VPL artist file.

Evening on False Creek by Paul Goranson, a print from 1935 when False Creek was an entirely different place, as you can see from all the billowing smoke stacks.

Derelict in Coal Harbour, a print by EJ Hughes, from the National Gallery of Canada. This drypoint on buff wove paper was dated 1935, and was a gift of the artist to the gallery. More work from the gallery’s collection here.

Vancouver Panorama, artist unknown, printed by Pierre Marc Products, Berkeley, California and distributed by the Vancouver Magazine Service Ltd. Because the Grouse Mountain tram is red, we can probably date this some time after or around 1976, when the original blue tram was upgraded with the new red Super Skyride tram. Seen via ebay.

Lost in Chinatown, a reductive relief print by Carolyn Mount in 2011, available in an edition of 18. Actually, you’ll find this building at 530 Shanghai Alley; the front of the building is 525-531 Carrall Street. Originally built for the Chinese Empire Reform Association in 1903 (from wikipedia: an organization of overseas Chinese, active mostly between 1899 and 1911, made up of mostly the older, more prosperous Chinese merchants in Canada, and supporting the modernization of China through progressive reforms within the framework of a constitutional monarchy rather than by armed revolution), it is more recently known as the Lim Sai Hor (Kow Mock) Benevolent Association building.

Two sets of Gordon Kit Thorne prints for sale on ebay. These two prints showing the two Lions are my favourites, one showing a determined hiker headed up the north Shore Mountains, the other depicting a more sedated view from Stanley Park. It seems to me his work has the ability to border kitsch, folk, and fine art all at once. Makes me wonder if he should have been a cartoonist instead.

One More Step, a print on display at ECUAD, seen during the 39th annual student sale, on NOW! I’m told this was from a (first year?) printing class, one of a number of prints displayed in cabinets near the checkout area. Any of my followers know the artist?

Perhaps my favourite school yearbook ever, the 1940-41 Lord Selkirk Annual, artfully decorated with woodcuts throughout. Inside, this woodcut of the pacific coast by Jean Ortlieb was achieved when she was just age 14. Thanks again to Neil Whaley for sharing this with me!

The Lions tote bag by ECUAD grad Liz Toohey-Wiese, available at Collage Collage on Main Street, where they write:

We love Liz. A local artist, an instructor here at the store - her work is very Vancouver, and very awesome. Carry this view of the lions (a most distinctive mountain range here in Vancouver) around with you were ever you go on this sweet little tote.

Click the image for more details.

Liz has been seen here on Illustrated Vancouver once before on December 13, 2010, not long after the ECUAD student sale the month prior. I liked her paintings so much I bought one shortly after that sale! Which is another good reminder to all - this weekend is the ECUAD student sale, starting Friday at noon!

Opening reception: 6–9pm November 2. The show runs to December 2, 2012.

Penguins, Stanley Park, Vancouver, a numbered silkscreen print by Thelma Alberta Manarey (1913-1984), currently up for auction at Levis Fine Art Auctions based in Calgary. The online auction closes Saturday, September 15, 2012.

From the book Artists of Alberta (1980) by Suzanne Devonshire Baker:

Since 1965 Manarey has been the recipient of four major awards, including the Performing and Creative Arts Award, Visual Arts, City of Edmonton, 1973. Her works are found in many private collections in Edmonton and in Alberta House, London, England. Manarey exhibits mainly in Edmonton, although she has participated in group shows across Canada and in Oregon. She has also been commissioned to paint several official government portraits. Although best known for her miniature etchings, Manarey also paints with acrylic, watercolour, and oils.

Siwash Rock, a colour aquatint by Nicholas Hornyanksy. As indicated by an attached slip of paper, this print appears to have been a gift from Globe Envelopes Limited, for Christmas of 1946. From the web:

Nicholas Hornyansky was born in Budapest and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest. He emigrated to Canada in 1929, settling in Toronto. He became a popular and award-winning Canadian artist and printmaker, exhibiting with the Royal Canadian Academy, the Ontario Society of Artists, the California Printmakers, the Philadelphia Society of Etchers, and numerous other venues. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy and taught printmaking at the Ontario College of Art. His work is in major public collections including the National Gallery of Canada and the Royal Ontario Museum.

Thanks, craigslister!

Smoke break on the back deck, a print by Tosh Toru Sugita (yep, I was wrong! I also made up the title). The print is actually titled From Cottage, and it’s dated 1998, not 1978. I did have the numbering correct; it’s definitely the 4th print out of a total of 50. This print was purchased from a second hand shop in Vancouver recently, and I have no other information about the work, aside from the fact that it was framed very nicely. I’ve also asked on Facebook at the Dundarave Print Workshop & Gallery page (located on Granville Island) if anyone recognizes the name.

This may be the first post which I can’t actually substantiate as positively being from Vancouver, but since I found it here in Vancouver, and the subject matter seems appropriate, I’d like to believe it’s from here. I was originally going to title it Woman on the back deck, but I can’t be entirely sure of that either; it may just be someone with long hair, a hat, and baggy clothes!

On somewhat of a derivative note, take a look at this current show at the Shooting Gallery in San Francisco titled “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” featuring work by Parisian street artist Christian Guémy (aka C215) focusing on the iconography of smoking ads and images.

Happy New Year everyone! You may see less of me on Tumblr this year, but I love you just the same! May this coming year bring you all good cheer!

UPDATE! Scandalous! This is not, in fact, Vancouver! Thanks to Andrea for tracking down the artist, Toru Sugita. He was born in Shiga, Japan, studied in Kyoto, and since the 1990s he has been residing in the San Fransisco Bay area. I think it’s rather amusing how I was able to project certain local traits into the work, making me believe it might be from here. I suppose my next post of the Vancouver Special pop-up book should make up for any lack of local content. One thing remains - it is a very nice print, and Toru is a fine print maker! I shall keep this print in the collection in his honour (and as a reminder to myself that I sometimes make mistakes!)

Toru wrote to me, mentioning that he has in fact been to the Dundarave Print Workshop on Granville Island when he had a show at the ArtBeatus Gallery in 2002. He informs me that the subject is actually Calistoga, California, and the woman on the deck is his friend visiting from Japan. He also concedes that Vancouver has the much of the same type of light and architecture as southern California, so there you have it! Full circle! : )