Emily Carr is generally considered Canada’s most famous woman painter. In fact, she is one of Canada’s most renowned artists. I find that pretty impressive considering she was a woman painter in the 1900’s and woman were sometimes thought of as lower quality then the family dog.

Emily Carr was the fifth girl born into her family. She was born in Victoria, Canada on December 13, 1871. Sadly, three of Emily’s sisters died while they were still young. Emily always enjoyed art and when she was sixteen years old, (in 1887) she took drawing classes and even studied art in Paris, France. Her career began in 1900-1901 and continued until 1913. Some of her work was included in a National Gallery exhibition in 1927. Emily passed away March 2, 1945.

There are many things Emily Carr accomplished in her life. Of course, there is all of her wonderful artwork, but she also wrote a few novels and even ran a boarding home. Emily Carr called her first works of art ‘New Art’ but at the beginning it was laughed at and even insulted. Later on, she was best known for her Indian and forest paintings. Emily wrote quite a few novels including ‘Klee Wyck’ in 1941 and ‘Book of Small’ in 1942. ‘Klee Wyck’ was an instant success and even won a Governor General’s award. And you might have heard about the autobiography that Emily wrote called ‘Growing Pains.’ It was also a very popular book.

Emily influenced and encouraged many people into the world of art. Actually, she taught art to children in Vancouver for awhile but in 1913 she returned to Victoria. Imagine being a child and being taught art by a famous artist! It must have been quite an experience. Emily was influenced too. All of her landscapes were influenced by fauvism artwork.