Browsing “Illustrated Vancouver Series”

Last week I featured The Epic of Western Canada by John Innes; this week, it’s his followup series from 1930 titled From Trail to Rail; The Epic of Transportation. In the words of the brochure, this is the story of man’s achievement pushing back the frontiers of Canada in twenty-one oil paintings. Again, it was a collaboration between artist John Innes, art patron Arthur P. Denby, and the Hudson’s Bay Company where the works were exhibited. Below is a listing of the 21 paintings:

1. A Trail in the Wilderness
2. Dog Travois
3. Horse Travois
4. The Buffalo Hunt
5. The Skin Canoe
6. A Portage
7. The Company Canoe
8. Batteau Running a Chute
9. Carriers of the North
10. The Pack Trail
11. Dog Trains
12. Red River Carts  
13. Prairie Schooners  
14. The Bull Train  
15. The Buckboard 
16. The Stage Coach 
17. The River Steamers  
18. The Trail of Destiny  
19. The Challenge
20. The Battle of the Rocks
21. Triumph

Fortunately, I don’t need to track down any lost paintings because I have confirmed all of these paintings became property of the Glenbow Foundation in Calgary. They are not on public display at the moment, but I have acquired an image from the series exclusively for your benefit.

John Innes, “Triumph”, no date, oil on canvas, Collection of Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Canada, 60.71.21

I’ve chosen to show the very last painting in the series called Triumph, featuring a steam locomotive headed straight for the artist! Actually, I can attest, this was not John Innes’ last painting, but it was the end of his collaboration with Arthur P. Denby. It’s unclear exactly what their arrangement amounted to, and even less clear how things fell apart, but John Cowan briefly describes things in his book John Innes: Painter of the Canadian West:

Unfortunately misunderstandings and disagreements arose, for which neither the artist nor patron was wholly to blame, and an alliance that had accomplished much good was ended. The truth is, Innes had driven himself for some years beyond his strength and was worn out. Denby, eager to see these prodigious feats of creative work completed in the artist’s years of vigor, had perhaps urged too great effort.

Cowan mentions that Innes had covered the topic of transportation earlier in his career. While working in New York, Innes drew a series of pictures that were purchased by a Philadelphia publisher and released as colour postcards. Apparently it was a huge hit with millions of cards sold. …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

This is the story of an epic art exhibition that followed these 8 paintings from 1925 which I featured in my last post here. John Innes was introduced to his patron Arthur P. Denby by John B. Cowan, and The Epic of Western Canada was the first result of this association. Art patron Arthur P. Denby is somewhat of a mysterious figure. I spotted a man with this name born 07 June 1884 who had a US Social Security number 571-84-5833 (indicating California) and died 15 March 1967. A P Denby is listed in the 1929 phonebook residing at Egeria Rooms, 1153 Melville Street, Vancouver. The Denby brothers William, Stafford, and Melvin ran a shoe / leather supply store at 163 West Pender Street from the early 1920s; perhaps these were his sons? You can see the front of the shoe store as late as 1974 below. A P Denby is no longer listed in the Vancouver phone books by 1939, so we might speculate that’s when he headed south to California? I also spotted one strange article by Arthur P. Denby telling a tale of early Vancouver in the May 1958 issue of Science of Mind Magazine, a religious movement established in 1927.

Denby Bros & Co., circa 1921 [HV977.84.4] Burnaby Village Museum; and at right, from VanArchives [CVA 778-8] still operating as late as 1974

Whomever Arthur P. Denby was, he was able to motivate John Innes to compile his paintings into a dramatic series of the wild west. It was the culmination of Innes’ life’s work to date; some of his paintings were repurchased from collectors to create this series of thirty oil paintings. These paintings were shown on the sixth floor of the Hudson’s Bay in Vancouver on September of 1928, and the brochure above featured a listing of all 30 paintings in the series: …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Souvenir Book of Eight Pictures depicting various phases in the Pioneering History of British Columbia.

This booklet above features reproductions of the oil paintings of John Innes, with text printed on onionskin paper written by the Native Sons of British Columbia historian Bruce Alistair McKelvie. Part of a commission by the Native Sons of British Columbia, Post # 2, these paintings were commissioned in 1922, completed in 1925, and a few years later, this booklet of photochrome reproductions was offered for the grand total of $25 (this would be more like $325 today!)

These paintings were initially loaned to UBC, where they hung in the library of the university. Today, these eight paintings are part of the SFU art collection where all but two hang in the hall of art in the Quadrangle (number 6 and 7 listed below are in storage).

I had initially mentioned this series of paintings in a previous post, but as this booklet provides slightly different titles for each image, I will list them again in the order they appear in the book.

1. Captain George Vancouver Meets Spaniards off Point Grey
2. Hudson’s Bay Company Fur Brigade Passing Lake Okanagan
3. Governor Douglas Takes Oath of Office at Fort Langley
4. Overland Expedition on Way to Cariboo
5. Simon Fraser Following the Great River to the Sea
6. The Building of Fort Victoria
7. Alexander Mackenzie Records his Great Achievement
8. Discovery of Gold at Williams Creek, 1861

Captain George Vancouver Meets Spaniards off Point Grey by John Innes, with text by Bruce Alistair McKelvie.

I won’t show each and every one of these paintings here, as it will be much better to view them in full colour at SFU in Burnaby. Their scale is dramatic, and while the artistry does not measure up to the work of the old masters, they were filled with epic and historic aspirations. John Innes may not be the first name that comes to mind in the art history of Vancouver, but his work ought not to be forgotten. For more details on his life and work, Gary Sim provides a sample biographical page of John Innes here in his digital research of over 16,800 British Columbia artists.

One of my motivations for featuring this booklet was to clear the waters as I continue my hunt for some of the work of John Innes that followed the eight paintings listed above. Likely inspired by the Native Sons of British Columbia, David Spencer commissioned a series of murals for his a new wing in his department store. The Spencer’s murals were painted by John Innes and another famous British Columbia artist with whom Innes shared studio space, G.H. Southwell. Alas, the lack of documentation for these paintings concerns me, and I have not yet been able to track them down. If anyone recalls seeing these paintings anywhere, please let me know, and I hope to be able to document the results of my findings in an upcoming post!

ps: This article from the December, 1927 issue of the Beaver describes the presentation of these 8 Native Sons paintings to UBC on September 21, 1927.

1924 UBC Yearbook Comic by Bain, McLean, Pollock, & Co., shown courtesy of Neil Whaley. This was my favourite comic from the early UBC yearbooks, and while at first I thought it was a playful gag to superimpose students into the construction of the Science Building, I’ve learned from the 1923 yearbook post that the students ACTUALLY DID assist with the construction of the university! So this drawing takes on a whole new historical significance! Can YOU spot your grandfather in this image?!

Airships, rockets, and gyrocopters! I wanted to save this illustration until Christmas, but I just couldn’t wait! This is Vancouver imagined by Ken Steacy. Ken tells me this illustration was from the September 1994 issue of Vancouver Magazine, and was originally slated to grace the cover, but got bumped inside to illustrate an article titled “The Way We Weren’t”. Note also the work is dated ’34, not ’94. He also points out this illustration was traditionally rendered in a multi-media melange of pencil, ink, acrylic, and gouache.

From his official bio:

KEN STEACY is a Canadian Air Force brat who decided at age eleven to become a professional comic book artist. He pursued this intent until the magic moment occurred in 1974 with the publication in ORB magazine of Super Student, a two page strip that he wrote, penciled, inked, and lettered. This holistic approach has been a hallmark of his work ever since, true to his belief that specialization is for insects, not artists. He also believes that the arbitrary distinctions between Art and Illustration should go away forever. His favorite colour is currently sanguine…

You can read more about Ken here on his blog.

In honour of Remembrance Day, I present to you a Vancouver Peace Celebration souvenir program with cover illustration by Paul Page. This program was printed very shortly after the Treaty of Versailles was signed (June 28, 1919), though fighting in WWI ceased the year prior at 11 am on November 11, 1918, when Germany signed the Armistice of Compiègne.

The fact that there is not just one but four dates printed on this program seems to convey a great desire to celebrate the end of the war. These dates were July 6 & 19 and August 3-4, 1919. You might recall that WWI began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on June 28, 1914; August 3, 1914 was the day that Germany declared war on France and Belgium, and August 4, 1914 was the day that Britain declared war on Germany. November 11 was specifically dedicated as Remembrance Day by King George V on November 7, 1919.

The winged angel descending from heaven in this illustration might remind you of the bronze Angel of Victory by sculptor Coeur de Lion MacCarthy, as seen in front of Waterfront Station. However, this drawing came as early as two years before the monument. …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>