BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS  

Vancouver Daily Province, November 20 1941

Western Artists Capture Interest At Toronto Show

By Palette

     Recognition of Western talent continues. In the recently-opened Sixty-second annual exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy in Toronto appears the largest number of works by British Columbia artists ever displayed in this important show. Eleven exhibits were accepted this year in contrast with two a year ago.
     Mildred V. Thornton, of Vancouver, has just held a one-man show in Toronto which received much praise, and many works by B.C. artists have found eastern or American purchasers during the past six months.
     Among the large canvases accepted for this year's R.C.A. exhibition are J.W.G. Macdonald's strong decorative oil of the Rockies entitled "Mount Hungabie," shown here a few weeks ago in the B.C. Artists annual exhibition; two big oil paintings by W.P. Weston, A.R.C.A., entitled "Dead Pine, Horseshoe Bay" and "B.C. Coast Scene"; and Paul Rand's "Coal Diggers", which created much favorable comment here some years ago.
     W.P. Weston's "B.C. Coast Scene" is among the exhibits selected for the travelling show of the Royal Canadian Academy which, as in previous years, will come to Vancouver during the winter.
     Other works accepted include: two drawings by J.L. Shadbolt, a large watercolour "Peaks of Jasper", a self-portrait in oils by R.S. Alexander, an oil and a watercolour by Charles H. Scott, A.R.C.A., and a dry point of his father by Paul Goranson.

Wood Carvings Shown. Oils, Water Colors

     A group of wood carvings by Lilias Farley now on display at Harry Hood's Art Emporium, again gives evidence of the skill of a creative local artist. The archaic simplicity and decorative value of these charming small sculptures suggest in style both a modern trend and influence of early gothic.
     Miss Farley's ability as a painter is also well known. Her large decoration in the Hotel Vancouver indicates the scope of her brush, and she has shown pictures here and elsewhere in important exhibitions.
     It is, however, in sculpture that Lilias Farley strikes the finest note of her personal expression. Her black "Madonna," for example, in the present show, has a lovely lyrical feeling. The wood carving is contained, like most of her things, in fine formal relations which give unity, movement and harmony to her work.

     Mildred Valley Thornton fills a room at the Gallery with numerous watercolors. In another room this well known member of the Vancouver art world completes her current display with a display of oil paintings.
     The latter, small and spontaneously expressed landscapes in the main, seem to reflect most satisfactorily the artist's strongest reactions to nature.
     A fine solid simplicity in a decorative painting entitled "Evening, Kitsilano" and a more dramatic "Invincibility", showing the struggle for survival of a tortured tree on the slopes of a steep ravine, are the major contributions to an unusually fine exhibition of oil sketches.
     Mrs. Thornton's approach to nature is direct and straight-forward. This note of decision, a sense of good composition and a genuine interest in her subject matter give a certain distinction and charm to almost every one of these richly coloured interpretations of many different aspects of B.C. landscape.


Clipping provided courtesy of Vancouver Art Gallery Library

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