Sim with E.F. Kirk watercolour on screen. Photo Jen Harvey.

Sim lecturing. Photo Jen Harvey.

Although it wasn't "standing room only" for the talk, a good crowd of about 70 folks showed up and apparently had a good time. A few folks came up to me afterwards to say how much they enjoyed the show, which was especially gratifying given how much time I'd spent working on the presentation and doing the research for it.

View of the room prior to the lecture.

The introduction to the early part of Vancouver art history was preceded by a section titled "How did I get into this?" which explained the long period of research into the Sherman family, and my attempts to place artist Maud Rees Sherman into the arts milieu of the time.

Maud Rees Sherman biography page (partial), BC Artists.

Shearman/Shearman family tree (partial).

M.W. Waitt's 1889 VIEWS BRITISH COLUMBIA & ALASKA was used to show examples of early art work derived from the scenery of Vancouver. Alas, the VIEWS were printed in Germany.

"Vancouver, C.P.R." (detail)


"Vancouver" (detail)

Chart of artist listings in business directories 1886 - 1920.

An interesting way to look at early Vancouver artists. First to advertise as an Artist was Tomhu Huron Roberts in 1889. First woman was Emily Carr in 1908. Only 63 artists listed themselves in 35 years, half just once, half of the rest just twice. The "slump" during World War One is obvious. Total artists per year at bottom, total listings per artist on the right.