Art of Newfoundland and Labrador
The art of Newfoundland and Labrador has followed a unique artistic trajectory when compared to mainland Canada, due to the geographic seclusion and socio-economic history of the province.
The earliest examples of art in the province were produced by aboriginal peoples, with the oldest known object identified with the Dorset Culture, created around 800 A.D.[2] During two centuries of European trader and missionary contact with the Inuit, Innu and Settlers of Labrador, there was minor trade in available carvings and crafts.
Mission workers helped create a local handicraft industry that allowed residents to sell hooked mats, knitted goods and other items at North American retail shops.
This trend was bolstered by government initiatives, the introduction of technologies and transportation, and a shift in attitude toward northern and aboriginal art as cultural and artistic collector items.
A Visual Arts Association has continued in Western Labrador for more than 20 years, headed by artists such as Joyce Channing, Sheilagh Harvey, Margorie O'Brien, and Ed Owen.
Notable Labradorian artists include Boyd Chubbs, Robin Smith Peck, Michael Massie, Billy Gauthier, Gilbert Hay, John Terriak, William Lucy, George Flowers, Derrick Pottle, George Collins, David Terriak, Georgina Broomfield, Emily Flowers, John Neville, Madeline Michelin, Barry Pardy, Garmel Rich, and Shannon Simms.
[6] Beothuk were the indigenous inhabitants of Newfoundland from AD 1500 onward, now believed to be largely extinct due to a contraction in their territories following contact with Europeans.
Many Beothuk artifacts were discovered in grave sites during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and include carved bone, antler and ivory pendants intricately decorated with incised patterns.
"Although rude and truly Indian in character," James P. Howley wrote in 1915 (judging them by European aesthetic standards), "they nevertheless display no small amount of artistic skill, and there is an extraordinary minuteness of topographical detail in those having reference to the Exploits River and adjacent country.
[12] Artists such as William Eagar attempted to teach picturesque painting while in Newfoundland, but his efforts to promote the "new" branch of art were met with very little interest.
Nichols composed an instructional article for the public in the Newfoundland Quarterly on "Recreative Art," which provided guidelines for amateurs wishing to explore Nature by painting its beauty.
[16] Other notable artists in the 1930s include Rhoda Dawson, who arrived in 1930 to be a design instructor with the Grenfell Mission until 1933, returning in 1934 from England to teach at Payne's Cove.
Organized by Muriel (Mrs. A.C.) Hunter, with Harold Goodridge as president, the club grew to 40 active members and 100 associates over 10 years, and featured work of artists from overseas and from Newfoundland.
[2] In 1949, Robert Ayre, then editor of Canadian Art, described Newfoundland's artistic environment as one left largely to "outsiders and amateurs" due to its geographic isolation and small population.
The visual arts of the province developed significantly in the second half of the century, with the return of young Newfoundland artists who had studied abroad.
[21] The creation of the Memorial University Extension Services and St. Michael's Printshop in the 1960s and 1970s attracted a number of visual artists to the province to teach and create art.
Wesleyville's David Blackwood graduated from the Ontario College of Art in the early 1960s and has achieved acclaim with his images of Newfoundland culture and history, though he no longer resides in the province.
[2] Other notable artists who developed their practices during this period include Marlene Creates, Diana Dabinett, Kathleen Knowling, Peter Bell, Frank Lapointe, Don Wright, Heidi Oberheide, Manfred Buchheit, Stewart Montgomerie, Jean Claude Roy and Pam Hall.
[25][26][27] In April 2010, the Federal Government announced an investment of more than $1.5 million to assist the City of St. John's to redevelop the Tucker Premises in historic Quidi Vidi village.
[32] In 2016, in response to an exhibition featuring work by Will Gill, Philippa Jones, Jerry Ropson and others, author Lisa Moore wrote, "Newfoundland is a malleable idea, constantly being dreamt and reconfigured."
But Newfoundland, hyper-aware of being a distinct society, is at the same time riven with a kind of archival anxiety to hold fast to defining myths; the stories we tell to bring ourselves into existence.
This anxiety might be a symptom caused by existing on the periphery, subject to constant swings in economic instability and geographical isolation in a sublime but rugged beauty.
[34] 2019 Artists include: Jordan Bennett, Bob Blumer, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Ian Carr-Harris + Yvonne Lammerich, Kym Greeley, Robert Hengeveld, Anna Helper, Jason Holley, Thaddeus Holownia, Barb Hunt +Jane Walker, Mark Igloliorte, Wanda Koop, Meagan Musseau, Sean Patrick O'Brien, Paulette Phillips, Meghan Price, Jerry Ropson, Camille Turner, and D'Arcy Wilson.
Located in Bay Roberts, NL, the art gallery was named in honour of painter Christopher Pratt, who donated a permanent collection of his work.
The gallery features exhibitions of contemporary artists working in craft practices such as Susan Furneaux, Katie Pharnam, Teresa Kachanoski.
Over the years, its administrators have included Peter Bell, Frank Lapointe, Edythe Goodridge,[45] Patricia Grattan, Gordon Laurin, Shauna McCabe, Megan Williams, Sheila Perry, and Vicky Chainey Gagnon.
