The Vancouver Art Gallery in collaboration with Dulwich Picture Gallery and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, with support from the National Gallery of Canada, presents David Milne: Modern Painting, on view June 16 to September 9, 2018. This is the first major exhibition of Canadian artist David Milne shown in the country in thirty years. Coming direct to the Gallery from its recent European debut in London, the exhibition features close to ninety works in oil and watercolour, never-before-presented photographs, drawings and memorabilia.
David Milne (1882 – 1953) enjoyed a career that spanned half the twentieth century, taking him from the bustling cityscape of New York, to the battlefields of Northern France and Belgium, and back to the wilderness of the Canadian and US landscape. During his progression as a painter, he carved out a distinguished place among Canada’s most original artists. Milne’s “war watercolours” are the core of the exhibition and are amongst the most memorable images in Canadian art. Also featured are Milne’s works from before he moved to New York and following his return to Canada in 1929. These include famed paintings of Temagami, Palgrave, Weston and Six Mile Lake.
“The Gallery is proud to bring the works of one of Canada’s most celebrated artists to Vancouver in David Milne: Modern Painting,” says Kathleen S. Bartels, Director of the Vancouver Art Gallery. “Over his half-century career, Milne developed a unique style that earned him fame beyond Canada’s borders. His groundbreaking approach to painting and his singular vision of the landscape are much-deserving of the wide recognition given by this touring exhibition.”
David Milne: Modern Painting is organized by Dulwich Picture Gallery and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery, with the exceptional support of the National Gallery of Canada. Following its presentation in Vancouver, the exhibition will be on view at McMichael Canadian Art Gallery in Kleinburg, Ontario from October 5, 2018 to January 14, 2019.
Coinciding with the opening of this exhibition, Vancouver Art Gallery’s annual Heller Lecture will be given by curator Sarah Milroy on June 16, 7:00 pm at UBC Robson Square. Tickets are $30 for General Admission or $20 for students and members and can be purchased as of May 22 at vanartgallery.bc.ca
Photo: Stephen Topfer, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.