Sketches from the colonial period : early artistic representations of British Columbia and Vancouver Island

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dc.contributor.authorPeters, Helenen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-15T17:15:22Z
dc.date.available2024-08-15T17:15:22Z
dc.date.copyright1978en_US
dc.date.issued1978
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of History in Art
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Art History and Visual Studies
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en
dc.description.abstractDuring the Colonial Period of British Columbia and Vancouver Island extensive investigation and documentation of the area were carried out. The investigation, in the form of surveys, was stimulated by British pride in their expanding empire and contemporary scientific curiosity. The most common form of visual documentation was still the draughts­man's sketch, therefore draughtsmen accompanied the surveys. The draughtsmen, in the Colonies at this time, were mainly military personnel and professional illustrators. Field sketching classes in military academies furnished the rudimentary training of the military draughtsmen . In addition, the aesthetic considerations of the school of landscape painting are evident in their work . In England, interest in topographical documentation, antiquarianism, and continental landscape painting influenced each other, and gave rise to the cult of the picturesque. In the early nineteenth century schools of landscape painting were established. The vision of the draughtsmen in the Colonies, dur­ing the Colonial Period , was determined by this general milieu; it is exemplified in the work of four draughtsmen who left artistic representations of the Colonies . The docu­mentary sketches of Lieut. Henry James Warre appear to be the first work of this nature following the late eighteenth cen­tury explorers. His sketches of the area were made during a military reconnaissance in response to the boundary dispute. The presence of the naval officer Edward Parker Bedwell was also related to the settlement of the boundary. John C. White came to the Colonies with a contingent of Royal Engineers, sent by the British Colonial Office. Frederick Whymper, a professional illustrator and journalist, came with other British emigrants in 1862. These four men visited the then accessible areas of the Colonies , documenting topographical features, habitations and aspects of contemporary activities. Their sketches were applauded by the local populace and published in British periodicals and personal journals. The published sketches reflect the changing sentiments observable in the larger art movement. The sketches indicate individual aesthetic pref­erences, while maintaining documentary accuracy. The draughtsmen were assimilators, successfully combining aesthetic consideration with the need for documentation.en_US
dc.format.extent171 pages
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/19289
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.titleSketches from the colonial period : early artistic representations of British Columbia and Vancouver Islanden_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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