Craigdarroch Castle : Artwork : etching [2017.016.006]

Artwork

Accession Number

2017.016.006

Description

A circa 1911 view of Vancouver, British Columbia’s Burrard Inlet waterfront. In the foreground is the bow of a sailing ship with men suspended from ropes cleaning its surfaces. Mid ground is a steamship at a wharf. The background depicts a cityscape dominated by a large, peaked roofed building (the old Canadian Pacific Railway station). The sign for the Kelly Douglas warehouse is to the right.

Narrative

This image was flipped horizontally by the artist, suggesting that he may have produced the etching using a photograph that was printed from a flipped negative. The Kelly Douglas warehouse was east of the CPR Station, not west, as is depicted in this image.

This etching is part of a set seven etchings by the highly-regarded American Arts & Crafts painter, sculptor, etcher and picture frame designer Frederick William Harer (1879-1949). These etchings depict early 20^th Century harbour scenes in Victoria and Vancouver with a high degree of aesthetic sensitivity. Their connection to Mary Jean Dunsmuir (Mrs. Henry Croft), herself a painter, musician and lover of theatre, affirms her commitment to art and her appreciation for Victoria’s working harbour, which she saw daily from her Esquimalt (West Bay) waterfront house, Mt. Adelaide.

History of Use

The set of seven etchings, from which this is one, was acquired by Mary Jean Dunsmuir (Mrs. Henry Croft) in about 1913. After her death in 1928, the etchings were inherited by her sister’s son’s daughter, Lucy Lenore Bryden, who bequeathed them to her son, the donor.