Skidegate

A dark carved totem pole rises from a low earthen mound in Emily Carr's "Skidegate," its curved bird beak catching the eye against a backdrop of tumbling green hills. Carr painted this pole from the Haida village of Skidegate, on the islands now called Haida Gwaii off the coast of British Columbia. She had a lasting fascination with the Indigenous art of the Pacific Northwest and made long journeys to remote villages, hoping to record the totems she worried were vanishing. Two little spruce trees sit near the water below the pole, almost like small guardians keeping watch over the winding shoreline.

The whole scene feels charged with motion, from the rolling forest to the way the hills seem to ripple across the canvas. That energy comes from Carr's bold, rhythmic style, which she developed in the early twentieth century while working alongside other Canadian artists eager to capture the true character of their land. Recognition came slowly for her, and she spent much of her life on the margins of the art world. Today she stands among Canada's most cherished painters, and this piece shows her gift for treating both Haida carving and the wild landscape around it with equal respect.