[.ca] Canadian Art: From Its Beginnings to 2000 (ISBN 1552094502)

Amazon.ca:
Anne Newlands's Canadian Art: From Its Beginnings to 2000 looks and acts like a coffee-table book, but in fact it is also an invaluable art reference. Comprising profiles of over 300 Canadian artists representing thousands of years of imagery, it's remarkable that the author manages to convey the sense of depth that she does. Newlands's background as a professional art educator (she's spent over two decades on staff at the National Gallery of Canada) serves her well. At first glance the format might seem straightforward--but its implications are anything but. Listings for each artist occupy one or--in some exceptional cases--two pages. Each page features a single full-colour reproduction of a key work, accompanied by a pithy (200- to 400-word) contextual discussion of why that piece is important, plus some salient biographical details. By arranging the entries alphabetically--as opposed to chronologically, geographically, or by artistic movement--Newlands is able to present each as having equivalent value. Historical heavyweights like the members of the Group of Seven are seen alongside an excellent selection of contemporary artists of First Nations and European ancestry. A 1,000-year-old ivory comb by an anonymous Thule artist carries the same weight as a 1984 painting by Joanne Tod. Yousuf Karsh's 1936 portrait of "counterfeit Indian" Grey Owl plays off General Idea's 1991 One Year of AZT. Newlands's close ties with the National Gallery are reflected in the high concentration of works represented from that museum, but overall her choices are exemplary. There are a few misses, but Canadian Art: From Its Beginnings to 2000 is a beautifully produced book and makes an excellent companion piece to a more conventional overview like Dennis Reid's A Concise History of Canadian Painting. --Deirdre Hanna