[BCMA] War Artists Paint the Navy's First 100 Years

Mon Nov 5 12:06:58 PST 2012

Presentation by Jeff Noakes, Canadian War Museum Historian, Monday Nov 5 from 7 to 9 pm
Exhibition "The Navy: A Century in Art" opens to the public Tuesday Nov 6 at 10 am
Remembrance Week activities Nov 7, Nov 8 and Nov 10-11

[cid:image002.png at 01CDBB4D.86FC4CD0]                                      NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
November 5, 2012

War Artists Paint the Navy's First 100 Years

Victoria, BC - An exhibition of 46 paintings from some of Canada's leading war artists opens to the public on Nov. 6 as part of Remembrance Week events at the Royal BC Museum.

The Navy: A Century in Art, a national tour organized by the Canadian War Museum to mark the Navy's Centennial, captures times of war and peace from the First World War to the present day. The exhibition runs until Jan. 27, 2013.

"The Navy occupies a prominent position in the life and history of British Columbia," said Professor Jack Lohman, CEO of the Royal BC Museum. "Each painting in this important exhibition takes people on a journey to explore the dramatic events and touching personal stories of the Canadian Navy over the past century."

The exhibition features works drawn from the Canadian War Museum's unparalleled Beaverbrook Collection of War Art and includes paintings by Arthur Lismer, Alex Colville, Harold Beament, Ted Zuber, and other official and unofficial war artists.

"This exhibition shows how geography, history and war have shaped the navy through its first century of service. The diverse roles, traditions, and key moments in the life of this national institution are captured through the eyes of some of Canada's finest painters," said James Whitham, Director General of the Canadian War Museum. "We are pleased to be able to share this exhibition with visitors to the Royal BC Museum."
War artist Tom Wood accompanied the Normandy invasion force on June 6, 1944. In his tension-filled oil on canvas, D-Day, he depicts landing craft heading to shore loaded with Canadian troops. In the distance fires are burning in the French village of Bernières-sur-Mer, a result of the Allied naval bombardment and the clash to seize the village. The test of battle is also evident in Torpedoed, North Atlantic (1947), Paul Alexander Goranson's gripping portrayal of survivors of a Second World War U-boat attack.

In Rainbow in Esquimalt (1971), the submarine HMCS Rainbow and other vessels crowd the docks as artist Barbara Greene depicts a typical scene at the Navy's west coast home port.

The Navy remains a potent symbol of Canadian identity. Exhibition curators turn to Arthur Lismer's emotional Olympic with Returned Soldiers (1919), to leave visitors to ponder the Navy's legacy as it moves into a new century of service.

The Royal BC Museum offers Canadian Forces personnel and their families a special 20 per cent discount on regular admission.

During Veterans' Week Nov. 5-11 and in celebration of the opening of The Navy: A Century in Art, current and retired military personnel, police, firefighters and their families are also eligible to receive a special 20 per cent discount on regular admission to both the Royal BC Museum and the IMAX Theatre.

Related Events at the Royal BC Museum
The Navy: A Century in Art
Exhibition Preview and Curator's Tour
Monday, Nov. 5, from 7 pm - 9 pm
Canadian War Museum historian Dr. Jeff Noakes will give a presentation on the importance of War Art to our understanding of Canada's naval history, followed by a guided preview tour of the exhibition. Tickets for this special event are $16 per person. Royal BC Museum members receive 10% member discount. Advance tickets available at the Royal BC Museum or online. Tickets will also be for sale at the event.
Dr. Jeff Noakes is the Second World War historian at the Canadian War Museum, where he has worked on a number of exhibitions including Canada's Naval History, an online exhibition. In addition to his responsibilities at the museum, he has carried out research and presentations relating to the Cold War and the Canadian Arctic. Along with Dr. Janice Cavell, a historian with the Historical Section, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, he is co-author of Acts of Occupation: Canada and Arctic Sovereignty, 1918-25, published by UBC Press in 2010. The book was shortlisted for the 2012 Canadian Political History Book Prize.

Remembrance Week Events at the Royal BC Museum

Wednesday, Nov. 7, from noon - 1 p.m.
Live at Lunch - Bring your bagged lunch and join Dr. Lorne Hammond, Curator of History at the Royal BC Museum, for his presentation, "For Valour: Exemplary Service by British Columbians in War."  Military Awards and decorations from the Royal BC Museum's rarely seen collections will be on display. Live at Lunch is a free monthly event in the Newcombe Conference Hall, Royal BC Museum.

Thursday, Nov. 8, from 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
BC Bites & Beverages - Food from the Home Front
This installment of the Royal BC Museum's food and drink series is on war-time food pairings from BC Archives' recipe books and a presentation by Carolyn Herriot, author of The Zero Mile Diet, on the history of 'Victory Gardens.' We pay tribute to those who endured the domestic home front. Museum members $35, Non-members $40.

The Royal BC Museum presents a weekend of free talks, activities and displays to honour those who have served - and those who continue to serve.

Saturday, Nov. 10 from 10 am - 5 pm
Sunday, Nov. 11, from 12:30 - 4 pm
Lest We Forget - Remembrance Commemorations
Public displays by more than a dozen veterans and community groups, curatorial talks, archival film footage and Royal BC Museum collections are highlighted in Clifford Carl Hall, Royal BC Museum. Free.  Presented in partnership with Veterans Affairs Canada.

Table displays are up for the weekend; special presentations are only at the times shown:
Saturday Nov. 10
1:15 pm           Bart Armstrong
Canadian War Heroes: How the United States Continues to Honour Them
2:00 pm           Sam McBride
Fritz Peters, VC: The Making of a Hero of Two World Wars
2:45 pm           Hong Kong Veterans' Commemorative Association
                        Passing the Torch: Children of Hong Kong Veterans
                        The second generation keep their fathers' history alive
Sunday Nov. 11
12:30 & 1:30   Victoria Children's Choir
                        Remembrance Commemorated in Song
2:00 pm           Military Historian Paul Ferguson
                        Touring the Great War in France, Flanders and Turkey
2:45 pm           Merv Scott, Victoria Genealogical Society
                        An Introduction to Military Genealogy

About the Royal BC Museum
As the provincial museum and archives, the Royal BC Museum preserves and shares the stories of British Columbia - on-site, off-site and online - through its research, collections, exhibitions, publications and educational programs. Its two-hectare cultural precinct in Victoria also includes a number of historically significant buildings and First Nations sites.

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Media Contact:
Royal BC Museum Media Inquiries
250-387-3207
news at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Link to Remembrance events at the Royal BC Museum:
http://calendar.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/2012/11/02/remembrance-week-at-the-royal-bc-museum/

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