The BC Archives holds a collection of 10,000 paintings, drawings and prints. These art works were created by both amateur and professional artists and document the history of the Province. Art is collected by archives for its "informational content". This means that the art work contains information that contributes to our knowledge of the past.
Art is a visual record. In the days before the invention of photography art was the only means of visually recording people, places or events. In the nineteenth century it was considered fashionable in Europe for people to sketch and draw and when children went to school, art was a part of their education. Adults also took drawing lessons, and many people carried sketchbooks with them on their travels so that they could make a record of the scene they saw and the places they visited.
The paintings, drawings and prints in the BC Archives are important visual records of the development of the Province and work together with textual or written documents (and other media) to provide historical evidence of our past.
Three different types of art are collected by the Archives. Of principal importance is art that is representational or non-abstract. This means that the artist created a painting or sketch to accurately portray the subject or scene. When we look at these art works today, the information recorded in them provides historical evidence. For example, images such as landscapes, views of early settlement, native peoples, transportation, industrialization, ships, and portraits show us what B.C. looked like, what people did and how things have changed.
Art is also collected because the artist was important in the history of the Province. In this case, the art work does not necessarily have to be representational because the intent is to document the artist and the career of the artist. Thus, the collection features several thousand works by renowned B.C. artist, Emily Carr. Some of her work is representational, but much of it is abstract. Her life and career is documented through the collection of her art works which, when studied along with her manuscript records (her diaries, journals and correspondence) and photographs, provides complete documentation of her life, the stylistic changes in her art, her artistic career, and her impact on the art world.
The third category of art works collected by the BC Archives includes a broad range of items which reflect the times in which they were created. For example, sometimes a sketch, a poster, or a political cartoon provides documentary evidence of the way people thought, the beliefs they held, or of an important event. Art can be studied for this type of evidence. The most obvious examples are the posters created during the World Wars which in their formats document the artistic styles of the day; and the subjects show the concern over security, food production and patriotism. Political cartoons are also documents which record specific social, political, religious issues current at the times.
