Nan Lawson Cheney
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BC Archives
Nan Cheney was a beloved friend of Emily Carr and fellow artist. She was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia in 1897 and studied art at Tulane University. She went on to pursue medical art and later in life was a medical illustrator for the UBC Department of Anatomy. Carr and Cheney met in 1927 and wrote to each other frequently throughout their lives. Nan Cheney donated her corresponding letters with Carr to UBC’s Rare Books and Special Collections.
Lawren Harris
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Wikipedia Commons
Lawren Harris was an influential Canadian landscape painter and member of the Group of Seven. He was born in Brantford Ontario. After studying art in Toronto and Berlin, he began his illustrious career by painting the streets of poor areas of Toronto. He then met James E. H. MacDonald and founded the Group of Seven, travelling across the country to paint some of his most iconic work.
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Art History Archives
He met Emily Carr in 1927 and started a correspondence which shaped her artwork immeasurably. After her death he described Emily in the fondest terms: “The work of Emily Carr and the circumstances in which it was achieved are unique in Canada. She was a passionate, powerful and creatively determined individual who turned fully to her beloved woods and skies and Native Villages. From the earliest work of her girlhood and on into the work of her last years, in hundreds of paintings and sketches, there unfolds the inner story of a vital adventure, full of intense struggle to achieve and the reward of the living embodiment in paint of her love” (Emily Carr House).
Charles & Winnie Evitt
Charles and Winnie Evitt were friends of Emily Carr. She visited them in Prince Rupert, B.C. before she went on the adventure described in the second letter showcased on this website. There are limited records of the couple. However, from the enclosed letter by Betty Clyne that accompanied the document sent to Nan Cheney (see Emily Carr to Charlie & Winnie Evitt, November 11, n.d), they were friends with Carr late into her life and visited her before her death in 1945.
