Vancouver Art Gallery
Western Canada's largest art museum, in the neoclassical former provincial courthouse on Robson Square.
The Vancouver Art Gallery opened in 1931 on West Georgia Street and moved in 1983 into the former Vancouver provincial courthouse, giving it roughly four floors of galleries around a central rotunda. Its permanent collection numbers more than 12,000 works and is strongest in art from British Columbia and the Pacific Rim, photography and photoconceptual work associated with the city, and historical and contemporary work by First Nations artists. The gallery holds the largest public collection of paintings and drawings by Emily Carr.
The building was designed by Francis Rattenbury, architect of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings, and completed in 1911 in a granite-faced neoclassical manner with a domed centre and Ionic portico. Arthur Erickson led its conversion for gallery use as part of the wider Robson Square redevelopment, reorienting the entrance to face the square. The gallery runs a changing exhibition programme alongside collection displays, and has for some years been developing plans for a new purpose-built home on Cambie Street.
Highlights
- The largest public holding of Emily Carr paintings and drawings
- Rattenbury's 1911 courthouse rotunda and grand stair
- Strong collection of Vancouver photoconceptual art
- Changing exhibitions across four floors of galleries
