This student-organized exhibition examines the interconnectedness of landscape painting and tourist imagery in British Columbia from the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s to the introduction of “The Canadian,” a transcontinental passenger train, in the 1950s.

In its attempt to deconstruct the recorded BC landscape during this initial period of mass tourism, the exhibition brings together works as varied as 19th century watercolours, CPR advertising posters and mass produced postcards. It also brings together issues as diverse as landscape and industry, the depiction of First Nations and perceptions of leisure.

The exhibition was accompanied by a nine part lecture series.

Capitalizing the Scenery is the result of two seminars conducted in 1994 and 1995, one graduate and the other undergraduate, in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of British Columbia. It is guest-curated by Dr. John O’Brian and the twenty-one students who participated.

This exhibition is generously supported by the President’s Allocation Committee, the Walter H. Gage Memorial Fund, the John M. Buchanan Memorial Fund and “Open House,” all of the University of British Columbia, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Ottawa.

Image (above): Capitalizing the Scenery exhibition catalogue front cover (detail), 1995. Designed by John O’Brian, assembled by Hanif Jan Mohamed.