Royal Canadian Academy of Arts/Académie royale des arts du Canada: Exhibitions and Members 1880–1979 by Evelyn De R. McMann (review)

98 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW collection issomewhat disappointing in itslackofinterpretation of European aesthetic and iconographic influences - for example,the traditions of the picturesque which directly influenced manyoftheBritishtopographical artists receives onlybriefmention.An overlyrigorous adherence tochronological presentation alsoinhibitsfruitful analysisof theme,and often resultsin repetitious or trivial presentations. In short,thisbookpresents a unique collection ofearlyCanadiana illuminating alostCanadian past, butitisnotan effectiveinterpretationof the historicalor aesthetic significance of its interesting contents. ,•.w.m•S•'ORIC•I University ofCalgary Royal Canadian Academy ofArts/Acad•mie royale des artsduCanada: Exhibitions and Members •88o-•979. •.v•.L¾s D•.R.•aCMASS. Toronto,University of Toronto Press, •98•. Pp.xiv,448.$6o.oo. The RoyalCanadian Academy of Arts,foundedin •88o,was created primarily asanexhibiting andsocial association. It istherefore entirely appropriate that oneof itscentennialtributesis a compilationof all worksshownin the •34 Academysponsored exhibitions held from itsinceptionto •979. Organized alphabetically byartist,thebookincludes entriesfor 885acamembers aswell as over •ooo others who exhibited with that institution. Since this honorific artisticsociety hasalways encompassed the full breadthof visualartistsindustrialdesigners , weavers, film makers,and architects, notjust painters, sculptors, andprintmakers - thislistingprovides anunusually widehistorical perspective of Canadianartisticactivity. Under eachartistthe followinginformationislisted,whenavailable: date andplaceof birth anddeath,sources of biographical material,status in the academy,disciplineof membership,addresses, year and nature of aca exhibition, andtheworksexhibited. To enter•5,563 exhibited worksof art, the authordeviseda highlyabbreviatedformat which,on the whole,works well.Onthenegative side, some ofthecategorization issurprising: 'decorative' asa media;the inclusion of the CoburgArt Gallerybut theomission of the WinnipegArt Gallery.And, unfortunately, McMannfoundit impossible to trace most of the current locationsof the works,even thosein public collections. Typos,mistakes, andomissions arepleasantly rare,aconsiderable accomplishment in a volume of this nature. This additionto the paltry numberof Canadianart historyreferencebooks ismostwelcome. Another aspectof thisbookis the opportunityit affordsto studythe vicissitudes oftheAcademy. Duringtheaca'sfirstthreedecades itsexhibitions werethenation'smostimportant,thebestcreators enteredtheirmajornew works. And Academicians gainedstaturethroughtheirrepresentation in the NationalGalleryof Canada,for that gallerywasfoundedfrom collected REVIEWS 99 diploma works. Thisclose symbiosis between artistic association andpublic gallery- otherassociations werealsoinfluentialin thecreationof custodial institutions - wasnottobepermanent. The l•C•, abrogated muchofitspower andinfluenceby the mid •9eoswhenit lostthebattleto controlitschild,the NationalGallery.Since1971theAcademy hasnothelditsannualexhibition, partlybecause no major galleryhasbeenwillingto hostthe show.Current attempts bythel•C•, tocreate itsowngallery, mirroringactivities byotherartists in the formationof artist-runexhibitioncentres,showthat aspects of the originalproblemstillabound. AI•I• I•AVISDelaware, Ont. Entering the Eighties: Canada inCrisis. Editedbyl•.•CENNETI-I CAl•T¾ andw. •,EWgl• WAl•r•. Toronto,OxfordUniversity Press, •98o.Pp. •6o.$4.95. How hasCanadasurvived in the past? Will thenationendurein the future? Thesescarcely originalquestions wereputtoa select groupof historians and political scientists ataconference inearly•98o- aperiod ofconsiderable (and continuing)politicalturbulencein the nation.While fumingpoliticians and pantingpunditswereprovidingsorrowful accounts of Canada's historyand disaster-ridden visions of itsprospects, theauthors included inthiscollection addressed thequestions beforetheminfarless apocalyptic terms.Individually, theyofferednounchallengable answers, nonewinsights intoCanadian history andpolitical culture, andnoworkable blueprint forreform.Yettheircollected wisdom provided, perhaps unintentionally, some considered, evenreassuring insight intothestate andfateof thecountry. The arguments of eachcanbequicklysummarized. DonaldSmiley, whose essay introduces thebook,reasserts hisfaithin thetraditions andpossibilities of Canadianliberalpluralism,whichhe definesasthe (sometimes qualified) respect of Canadians for eachother'scollective and individualrights.In separate pieces onFrenchCanada, Ramsay CookandLouisBalthazar explain whyantagonists TrudeauandLevesque havebothbeenconsidered legitimate leadersof andby the sameconstituency. The book'sboldestassertions come from Viv Nelles and Michael Bliss in a section on the state and economic life. In a compelling, if unrealistic, argument,Nellesrecommends thatin exchange for anincreased provincial commitment to theprincipleof equalization, the federalgovernment shouldabandonits futile effortsto imposea uniform nationalenergypolicy.Blissgoesonestepfurther andassails the historical dependence of Canadians, including thebusiness community, onthecentralist ,positive state. The final section on the politicalprocess includes a series of piecemeal recommendations byJ.R.Mallorytoimprovethecredibility andefficiency of Parliament. DenisSmith,inapessimistic spirit,bothexplains andlaments the ...