Ray LeBlond passed on a link to a Vancouver artist he admires: Tom Carter.
And why Ray’s appreciation?
I think one of the things that is different than other paintings I have seen of Vancouver is that Carter embraces the skies we see most frequently, that do provide a special light that is authentic to Vancouver.
Like ‘Victory Square’:
I’d say from the presence of the streetcars and the look of the vehicles, this is a portrayal of Hastings Street in the 1940s. But except for the change at Woodward’s, this view is essentially unchanged today.
Unchanged? Interesting. Do we like that? Do we like East Hastings as it is? Does the street have no better use than its current one?
I think if we ever did return the streetcar to Hastings street it would help in the revitalization of the down town east side. I certainly think it would slow the flow of car traffic in the area and certainly bring back what the street was like when this painting was painted.
I’m not sure you’re completely correct that the view is unchanged. It’s true that, apart from Woodwards, there are few towers of the sort we would see elsewhere in the Downtown. There are a few holes where buildings have been removed (the Concord Pacific site opposite Woodwards is an obvious example). But in the last few years there have been a number of significant mid-rise additions, including the new non-market building beyond the Sun Tower, International Village and it’s residential tower on top, and several other 8-10 storey building like The Lux on East Hastings (another recent non-market project) 33 West Pender, a condo building, and the J C Leman Native Housing building beyond it. And the Flack Block on the left has an extra floor of offices, which you’d see from the painting’s vantage point more obviously than you can from the street. Now, if you were to say that 12 years ago (before International Village) it looked the same, I think you’d be right.