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EXHIBITIONS
The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies acquires, preserves, interprets and makes accessible the history and culture of the Rocky Mountains of Canada by inspiring and cultivating the exchange of knowledge and ideas through our collections and exhibitions.
On Now
Bison Legacy: The Artistic Vision of Dwayne Harty
October 26th 2024 – January 19th 2025
The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies proudly presents Bison Legacy: The Artistic Vision of Dwayne Harty, an exhibition that explores the profound connection between humans and one of North America's most iconic wildlife species. Through the expressive works of Dwayne Harty, Bison Legacy chronicles the extraordinary journey of the bison from near extinction to cultural and ecological revival. Evident in each canvas is Harty’s deep connection to these majestic creatures that he has captured over years of dedicated study and artistic exploration. From the plains of North America to the forests of Europe, Harty captures the resilience and significance of bison in various landscapes. This exhibition not only celebrates the bison's remarkable comeback but also honors the collaborative efforts in conservation and the vital role of Indigenous cultural restoration.
Harty’s art reflects his deep respect and love for the bison, portraying its resilience and grandeur. Each piece is a testament to his hope that these artworks will inspire a renewed appreciation for today’s bison conservation success stories, from historical significance to contemporary efforts. Bison Legacy is more than an exhibition; it is a celebration of the bison’s epic story, which unites us in a shared vision of hope and restoration. Harty envisions these exhibitions, along with Indigenous cultural celebrations and symposiums, as opportunities for communities to come together to reflect on the bison’s unique importance to the spirit of wilderness and to our collective imagination. The bison’s story is a reminder of our capacity to revitalize what was almost lost—a rebirth that touches us deeply and makes us more fully human.
Dwayne Harty, Plains Bison Near the Bull Mountains, Montana (detail). 18” x 30”. Oil on linen.
Capturing the Wild:
Works by Carl Rungius
October 26th 2024 – January 19th 2025
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The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies invites you to explore Capturing the Wild, an exhibition celebrating the remarkable work of Carl Clemens Moritz Rungius (1869–1959). Born in Germany and trained at the Berlin Kunstschule and Kunstakademie, Rungius developed his artistic skills through intensive studies of animal anatomy and his passion for the outdoors. His early experience sketching live animals and carcasses led to a realistic painting style that earned him recognition as North America's most important big-game naturalist painter.
In 1896, Rungius emigrated to the United States, where he gained prominence as an illustrator for sporting books and magazines. His artistic journey brought him to Banff in 1910, where he was invited by local guide and outfitter Jimmy Simpson. This trip marked the beginning of Rungius’s lifelong connection to the Rockies, where he spent nearly five decades capturing the rugged beauty of the region.
Capturing the Wild showcases a selection of Rungius’s paintings and sketches from our collection, offering a glimpse into the evolution of his work. From dynamic depictions of wildlife to majestic landscapes of the Rocky Mountains, Rungius’s art reflects his deep understanding of nature. His innovative approach of situating animals in their natural environments set a new standard in wildlife art. Join us as we celebrate Rungius’s legacy and his enduring influence on the art of the Canadian Rockies.
Carl Clemens Moritz Rungius, (1869 – 1959, American). Moose, Upper Ram River Valley (detail). 1935. oil on canvas. 76.2 x 101.6 cm. RuC.02.05. Whyte Museum Collection.
FAN FAVOURITES - PETER WHYTE AND CATHARINE ROBB WHYTE
ONGOING
The exhibition delves into the artistic practice of Peter Whyte and Catharine Robb Whyte whose love of the outdoors provided endless possibilities to paint a variety of subjects all within close proximity to their Bow River log home.
The Whytes’ personal artistic styles were influenced in part by Peter’s earlier awareness of artists Belmore Browne and Aldro T. Hibbard, Catharine’s family philanthropic artistic connections, and the education they both received at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Together and often painting in close proximity to each other, Peter and Catharine produced hundreds of 8 x 10” oil sketches with many functioning as colour notes for larger canvases. Depending on the weather patterns of the day, these small works were completed within a time frame of 20 minutes to two hours.
HERITAGE GALLERY
ONGOING
The Heritage Gallery shares Canadian Rockies history through art, artifacts and archives and library materials.
This gallery also has information on Indigenous Peoples, surveying, guiding and outfitting, travel, tourism and more!
TREASURES WITHIN:
50 Years of Collecting
ONGOING
As well as being talented artists, Peter Whyte and Catharine Robb Whyte combined their resources to create this gem of a museum. The land came from the Whyte family and the money from the Robb family. Peter and Catharine painted, purchased, or donated the paintings contained within this exhibition, and some of the artists exhibited here became mentors, friends or confidants.
The Founders' Gallery features rotating exhibitions that celebrate the vision and creativity of the Whyte Museum's founders, Peter Whyte and Catharine Robb Whyte.
Image: Peter Whyte, Bear Street Alley, Banff, 1933, oil on canvas, 27.5 x 35 cm, WyP.01.052
Upcoming Exhibitions
CHECK BACK FOR MORE INFORMATION SOON.
Past Exhibitions
J.E.H. MacDonald: The O'Hara Era
June 15th - October 20th, 2024
This summer, the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies is offering a rare opportunity to view over 100 works by Group of Seven artist J.E.H. MacDonald from public and private collections. Commemorating the 100th anniversary of his first trip to Lake O'Hara, the exhibition promises to be an exceptional and unique experience, with the Whyte Museum as the sole venue.
The show is strengthened by original research conducted by geologists Patricia Cucman and the late Stanley Munn, who meticulously identified the exact locations of MacDonald's works, along with photographs, over the past 18 years. Their findings, documented in a major illustrated book titled To See What He Saw: J.E.H. MacDonald and the O'Hara Years 1924-1932, offer a fresh perspective on MacDonald and his work. Additionally, intriguing discoveries such as paint scrapings and teacup shards have been found in these exact locations, providing further insight into MacDonald's creative process and daily life during his time at Lake O'Hara.
Partnering with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and sponsored by Masters Gallery Calgary, we invite you to join us for this breathtaking exhibition featuring mountain landscapes inspired by MacDonald.
J.E.H. MacDonald, R.C.A. (1873-1932, Canadian) Cathedral Mountain from Opabin Pass, 1929, oil on board. Collection of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Gift of Catharine Robb Whyte, O.C., Banff, 1979.
Two Acclaimed Artists, Two Stunning Paintings
June 15th - October 20th, 2024
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We are excited to bring to you the works of two iconic painters at our highly anticipated Summer Exhibition: Albert Bierstadt and Frederick Marlett Bell-Smith! In 1889, these renowned artists met by chance at Glacier House, B.C., and embarked on a journey to paint the breathtaking landscapes near Lake Lousie together. Bierstadt, famous for his majestic American West scenes, created stunning depictions of Lake Louise, while Bell-Smith, known for his serene portrayals of Ontario and the East Coast, earned the title of Premier Painter of the Rockies.
Albert Bierstadt (1830 – 1902, American)
Lake Louise, 1889. Oil on Canvas. 38 x 60 inches.
Private collection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Ilana Manolson – Time: In the Mountains
April 12th - June 2nd, 2024
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Time: In the Mountains strives to capture the different heartbeats of the earth over time, observed by Ilana Manolson while painting, hiking, and working in the Rocky Mountains. A distinguished painter, printmaker, and naturalist who has been shown in galleries throughout North America, Manolson combines her talents here to create visually confounding and expansive works that unfurl like rivers, trails, and scrolls.
Unrolling to reveal the story as it goes, these scrolls effectively use the layering of mediums and materials to create a visual narrative for the viewer to follow. The only repeated detail lies in painted marks embedded in the work that act as a kind of EKG-like rhythm depicting the heartbeat of the Earth. Based on the Schumann Resonance, a magnetic tone found in Earth’s ionosphere, this heartbeat has recently started to increase in pace, indicating to Manolson that damage is being done to the Earth’s health.
Using these marks and pools of paint to transform landscapes into equivalencies of tenacious life in which some species thrive and others disappear, Manolson manipulates the fluidity of her medium and it becomes a metaphor for the resurgence and the dying. She celebrates the natural world and its ineffable mysteries, even as we are aware of potential disasters. Even in the coming apart, there is great beauty.
Image:
Ilana Manolson, Current, (detail), 69” x 75”, Acrylic on Yupo.
Menagerie of Disappearance
April 12th - June 2nd, 2024
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Menagerie of Disappearance unites four unique artists, each employing diverse mediums to explore a common theme. Through photography, textiles, sculpture, and drawing, these artists provoke contemplation of our evolving environment. With an international presence, they join together to collectively narrate the tale of our troubled relationships with the creatures and environments around us.
Highlighting the tension between perceived life and what is lifeless through a series of taxidermy raptors, Eva Brandl showcases photographic work honed over a forty-year career. Brandl invites viewers to parse out hinted narratives in her work that she’s sown through the use of staged backgrounds and forced perspectives.
Jude Griebel’s monolithic towers of miniatures are complex structures that serve to highlight themes of waste, excess, and lived experiences balanced against the obvious amount of time and care needed to create each creature. His attention to detail and the size of each work invite closer scrutiny by viewers to identify the individual within the mass.
Tamara Kostianovsky transforms repurposed textiles into sculptural carcasses, drawing lines between consumerism, fast fashion, and the relationships between humans and animals. Currently based in New York, Kostianovsky has been creating textile sculptures that delicately walk the line between engaging and shocking for twenty years.
Working with specimens stored in the private collections at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Lorraine Simms has created a series of highly detailed graphite drawings of shadows cast by the skulls and bones of endangered animals. These beautifully haunting drawings offer evidence of disappearance, both of individual animals and of their species.
Image: Jude Griebel, Dismantled World, 42” x 24” x 28”, 2023. Carved wood, bio-resin, air-drying clays, acrylic. Photo credit: Blaine Campbell.
EXPOSURE EXHIBITION
Arto Djerdjerian: Ya Ha Tinda - The Ranch
January 26th - April 2024
Photographer Arto Djerdjerian showcases an intimate view of everyday life at the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch, where horses are wintered and trained for use by Parks Canada staff in our national mountain parks. Djerdjerian has been photographing life at Canada's only federally owned and operated working horse ranch for six years. His work provides a window into a special place that has rarely been photographed, revealing the gritty hard work of ranch life, magnificent animals, and a stunning landscape.
Born in Cairo, Egypt to Armenian parents, Djerdjerian was raised in Montreal where he went on to study photography, practicing seriously since the age of sixteen. Living and working in Alberta since 1977, Djerdjerian has dedicated himself full-time to his practice as a photographer. He continues to expand his vision through landscape photography, from the urban worlds of New York City and Montreal to the backyard wilderness of Alberta and Wyoming.
Image: Arto Djerdjerian, On the Nose, July 2019. Digital print.
EXPOSURE EXHIBITION
Hans P. Berkhout: A Natural Solitude
January 26th - April 2024
A Natural Solitude features the brilliant black-and-white film photography of Hans P. Berkhout, with nature as his subject. These pieces will leave you captivated by their crisp beauty and intricate process. Each photograph displays fine detail, making evident the patience, preparation, and dedication required to execute these images.
Berkhout developed a passion for photography from his early days in Holland. A self-taught, film-based photographer, Berkhout’s main interest is black-and-white photography. He works with both large format and 35mm film, processed in a conventional wet dark room. His nature photography spans landscapes from Kananaskis to New Mexico.
He was introduced to large-format photography by the late Dr. Harry S. Thompson of Calgary. Concentrating his work on nature photography, Berkhout learned from contact over the years with Al Weber, David Vestal, and Joe Englander, whom he assisted during the 2000 and 2001 Workshops West. Since 2014, he has been mentored by Paul Caponigro, one of North America’s foremost landscape photographers.
Image: Hans P. Berkhout, Halcyon B.C., 2023. Silver Gelatin Print.
TOM WILLOCK: CELEBRATING AN EXCEPTIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER
October 20, 2023 - January 21, 2024
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In A Celebration of Tom Willock, a selection of his work captures the grandeur of his craft and his intimate connection to the mountainscapes, highlighting his distinct style and great passion for the natural world.
For his photograph entitled Dawn Mist Falls, Tom hiked for days foraging through streams to capture this image, his keen eye capturing the quiet stillness of the light hitting a cluster of leaves at just the right moment.
Each of these photographs is a thoughtful capture; when the light is perfect and the scene reveals itself beautifully for just a fleeting moment in time.
Image:
Dawn Mist Falls, Waterton/Glacier International Peace Park, 2004, dark-room based selenium toned silver emulsion black & white photograph.
BOW BIENNIAL: FOUR UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES
October 20, 2023 - January 21, 2024
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As we focus on our local community this fall, we bring back the Bow Biennial. This has traditionally reoccurred every two years here at the Whyte Museum and with a short pause due to the pandemic, we are happy to bring it back for our fall exhibition!
This Bow Biennial highlights four artists from Alberta, Amy Dryer, Wanda Ellerbeck, Barb Fyvie, and Eileen Murray who have their own unique style of creating art. All share the same sense of place in their work expressed in distinctly different ways.
Images:
Fig 1: Amy Dryer, Woven Together. Oil on canvas 48 x 60 in.
Collection of the artist, courtesy of Elevation Gallery.
Fig 2: Wanda Ellerbeck, Nothing Stays in the Same Place. Oil on canvas 40 x 60 in. Collection of the artist, courtesy of Elevation Gallery.
Fig 3: Barb Fyvie, Sojourn. Mixed media 36 x 36 in. Collection of the artist, courtesy of Elevation Gallery.
Fig 4: Eileen Murray, My Heart Beats Here. Oil on Canvas,
40 x 70 in. Collection of the artist, courtesy of Elevation Gallery.
FOR THE BIRDS
June 16 – October 15, 2023
For the Birds features the work of 16 artists of all different mediums along with select works from the Whyte Museum’s collection. The show celebrates our love for and fascination with birds through various disciplines such as ceramics, sculpture, and paintings. Each artist shares their unique perspective on the subject from the pragmatic to the spiritual to the barnyard friend. Artists include Diana Thorneycroft, Nikol Haskova, Grant Leier, Neil Clifford, Peter McFarlane, Michael Cameron, Michael Corner, Dawn Deterando, Brian McArthur, Dan Hudson, Julya Hajoczky, Joel Satore, Marsha Schuld, Kate Tooke, Krista Leddy, and Tom Willock.
There’s no better way to connect with nature than to appreciate the movements of a bird. To sit and watch a warbler in flight or a woodpecker hammer into a tree. To awaken to their gentle songs in the morning or appreciate their signs of heralding in a new season. They are often the first creatures to let us know that something is wrong with the environment, like the canary in a coal mine.
Birds have featured in art as far back as 17,000 years ago when they appeared in the Lascaux cave paintings. Their stunning variety of colours and patterns make them perfect subjects. Few animals have as much diversity as birds. From the tiny grace of the hummingbird to the large oddity of the Shoebill Stork, it’s easy to see why these creatures have captured our imagination.
Nikol Haskova
Fable of Shallow Water
2022
Acrylic, linen
48x48”
CELEBRATING 100 YEARS
TRAIL RIDERS OF THE CANADIAN ROCKIES
June 16 – October 15, 2023
Since 1923, the Trail Riders have been taking the adventurous horse rider into the majestic mountains of the Canadian Rockies. This year will mark 100 years of riding trails, singing around a campfire, and encouraging a lifelong love of being in nature with new and old friends.
The exhibition shares experiences that have made this such a loved and enduring group, through photographs, trophies, songs, and artifacts.
The Whyte Museum is thrilled to host an exhibition curated by volunteers of the Trail Riders that highlight the past 100 years.
Image:
Trail Riders' Guide to the Rocky Mountains, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks of Canada, 1926, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Archives Library (02.7 T68g pam)
REDESIGNING PARADISE
JANUARY 20 - MARCH 26, 2023
Alternative photographic processes have been the creative catalyst for four Canadian artists – Mary Anne Barkhouse, Dianne Bos, Sarah Fuller, and Penelope Stewart – during their annual get-togethers and self-directed residencies for several years. The work in this exhibition addresses aspects of the natural environment in different ways by using photography as an investigative tool.
The artists in this exhibition offer a variety of cultural perspectives that look at the flora, fauna, and weather patterns of the foothills, mountains, and other ecosystems. Informed by the Whyte Museum Archives, this work allows the viewer to arrive at a place of empathy for the other – both human and non-human – while thinking through the many ways landscape has been altered by human disturbances.
Works in image by Mary Anne Barkhouse, Dianne Bos, Sarah Fuller, and Penelope Stewart.
ALL OUR RELATIONS
Portraits from the Elders’ Gatherings by Craig Richards
JANUARY 20 - MARCH 26, 2023
Every year, for the past 19 years, Indigenous Elders have gathered in the shadow of Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain, near the banks of the Bow River, in Banff National Park. Elders from First Nations and Métis communities on both sides of the Rocky Mountains come from seven major language groups. They come from families with stories told through generations of using and sharing this valley, the rivers, mountains, Buffalo, and Salmon.
The Elders meet, family stories are shared, and traditional medicines are exchanged. They discuss a range of issues including problems facing youth, the effects of residential
schools, and how to bring back the Buffalo and Salmon to the prairies and rivers. The gatherings provide hope and direction for restoring culture, language, and community health, now and into the future. Over the years, youth have been invited to participate and have brought additional
perspectives to the conversations. This has also been an opportunity for the Elders to pass on their knowledge.
An annual three-day event, these gatherings are led by the Elders and hosted by the Juniper Hotel in Banff which is located on a historically significant site for First Nations peoples. These gatherings have become a spiritual experience that bonds participants and unifies their voices as brothers and sisters.
Portrait of Betty Letendre, Cree Elder
2020
Photograph by Craig Richards
Collection of Peter Poole
CANOE
JUNE - OCTOBER, 2022
Canoe is a stunning private collection that celebrates the canoe in art spanning 200 years. The canoe is our enduring connection to Canada’s remarkable geography. It has captured our imagination and allowed us to explore remote areas of the country with intimacy and wonder. The McCreath collection has been carefully built over two decades and is comprised of paintings and three-dimensional pieces, including a 14-foot canoe made of one continuous piece of birch bark in 2017 by Canmore resident Don Gardner. The earliest work in the collection is a very 1820 watercolour by John Halkett (1768 – 1852) and it concludes with a meditative 2018 acrylic on canvas painting by David Thauberger (1948, RCA).
The collection includes artist-explorers of the 19th century through works by a number of the founding members of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts (RCA) of 1880 who were also contracted by Sir William Van Horne to depict the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway and expansion of western Canada. The 20th-century works are by creative, well-established artists from across Canada who are also celebrated as art educators, designers, and printmakers. The collection encompasses works from all provinces and territories except the Yukon and spans all three Canadian coasts.
David Thauberger R. C. A.
Summer Drift, 2018
Acrylic on canvas
36x46”
Private collection
On loan to the Whyte Museum
ABOUT FACE
JUNE - OCTOBER 2022
Calgary artist Bev Tosh has created some remarkable new multi-media works exploring the waste left from the pandemic. She has fashioned a stunning prom dress using the distinctive blue and white disposable face masks, and the masks also appear on the face of the Mona Lisa in a piece entitled Panda Mona.
Bev Tosh is a contemporary artist and a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. She received her Masters of Fine Art in Painting from the University of Calgary, graduated with distinction from the Alberta College of Art and Design, and was awarded a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Fine Art (U of S).
Bev has lectured and taught art at several Canadian colleges and universities. As a practicing artist, Tosh has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally.
Bev Tosh, R. C. A. (Canadian)
PandeMona
2021
Oil and eggshell on panel
79 x 58cm. framed
Collection of the artist
BREATHE
JUNE - OCTOBER 2022
Breathe. is a collection of traditionally crafted masks demonstrating resiliency through the 21st century pandemic. Co-created by Métis artists Nathalie Bertin and Lisa Shepherd, this grassroots initiative explores the experiences of different artists as they navigated changing COVID-19 conditions.
This second touring exhibition emerging from the Breathe. project speaks to both cultural resilience and strength of community in the face of a pandemic. The initiative encompasses traditional beadwork techniques as well as an array of other materials and methods, creating space for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists.Each traditionally crafted mask tells a unique story of the artists’ experience and share a common message on the importance of breath. Constructed of diverse materials, these 90 contemporary artifacts record a significant historical moment in human history.
The Whyte Museum hosted the first exhibition of these remarkable masks and are delighted to present the “second wave” including additional masks that have been created since.
Terre Chartrand
“An Appeal to Mishibijiw”
COLD REGIONS WARMING
OCTOBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023
Cold Regions Warming is an interdisciplinary collaboration between artist Gennadiy Ivanov and Global Water Futures scientist Professors John Pomeroy and Trevor Davies.
Paintings, drawings, and videos depict locations in Canada where global warming has impacted glaciers, oceans, lakes and rivers. Global Waters Futures is headquartered at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and aims to demonstrate global leadership in water science in colder regions. From a scientific base, the group also addresses the needs of the national economy in adapting to change and managing the risks of uncertain water futures and extreme events.
With the combination of scientific fact, and exquisite art, the exhibition is designed to inform on various levels of appreciation.
Gennadiy V. Ivanov
Code Red for Peyto Glacier
2021
Oil on canvas
91 x 116 cm
Collection of the artist
OCTOBER 2022 - JANUARY 2023
CONTEMPORARY CONSCIOUSNESS
Contemporary Consciousness features the work of two artists who explore our oceans in contrasting ways. Canadian artist Joshua Jensen-Nagle’s beautiful photographic images impart scenes of beauty, calm, and restfulness. One may contemplate human’s predisposition to the enjoyment of our oceans based on reflections of personal experience. Contrarily, one may question the popularity and consequential remains from a day of overpopulation and waste in our ocean and on its shores.
Strewn to shore from the Pacific Ocean, bits of Styrofoam, plastic, rubber, and metal were washed onto the beaches at Tofino, B. C. Participating as a volunteer for the community cleanup project, trans-global artist Alexandra Ewen was struck by the magnitude of damage and consequential debris. It was clear the shore wash was microscopic in comparison to the quantity remaining afloat or beneath the ocean surface. With resourcefulness and compassion, Alexandra connected the oceanic resources with the culinary creativity of Japanese culture by reconstructing the garbage into exquisitely formed sushi meals, edible in scale and served to order.
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Alex Ewen
Shot gun Shell Ramen
2019-2022
Sun damaged microplastics, Styrofoam, multi-coloured fish line, fish nets, washed-up black rubber, balloons, shotgun shells, various ropes, cigarillo tip, pop lids, wrappers, and other assorted weather materials
Collection of the artist
Joshua Jensen-Nagle
The Blue And You
2016
Archival inkjet print face-mounted to plexiglass.
41" x 43"