Here’s a closer look at Cascadia Art Museum exhibits opening this month. Seattle Camera Club In commemoration of the second printing of the seminal 2011 publication “Shadows of a Fleeting World: Pictorial Photography and the Seattle Camera Club,” the museum presents an accompanying exhibition to celebrate the new edition in cooperation with the University of Washington Press. As the main author, Cascadia Art Museum’s curator, David F.
Martin, has assembled over 70 rare, original photographs from various sources. The Seattle Camera Club (SCC) was the first internationally known artists group from Washington state. Formed in 1924, the 39 charter members were Issei, first-generation Japanese immigrants.
The group was celebrated for its excellence in pictorialism, the emerging use of photography as a fine arts medium. During its heyday, SCC members were among the most exhibited pictorialist photographers in the world. The organization came to an end in 1930, when the economic crash that triggered the Great Depression took its toll on its membership.
Further hardships arose in 1942, when Executive Order 9066 directed that all people of Japanese origin on the West Coast be remanded to detention centers and eventually to concentration camps, where many remained throughout the war years. The devastating effects of this on Issei SCC members not only affected their lives but also led to the loss of most of their art. ‘Between Water and Sky’ Cascadia presents the third exhibition derived from early Northwest masterworks from the Garvey Family Collection, “Between Water and Sky: Works on Paper from the Garvey Family Collection.” This exceptional body of work features rare and historically significant pieces that have remained largely unseen by the public.
This iteration will feature works on paper depicting variations in the Northwest landscape of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The exhibition comprises mostly watercolors that display qualities achievable only in this difficult medium. Using subtle washes of transparent colors, the artists conveyed the region’s misty, atmospheric beauty created before the encroachment of industrialization.
Of special interest is the pastel, “Haida Nation Village,” 1882, by Jules Tavernier (1844-1889). It depicts Haida Gwaii, located off the Northwest coast of British Columbia. Artists include a selection of rare works by Cleveland Rockwell (1837-1907), Sydney Laurence (1865-1940), Theodore Richardson (1855–1914), and Edmond James Fitzgerald (1912-1989).
