Before the Vancouver Art Gallery moved into the old courthouse on West Georgia, its home was a gorgeous art deco building a few blocks away.
If you live in Vancouver, you know that the Vancouver Art Gallery is housed in the old law courts, an imposing neo-classical building designed by celebrity architect Francis Rattenbury in 1906. What you may not know, was that the VAG started out in a gorgeous art deco building at 1145 West Georgia, a few blocks west from its current location.
Story from Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History
The original 1931 building—the same year the VAG was founded—was designed by local architects Sharp and Thompson. George Sharp, a respected artist and founding faculty member of the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts designed the building to fit perfectly into the largely residential West End neighborhood. It had a main hall, two large galleries and two smaller ones with a sculpture hall, library and lecture hall.
Charles Marega won the commission to sculpt the heads of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci that flanked the front door. Marega carved the names of those who were considered great painters of the times (none were Canadian and all were men).
After the war, Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris, who lived on ritzy Belmont Avenue, raised $300,000, and the building was expanded to three times its original size to accommodate the works of Emily Carr and some of Harris’s own paintings. The Art Deco façade disappeared and Marega’s sculptures were no longer considered appropriate for the new sleeker modern building.
The VAG ran a classified ad in the Province in July 1951 offering the sculptures for sale. If they didn’t sell, the plan was to throw them out. Rumour has it that they found a home somewhere in the Lower Mainland – and if you happen to have them in your backyard, please let me know!
In 1983, the VAG moved into its current digs at the old courthouse taking with it $15 million in art. Two years later the original building was demolished. Now the Paradox Hotel (former Trump tower) and the FortisBC Centre straddle its old space.
For more in Our Missing Heritage Series see:
Our Missing Heritage (part one) The Georgia Medical & Dental Building and the Devonshire Hotel
Our Missing West Coast Modern Heritage (Part two)
Our Missing Heritage (part three) The Empress Theatre
Our Missing Heritage (part four) The Strand Theatre, Birks Building and the second Hotel Vancouver
Our Missing Heritage (part five) The Hastings Street Theatre District
Our Missing Heritage (part six)
12 comments on “The First Vancouver Art Gallery”
I remember visiting the Art Gallery a few times before it moved to the old court house. I served on two Supreme Court juries in the final year of the old court house, and the interior was virtually unaltered from when it was built. One trial was in the huge main courtroom with a two storey vaulted ceiling and clanking radiators. The jurors’ chairs looked original too. We were not able to reach a verdict by dinner time in one case, and were taken to the Grosvenor Hotel dining room for a meal at no charge; you had to pay for your own beer or wine with your meal. We reached a verdict at 11:00 pm, and were led out of the building through the basement past the holding cells.
When the art gallery opened in its new space I checked it out, and not much survived from the original interior except the ornate ceiling of the main courtroom. I believe one of the old courtrooms was relocated into the New Westminster courthouse.
Your mention of Lawren Harris brought 2 memories to mind.
Harris came from a rich family. His family were heirs to the Massey-Harris fortune. He was far from “the starving artist living in a garret” image.
His Belmont address was just rented accommodation. It really belonged to Bert Hoffmeister, a MacBlo executive who was on “leave” to serve in the war. Hoffmeister was a successful army officer who left the army as a Major General. However he said as an army officer he could not afford the mortgage on his Charles Van Norman house and rented it out.
I recall reading that the Reifel’s were early donors to the building, though I can’t seem to source where that was. They were likely one of many, but Henry Athelstan Stone, president of Gault Brothers was also noted as the Vancouver Art Gallery founder in his obit. There was some falling out with the city over financing (sounds familiar), and so he later stepped down from his official capacity. From Gary Sim’s bio of Henry: “…he donated $50,000.00 towards the establishment of a civic art collection. This was a very large amount of money in those days. He also challenged the citizens of Vancouver to match his donation, and a number of other supporters of the arts did so, providing a total of $100,000.00 towards the purchase of art for the proposed new art gallery.” http://www.sim-publishing.com/bca/stoneha.htm and here’s his obit: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/68311508/henry-athelstan-stone-vag-founder-obit/
Thanks Jason for this great information. Ross Lort was the architect for the VAG extension in 1951, he was also George Reifel’s architect for Casa Mia. His son Bill told me years ago (for At Home with History) the VAG pressured Lort to ask George Reifel to donate the land – he owned a row of single family homes sitting on 33 foot lots.
Thank you. It’s always fun to read a little family history. I’m sure Dad was delighted to share stories with you. (from Bill’s daughter and Ross’s granddaughter)
Tonight I was trying to figure out what style of house I would like to live in, and after earmarking a few European concrete boxes and minimalist black chalets, I realized that what I would really love to have is some variant of the old VAG on Georgia St. (perhaps with a touch of Peggy Guggenheim’s house in Venice).
I was stunned to realize that there are virtually no photos of the old gallery available on the internet.
Then, while watching Escape to the Country at 2 am – because night is day and day is night in the pandemic – I ran across this freshly posted article with a nice photo and some great information!! How cool is that??
I think I knew that the same architect who did the reno designed Casa Mia, but would never have remembered without this article.
Hopefully, there are more photos available somewhere, and perhaps an old book or architectural magazine with more info.
Vancouver has done a terrible job of preserving its architectural history.
Thanks for this very interesting piece!!
I really want to see your house when it’s finished! Thanks for your interest and for dropping by the blog.
I have two memories to share of the VAG when it was still a court house.
In about 69 or 70 a buddy and myself sat in on a trial for a school assignment. While there we found out tape recorders were not allowed. We got it back without the tape when the trial wrapped up. Sadly my buddy who had shopped at the Bay had his bag of new blue jeans stolen from him in the court room.
My second memory was my divorce. The trial lasted under 5 minutes as all of the cases were uncontested.
Hello and again a great piece of sad history. Obviously at the time Art Deco was not held in the high regard today. The city should market itself to urban planning students of “what never to do “. Jason V you are so right as in todays money thats over 800,000 smackers. And yes Belmont Drive where Joe and Rosalie Segals palace for 2 is up for, now dont faint. $54,000,000.00 . Is the Van Norman home still there or is it one of two vacant lots in the middle? I notice the mansion in the last lot is gone. A huge home that one could drive through similar to Rosemary. What will become of the court house when the new gallery is hopefully not built?
Suki mentions reno designed? I know it was never renovated so what does that mean please? Casa Mia is a stunning mansion with much music history that took place in the downstairs party room with stage.
[…] The First Vancouver Art Gallery […]
I remember going to art classes at the VAG in the early 1960s. I must have been 9 or 10-years old. They had a lending library and I ended up with my picture in the paper holding a print “on loan”, now lurking somewhere in a box!
I worked at VAG’s gift shop in the late 1970s – early 1980s. Coming across this website brought back great memories. It got me thinking and wondering what happened to the people who used to work there. I was in my early twenties, so can only imagine that many from that era have retired. I remember that after the move, the building was torn down, and for what seemed like many years there was an unfinished high-rise on the site. Perhaps someone knows the story behind the unfinished construction site – I don’t. I do know remember it was eventually torn down, and the current building went up (Paradox Hotel, formerly known as Trump Tower).