The Vancouver Art Gallery Receives Significant Gift of Artwork by Contemporary Artist Guud san glans Robert Davidson from the Entwistle Family
The Vancouver Art Gallery today announced a significant donation of 23 works by celebrated Haida artist Guud san glans Robert Davidson (b. 1946) from TELUS President and CEO Darren Entwistle and his family. Davidson, the great-grandson of artist Charles Edenshaw and a protégé of Haida master Bill Reid, is widely recognized for revitalizing Northwest Coast artistic traditions through contemporary interpretation.
The Vancouver Art Gallery has been exhibiting Davidson’s work from the outset of his career, beginning in 1967 with his inclusion in the groundbreaking survey of Northwest Coast art, Arts of the Raven. Other highlights include a major mid-career survey in 1993, Eagle of the Dawn, and a 2023 exhibition of his graphic works from the 1960s to the present, Guud san glans Robert Davidson: A Line That Bends But Does Not Break.
The gift comprises a dynamic selection of original paintings, masks and two-dimensional works that significantly strengthen the Gallery’s collection with 15 important works from the twenty-first century—a period of notable transformation in Robert Davidson’s practice.
In the early 2000s, Davidson began to move beyond symmetrical compositions, embracing a broader use of colour and form, as seen in Halibut Halibut Halibut (2000) and the painted drum Second Variation on Tri Neg Drum (2001). By the mid-2000s, his work evolved toward abstraction and minimalism, while continuing to draw from the Haida visual language. Works such as Chief of the Underworld (2006) and Sea Anemone (2008) reflect this shift, emphasizing individual figures, larger forms and a two-tone palette.
More recent works, including Whirlpool Kwaa K’iilee (2018) and Whimsical (2018), demonstrate a continuing interest in detailed and figurative expression in a fluid, graphic style. This is further exemplified in Diving Killer Whale (2019), which merges the clarity of formal reductivism with the complexity of Davidson’s evolving aesthetic. Both Diving Killer Whale (2019) and Halibut Halibut Halibut (2000) will be featured in the exhibition We who have known tides, opening Nov 7 at the Vancouver Art Gallery. This is an exciting opportunity for audiences to witness these significant works firsthand.
TELUS’s decades-long relationship with Indigenous art, including commissioning installations for TELUS Garden, underscores its ongoing role as a champion of British Columbia’s cultural heritage. This latest donation by Darren Entwistle and his family further amplifies this legacy by enhancing public access to significant Northwest Coast artworks.
This entry was posted on September 5, 2025 at 4:29 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Telus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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The Vancouver Art Gallery Receives Significant Gift of Artwork by Contemporary Artist Guud san glans Robert Davidson from the Entwistle Family
The Vancouver Art Gallery today announced a significant donation of 23 works by celebrated Haida artist Guud san glans Robert Davidson (b. 1946) from TELUS President and CEO Darren Entwistle and his family. Davidson, the great-grandson of artist Charles Edenshaw and a protégé of Haida master Bill Reid, is widely recognized for revitalizing Northwest Coast artistic traditions through contemporary interpretation.
The Vancouver Art Gallery has been exhibiting Davidson’s work from the outset of his career, beginning in 1967 with his inclusion in the groundbreaking survey of Northwest Coast art, Arts of the Raven. Other highlights include a major mid-career survey in 1993, Eagle of the Dawn, and a 2023 exhibition of his graphic works from the 1960s to the present, Guud san glans Robert Davidson: A Line That Bends But Does Not Break.
The gift comprises a dynamic selection of original paintings, masks and two-dimensional works that significantly strengthen the Gallery’s collection with 15 important works from the twenty-first century—a period of notable transformation in Robert Davidson’s practice.
In the early 2000s, Davidson began to move beyond symmetrical compositions, embracing a broader use of colour and form, as seen in Halibut Halibut Halibut (2000) and the painted drum Second Variation on Tri Neg Drum (2001). By the mid-2000s, his work evolved toward abstraction and minimalism, while continuing to draw from the Haida visual language. Works such as Chief of the Underworld (2006) and Sea Anemone (2008) reflect this shift, emphasizing individual figures, larger forms and a two-tone palette.
More recent works, including Whirlpool Kwaa K’iilee (2018) and Whimsical (2018), demonstrate a continuing interest in detailed and figurative expression in a fluid, graphic style. This is further exemplified in Diving Killer Whale (2019), which merges the clarity of formal reductivism with the complexity of Davidson’s evolving aesthetic. Both Diving Killer Whale (2019) and Halibut Halibut Halibut (2000) will be featured in the exhibition We who have known tides, opening Nov 7 at the Vancouver Art Gallery. This is an exciting opportunity for audiences to witness these significant works firsthand.
TELUS’s decades-long relationship with Indigenous art, including commissioning installations for TELUS Garden, underscores its ongoing role as a champion of British Columbia’s cultural heritage. This latest donation by Darren Entwistle and his family further amplifies this legacy by enhancing public access to significant Northwest Coast artworks.
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This entry was posted on September 5, 2025 at 4:29 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Telus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.