Not merely another showcase for a wealthy patron’s personal collection, the Audain Art Museum is arguably Canada’s most important cultural installation to open recently and a significant resource for scholars and fans of Canadian and First Nations art. The works include a range of aboriginal masks and several seminal canvases by Canadian artist Emily Carr. Photographs by members of the Vancouver School, along with the works of many other regional artists, are well represented in the glass-lined galleries of the museum. Only one tree was removed from the heavily wooded site, and the building, on stilts, seems practically to lift off from the forest floor and hover among the dense conifers.
