John Vanderpant – courtesy the Vanderpant collection, Vancouver BC
Toronto. In issue 25-2, editor Bob Lansdale published Sheryl Salloum’s copyright 1999 article on the famous Vancouver based John Vanderpant titled, “John Vanderpant’s Vibrating “Voice” and Vision”.
Ms Salloum’s article begins with this prècis. “From 1919 to 1939, the Dutch-Canadian photographer John Vanderpant was a “voice… crying in the wilderness” of Canadian art.
“Isolated geographically from the larger metropolitan areas of Canada, he believed that western artists were too often forgotten, ignored, or misunderstood by both the local populace and the rest of the country. He urged BC’s artists to have ‘strong voices [and to] cry and cry and cry again.’
“For this Dutch émigré, the desire to contribute to Canadian art by interpreting and recording the country’s beauty and spirit was paramount. A spiritual man, he also wanted to portray the cosmic energy that he believed united all things. An energetic and highly motivated individual with interests in mysticism, poetry, music, and art, Vanderpant became a significant influence on Canadian photography during the 1920s and 1930s.
“Through his ‘strong voice’ he also became a catalyst to Vancouver’s arts community; the painter Jock Macdonald called Vanderpant ‘the only “living” being’ in Vancouver.”
Her entire article, illustrated with Vanderpant’s photographs, can be viewed in the issue 25-2 pdf file on the free members-only DVD/memory stick. To join, follow the Membership instructions above (cheques), or at right (credit cards or PayPal). Any membership questions may be sent to Lilianne at member@phsc.ca.
You may spot a Vanderpant photo or other item of interest at one of our 2025 events. The next event is our famous fall fair this October 19th. See PHSC News 25-7 for fair details. As we get closer to the date, the poster and details will be pinned this website.
