| BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS |
He was one of the five founding members of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts in 1908, and exhibited in the societie's debut First Annual Exhibition at the Dominion Hall in Vancouver. He also showed two paintings later that year in the Exhibition of Pictures held by the Vancouver Studio Club and School of Art.
In 1910 he had work in an exhibition held by the Island and Crafts Society in Victoria.
In 1917 McEvoy was Honorary Secretary Treasurer of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts as well as a member, showing two paintings in the annual exhibition and loaning one painting by David Cox. He had also exhibited with the group in 1910, 1912, and 1915, and later showed his work in 1921 and 1925. The BCSFA also showed his work in 1936, after his death.
In 1920 McEvoy and John Radford were chiefly responsible for the creation of the B.C. Art League, an organzation founded to help create an art school and art gallery in Vancouver.
McEvoy died in Vancouver in 1932 at the age of ninety. A bust of McEvoy by sculptor Charles Marega was exhibited at the Vancouver Art Gallery in the 1932 First Annual B.C. Artists Exhibition. His artwork was displayed in retrospective exhibitions of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts in 1950 and 1960.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| DATE | EXHIBITION | ARTWORK |
| 1909 April 20 - 28 | BCSFA First Annual Exhibition | British Columbia Road |
| Sea And Sky | ||
| In Stanley Park | ||
| On The Coquahalla River, B.C. | ||
| Mount Burgess | ||
| 1909 June 19 - July 17 | Studio Club Exhibition of Pictures | Ontario Springtime |
| Sunset Glow | ||
| 1909 November | BCSFA Second Exhibition | Hope, B.C. |
| Bottom of Burnaby Street, Vancouver, in 1903 | ||
| 1910 May | BCSFA Third Exhibition | A Devonshire Cottage |
| The Gorge, Victoria, B.C. | ||
| Near the Credit River, Ontario | ||
| 1910 September | IACS 1st Annual Exhibition | A Devonshire Cottage |
| Bush Burning, near Vancouver | ||
| Wayside Cross, Dartmoor | ||
| 1911 November | BCSFA Fall Exhibition | Waves Breaking on the Shore in a Full Gale |
| ("also some fine oil paintings") | ||
| ("woodland gloom and gleam") | ||
| 1912 Nov. 25 - 30 | BCSFA Annual Exhibition | Landscape |
| Landscape | ||
| 1915 April | BCSFA Works by Members | On the Severn, Glocestershire, Eng. |
| The Graveyard of Forest | ||
| Land's End, Cornwall, Eng. | ||
| Coast of Cornwall, Eng. | ||
| After the Storm | ||
| An Atlantic Wave | ||
| A Bit of North Vancouver | ||
| In the Kerry Hills | ||
| Edge of an Ontario Farm | ||
| 1916 September | BCSFA Annual Exhibition | In Stanley Park |
| Hillabore, North Devon | ||
| It Seemed Always Afternoon | ||
| 1917 May 5 | Sketch Club Exhibition | (titles not known) |
| 1917 Sept. 14 - 22 | BCSFA Eleventh Exhibition | Mountain Road, Wales |
| Glacier B.C. | ||
| 1921 Sept. 19 - 24 | BCSFA 13th Annual | Early June |
| Coquhalla (sic) River, Hope | ||
| Landmarks | ||
| Ilfracombe (?), North Devon | ||
| Lone Poplar | ||
| 1923 June | Sketch Club Semi-Annual Exhibition | The Portage |
| 1925 May 9 - 16 | BCSFA 17th Annual | The Stump |
| 1927 June 10 - 25 | BCSFA 19th Annual | Marine, "Wind and Weather" |
| Afternoon | ||
| Bow Lake, B.C. | ||
| On the Lillooet River | ||
| 1936 June 26 - July 12 | BCSFA 26th Annual | Logged Over |
| Sketches | ||
| 1950 April 25 - May 14 | BCSA 40th Annual | A River in Wales |
THE FINE ARTS IN VANCOUVER, 1886 - 1930 (refer to THOM69)
EARLY PAINTERS AND ENGRAVERS IN CANADA (refer to H70)
ISLAND ARTS AND CRAFTS SOCIETY - List of Exhibitors
ARTISTS IN CANADA 1982 - UNION LIST OF ARTISTS' FILES (refer to AIC82)
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF ARTISTS IN CANADA
(refer to BIAC03)
5 references listed for McEvoy.
B.C. VITAL STATISTICS ON-LINE death (no certificate posted) (refer to BCVS)
"The outcome of various meetings since last May
was a united one held last week, when the following list of members of the new
undertaking passed muster and various other inaugural business was done. It is intended
to limit the membership of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts - that
is the appellation chosen - to 36 members. The names are B. McEvoy ... "
From "Society of Fine Arts"
Victoria Times, November 20 1908
"The officers are as follows: ... B. McEvoy ... "
From "Society of Fine Arts"
Victoria Times, April 2 1909
"Mr. B. McEvoy's Waves Breaking on the Shore in a Full Gale
is the only pastel study I have seen in the annual exhibitions so far. (No. 21). It is
indescribably grand, and true, with that breadth and freedom which should alwways
characterize pastel landscape or seascape work. There are also some fine oil paintings
by the same artist, especially the study of woodland gloom and gleam (No. 82), which,
though not entirely finished, is entirely satisfactory."
From "Some Pictures by B.C. Artists" by
A.N. St. John Mildmay
News Advertiser, November 21 1911
"This year's exhibitors were ... B. MacEvoy ... "
From "Fine Arts Society Makes Fine Exhibit"
Vancouver Daily World, November 23 1911
"The only example of pastel was the work of Mr. Bernard McEvoy.
"The Wave," reproduced here, is more than the mere presentment of a solitary breaker
on the sea shore. It is a philosophical study, with the solemnity and infinity of
nature for its theme, expressed through the medium of the stormy ocean. As a technical
display, in this the most difficult of mediums, it is indeed praiseworth; the daring
dash of ultramarine on the horizon, the transparency at the crest of the wave, and the
method by which the sand shows through the foam on the beach, are touches of the deliberate
and conscientious artist."
From "Our Germ Of Art" by Eugene de Lopatecki
British Columbia Monthly, December 1911
"Mr. B. McEvoy in a small decorative picture entitled "It Seemed Always Afternoon"
presents a subject which might be three times the size with
advantage. The contrast of light and shade is well given, though a certain flatness of
plane somewhat detracts from its otherwise considerable merit. This painter is seen at
his best perhaps in No. 84, "Hillabore, North Devon," a simple, faithfully painted
transcript of nature in which he has surmounted certain difficulties of color with
considerable success. His "In Stanley Park," No. 83, is better in idea than execution,
though it is full of the sentiment of nature."
From "With The B.C. Artists" by "A Visitor"
Vancouver Province, September 27 1916
"Among the exhibitors were ... Mr. McEvoy ... "
From "Social Notes"
Vancouver Daily World, May 7 1917
"Bernard McEvoy, whose column "Street Corners" signed with the pen-name "Diogenes"
in the "Province" has been for years a feature that has been widely read and enjoyed by
British Columbians. He is the author of two books of poems as well as several prose works,
the latest published being a "History of the Seventy Second Regiment" which has been most
favorably received and reviewed. As secretary of "The B.C. Society of
Fine Arts," he takes a warm interest in the artistic development of the Province and
himself exhibits annually at the Society's exhibitions. He has also taken a prominent part
in the formation of the new British Columbia Art League, of which
he is First Vice President."
British Columbia Monthly, March/April 1921
"The President, Mr. Bernard McEvoy, who was in the chair ... "
From "Important Meeting of B.C. Art League"
Western Woman's Weekly, April 23 1921
"In the "Coquihalla River, Hope" Mr. Bernard
McEvoy has given us the pure joy of running water, living water
that throws up its head and laughs; it has the gift of wetness that
so much painted water lacks and comes from what one feels are real
mountains to run among real trees. It is a happy picture."
From "Pictures at B.C. Fine Arts" by J. Butterfield
Vancouver Province, September 19 1921, page 12
"A large and ambitious canvas by Marguerite Frechette
presenting a portrait of Mr. Bernard McEvoy is very
disappointing when regarded in comparison with some of the very striking and beautiful
work that this artist has shown at previous exhibitions. The tone is unpleasing and
the work is hurried and, while it is an unmistakable likeness, there is a mechanical
feeling about it that one can not associate with the sitter."
From "B.C. Fine Arts Society Exhibition (First Notice)"
Vancouver Province, May 15 1923
""The Portage" by Mr. McEvoy is vigorous and wholesome.
Drenched with sunshine. It has the charm of outdoor life. To the writer, a native of
Ontario, it suggest the psychology of the country."
From "Semi-Annual Exhibit by the Vancouver Sketch Club"
by Alice M. Winlow
British Columbia Monthly, June 1923
"Mr. Bernard McEvoy, the "Diogenes" of the "Daily Province", whose "Street
Corners" are so eagerly looked for in the Sunday Edition, became a member of the
society. Coming to Canada in 1888 from Birmingham, Eng., he was first on the
"Toronto Mail and Empire". While in Ontario, he designed for the late Sir.
Wm. MacKenzie, the church at Kirkfield, Ontario. As an author, he is better known
than an artist, but, as he still wields a powerful pen, he still indulges in
landscape painting. His lectures before the society have always been features
of much interest."
From "History of the A.H.S.A.V.-Biographical: Founders & Members"
Museum Notes, Vol. 1, No. 2 June 1926
"These are some of the high points in an exhibition which has a challenge and a
vitality in it which are not a little remarkable. There will be considerable
conversation about it during the ensuing two weeks."
From "Palette and Chisel Club" by Diogenes
Vancouver Province, November 6 1926
"Scholarships and prizes for successful students at the Vancouver
School of Decorative and Applied Arts were presented this afternoon at the school
closing by Bernard McEvoy."
From "Prizes Presented to Art Students"
unknown newspaper, June 1927
Article
Vancouver Province, February 7 1932
"The plaster bust by Charles Marega of the late
Bernard McEvoy memorializes that doyen of Canadian
journalists, who died in harness last year at the ripe age of over 90 in the
service of the Vancouver Daily Province. He was a man greatly beloved,
he took a great interest in art, and was indeed one of the founders and the
first president of the B.C. Art League whose two main
objectives were the establishement of a civic art school and of a civic art
gallery. Both these aims he lived to see fulfilled. ... "
From "BRITISH COLUMBIA ART - Significance of First "All British
Columbia Show" " by Harold Mortimer Lamb
Saturday Night, December 10 1932
"Bernard McEvoy and John Radford
were chiefly responsible for arousing the public's interest in this new society, and
in a very short time make-shift premises were acquired where showings of paintings,
drawings, and sculpture took place."
From "A Short Art History of British Columbia" by Charles H. Scott
Behind The Palette, June 1947
"The original group of founders included ... the well known journalist, Bernard McEvoy ...
of the Vancouver Daily Province ... "
From "B.C. Society of Artists - A History"
by J.D. Parker
B.C. Society of Fine Arts 40th Annual
Exhibition Catalogue, 1950