Paintings, Drawings and Prints
We have approximately 10,000 paintings, drawings and prints depicting British Columbia, many of them by British Columbia artists. Almost all of these are described at the item level and are searchable online. About 6,000 of these have a digital image that can be viewed.
As well as the works of historically significant BC artists, there are many works by military personnel, surveyors, miners, pioneers and amateur sketchers. The images they created provide an invaluable visual record for researchers in a wide range of fields, from geology, biology and climate change to art history, sociology and anthropology.
Part of our collection predates the popularity of photography in the late 1860s and 1870s, and gives the only source of visual information about that period. We have many images of the province’s colonial days, and a few rare 18th century views of exploration and the fur trade. Works in our collection are often used in exhibits as well as being used for reference and research.