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Analyzing Images in Alberta: Guided Analysis

Name: ____________
___%

Total: ___/18 Percentage:

Alberta History By Henry G. Glyde
*Located in the second floor reading room of the Rutherford Library at the University of Alberta

. . . historical monuments teach their audience the past. They shape the way the public is permitted to
conceptualize history within the social structure."
Noor F.K. Iqbal
Henry G. Glyde, was born in Bedfordshire, England in 1906, and moved to Canada to teach art at the Provincial
Institute of Technology and Art in Calgary in 1935. He became an important and influential figure in the development
of art in Alberta, as he travelled widely, and pioneered community art courses in outlying areas, such as in Lethbridge
and Grande Prairie. In 1946 he moved to Edmonton and established an art program at the University of Alberta, where
he served as the Department's head for twenty years. In 1951, he gave the above mural to the University as a gift to
commemorate the opening of the Rutherford Library. He died in 1998 in Victoria, at the age of ninety-one.
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Questions:
1) The two prominent white men in the photo are Reverend John MacDougall and Father Lacombe. Considering what you have
learned from Monster By Dennis Saddleman, describe the significance of the mens location in the painting relative to the
pieces other subjects. Why might this be problematic? (3)

2) While the white men are highly differentiated in the photograph, the Indigenous people in the painting are not; their individual
stories and history are shown to be unimportant to the particular story of Alberta that Glyde is portraying. Based on the dress and
activities of the Indigenous people, how does Glyde characterize them? Refer to specific details from the painting to support your
claims. (3)

3) How does Glyde show trade as a central theme in his mural? Refer to specific details to support your claims. (3)

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Sky Talk By Alex Janvier

*Located in the second floor reading room of the Rutherford Library at the University of Alberta: installed in response to the Glyde Mural

The water table is there and will seep its way up. Then you have the iconic Rocky Mountain range, which is
the second phase of the world that we live in. Prior to that was phase one-probably the Laurentian times. The
natives are talking about the third. Theres going to be another something . . .
Alex Janvier
Alex Janvier was born on the Le Goff Reserve and is a member of the Cold Lake First Nations. He is one of Canadas most
acclaimed contemporary painters; his work is informed by his cultural and spiritual heritage, as well as the history of modernist
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abstract painting. He attended the Blue Quill Residential School and went on to receive formal training at SAIT. He has taught at
the University of Alberta and was elected as a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts in 1992.
Questions:
1) The placement of Sky Talk next to Alberta History is significant. How does it return power to Indigenous people after a history
of oppression and abuse through institutionalized racism, such as what occurred in residential schools? (3)

2) Consider the vivid colors in Janviers mural. What might these represent? Refer to specific details of the mural in your
response. (3)

3) What is happening to the Indigenous individual portrayed in Janviers mural? How is this different than Glydes portrayal of
Indigenous people in his mural (3)