‘The vistas can be breathtaking’

Painting Victoria: Fifty Years of Memories From a City by The Sea
by Robert Amos

Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2025
$30  /  9781771514873

Reviewed by Christina Johnson-Dean

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“Open your eyes to what is around you. It is a beautiful world,” advises Robert Amos after fifty years of being in the moment with his paintbox in Victoria, a city that captivated him from the start – a serendipitous visit prior to his move in 1974 – with its “unexpected beauty… awesome mountains, sparkling water, and fascinating architecture….” As this enchanting book takes you through the years with treasured neighbourhood sites, expansive as well as intimate vistas, and many events, one realizes it’s also very significantly the people – his wife Sarah (to whom he dedicates the book), his children, and the many personalities who have inspired, supported, guided him or just enjoyed his company, even if merely a brief encounter while sketching. I too have enjoyed his company in his home and north facing studio in an oak grove and meadow near Oak Bay village. I also have been so grateful to live here, a place stewarded for millennium by our indigenous Lekwungen-speaking people and now designated time and again as “the best place to live in the world.”

Robert Amos’s first job here was Assistant to the Director at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. At the time, I was a graduate student in the History in Art Department at the University of Victoria, and we students were charmed by him and impressed that he had a job that actually used art/art history studies, an employment goal we all hoped to attain.

After about five years of work, he went travelling, much of it in Asia and then settled with his wife in Victoria, living in a studio upstairs from Fan Tan Gallery on Fisgard Street, the very centre of Chinatown, established during the 1858 Gold Rush. As a young couple with little money and limited means of transportation, it was a convenient, fascinating, and exotic experience, especially with dazzling neon signs outside their windows, flashing red and green while they waited for sleep. They lived above the Fan Tan Gallery, and Robert was determined to paint a panorama of the streetscape, so night after night, he crawled out onto the fire escape to make drawings for a five-part sequence and thus recorded a bit of history that has largely come to pass.

Since then, Amos has recorded important aspects of Chinatown – the Gate of Harmonious Interest at Government and Fisgard Streets, the Yen Wo Society Building (with the Tam Gung Temple on the top floor), and the Victoria Chinese Public School as well as many intriguing local shops and scenes. In 2009, he told the story of Chinatown with Kileasa Wong in Inside Chinatown. Now he recalls how much he appreciated her understanding of Chinese traditions and her linguistic skills to talk about this cultural gem, the oldest extant Chinese settlement on the continent.

Once Robert and Sarah had children, they began living in Fairfield, near the Cook Street Village, another distinctive neighbourhood. It borders Beacon Hill Park, where the new father’s daily duty was to push the baby carriage or pull their little red wagon, while he gained new appreciation of the native Garry Oaks and the Fawn Lilies (Erythronium oregonum). Goodacre and Fountain Lakes, the alpine and rose gardens, the swings (of course), later the baseball diamond where his daughters played softball, and the Beacon Hill Drive-In (noted for oyster burgers and soft-serve ice cream), caught his artistic eye, which ranges from beautiful, peaceful scenes to the whimsical and cartoonish.

Their home was close to downtown Victoria with its impressive Parliament Buildings (especially when lit at night), the Empress Hotel, and other historic architecture of different eras and styles, all surrounding a protected harbour, plied with little passenger ferries, power and sail boats, as well as the docks for ships like the Coho (which connects to Port Angeles across the strait). Ever enterprising, Amos was able to gain access to places not usually accessible, such as the curatorial tower of the Royal British Columbia Museum and the Flag Deck at the top of the Empress Hotel, and so was able to show the expanse and detail of the downtown harbour.

The inner harbour is the site for many events – such as the Victoria Day Parade (with the many bands visiting from Canada and the USA), the Classic Boat Festival, the Peace March, and the Symphony Splash. One year Amos was able to join the orchestra on a large barge, while a huge crowd listened to the music, which ended with Beethoven‘s 1812 Overture, carillion, cannon, and fireworks. Through the Victoria Symphony’s President Murray Glazier, he was also able to enjoy the concerts at the class Royal Theatre where house lights were left on at his seat so he sketched various players.

Painting fireworks can be tricky, but Amos captured a number of fireworks, including the show on Saturday evenings at Butchart Gardens. The Parliament Buildings at night have delighted residents and visitors alike, especially in December when they are red and green for the holidays. When Amos was the art critic for the Daily Colonist, he befriended the music critic, Joe Blake, and had the good fortune to enjoy the nightlife in Victoria, including Harpo’s in Bastion Square and Al Capone’s Night Club on Store Street.

Amos’s work mainly reflects colonial/settler tastes and documents its fascination with indigenous cultures, especially with the tourist in mind. In 1951, legendary carver Mungo Martin (also known by his Kwakwaka’wakw name Naka’pankam (Ten Times a Chief) was invited to come to Victoria to carve replicas of poles, which were starting to deteriorate and were being brought indoors at the provincial museum in Victoria. Martin agreed to make the poles and also brought young First Nations people to train in carving at Thunderbird Park next to the museum. In addition, he oversaw the construction of an authentic reproduction – albeit smaller – of his own house (called Wawadit’la) in Fort Rupert. In 1994, Robert witnessed a Hamat’sa dancer inside Wawadit’la during a performance to honour Chief Tony Hunt, Martin’s grandson, at the time when he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

When Victoria built its new conference centre behind the Empress Hotel in 1988, the tradition of First Nations involvement continued with a totem pole by Tony Hunt in the atrium above a two-story waterfall. Through contact with the architect Nicholas Bawlf, Amos was given a hardhat and free access to the site during construction. Not far away, along Government Street Robert documented a shop that featured indigenous handicrafts, many by women, including the well-known Cowichan sweaters.

Along with his interest in construction and architecture, Amos has given attention to industrial sites, which have decreased as the city of Victoria has moved into the twenty-first century, and thus his images document a passing era. One of his earliest works shows the intriguing Gantry for Loading Railroad Cars onto Barges Beside the Bay Street Bridge. Not far away on Pembroke Street was the Albion Iron Works, which began as the Victoria Iron Works and was known for Albion Wood Stoves. It was an enterprise of Scottish immigrant Robert Dunsmuir, who became wealthy from coal mines and railroads before building landmark Craigdarroch Castle in the Rockland area overlooking Victoria. Painted in 1988, Amos’s careful watercolour depicts Victoria Foundries Ltd. Buildings of brick and wood.

To this day, the appealing shops in downtown Victoria offer goods to locals and tourists alike. Amos recalls that when he worked for the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, there seemed to be only one painting of Victoria – founding board member Ina D.D. Uhthoff’s view of Government Street at the corner of Fort Street. This realization that there were almost no paintings depicting Victoria inspired him to “paint Victoria.” Though originally the Royal Bank Building, Munro’s Books is now the occupant and a beloved independent bookstore, which was originally started on Yates Street by Jim Munro and his first wife, writer Alice Munro. When Munro bought the building, it had been “modernized” with linoleum floors and dropped ceiling, but he restored its wooden floors, removed the low ceiling, gave it an elegant paint job, and later adorned the walls with striking tapestries of Victoria and the seasons by his second wife, artist Carole Sabiston. He left the business to his employees, who have carried on the tradition.

Also on Government Street are other buildings and shops from an earlier era. Though E.A. Morris Tobacconists caters more to tourist souvenirs now than the needs of smokers, the building still stands and enhances the street, as does Rogers Chocolates, another design by architect Thomas Hooper. Needless to say, the chocolate business is still going strong. But some buildings are only memories – Kresge’s Discount Department Store with its glazed ceramic tiles and art décor flavour was razed when the new Eatons Centre was built. A tour of downtown would not be complete without a look at Victoria’s City Hall, a John Teague design in the Second Empire Style, built in 1878, but with three additions in subsequent years. When Amos came to Victoria in the 1970s, it was painted blue with white trim, but after heritage consultation, it was re-painted with its original brick colour and a red roof. Amos’s commission to paint the building was in winter, thus the storm clouds were due more to season than politics. Along with the little harbour ferries, Victoria has various transportation options on a more intimate scale – horse-drawn carriages and the kabuki cabs.

As one leaves the downtown to the south, it is not far to one of the earliest residential areas – James Bay, where famous artist Emily Carr grew up in a home built by her merchant father for his family. Now an historic site, open to visitors, Amos recalls visiting and painting, enjoying the caretakers, their contented cat and a cozy Victorian atmosphere. To the east of town centre is Christ Church Cathedral with its noted stained-glass windows and up the avenue is the Rockland area, where the wealthy built their homes, including Craigdarroch Castle, commissioned by Robert Dunsmuir of many enterprises, including Victoria Ironworks. On Rockland Avenue is Government House, residence for the Lieutenant Governor, built in 1957 (after fires destroyed the first two houses). The extensive gardens are open to the public and include rose, herb, heather, iris, rock and vegetable gardens as well as a large Garry Oak habitat below a vista across Fairfield neighbourhood to the straits and the Olympic Mountains. Amos
probably has paintings of these green spaces, but the book includes an unusual winter snow scene.

Nearby is the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria on Moss Street, where Amos’s first place of employment in the city. In 1951, Sara Spencer (whose family had owned a downtown department store) donated her house, Gyppeswyck, so the fledgling art centre, which became the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, would have a home. One of the attractions for Amos when he arrived was the collection of Japanese art prints, which has continued to grow. In the foreground of Amos’s painting is the Shinto Shrine, which curator Barry Till was able to obtain and have transported to Victoria, where a crane set it down in the rock garden of the gallery, still the only Shinto shrine in North America. A popular summer event is the Moss Street Paint-in, which spans the distance from the well-to-do Rockland area through the bungalows of Fairfield to oceanside Dallas Road. One year, Amos did more than show his work. He first painted the streetscape, and then when the event was underway, he added details of the event, even persuading visitors to stop and pose to become part of the painting. That is the Amos “people” connection par excellence!

Special businesses in Victoria’s many neighborhoods make those of us who have been here for awhile nostalgic for times gone by. Lou’s Auto Repair on Collinson Street, Brookman’s Grocery and Flowers on Gorge Road at Admirals Road (run by the Wong family when Amos was painting it), and Turner’s by Night with Ian’s Coffee Shop, which stood across from Royal Jubilee Hospital, show everyday aspects of the city. In preparation to painting Turner’s, Amos got permission from Ian (who gave him a couple of homemade doughnuts) to photograph the interior with its soft-serve ice cream machine, bins of syrups and sprinkles, a triple shake mixer, tiers of heavy china coffee cups, and signs for fresh fruit pies.

Amos has captured the many villages of Victoria, including Fernwood, which had become run-down but with enterprising people the Spring Ridge Emmanuel Baptist Church was transformed into the Belfry Theatre, and old brick buildings now house shops and restaurants as well as a public square with a pergola. Amos caught a springtime scene with a blooming cherry, which grace many of Victoria’s streets, thanks in part to gifts from Japan.

Further from town on the hill above Cadboro Bay is the University of Victoria, which just recognized Amos with a well-deserved Honourary Doctorate of Fine Arts (November 2025). Amos has worked closely with Lara Wilson of the University Libraries’ Special Collections to ensure key cultural archives are preserved. Over the years he has painted a number of scenes on campus, including the pond beside the West Coast Modern Style University Club where he had the company of club members as well as ducks, turtles, and dragonflies. In 2013, when the university was celebrating its 50th anniversary, he was commissioned by the library to make a painting of the building. Amos again recognized the value of people, so the painting included current and former library staff as well as literary lights who just seemed to be passing by.

Further afield are the western communities with another large Dunsmuir home, Hatley Park built by James Dunsmuir, who carried on his father’s business and was Premier of B.C. Later It became Royal Roads Military Academy, and is now Royal Roads University. However, it is the grounds, especially the Japanese Gardens, which draws Amos for return visits.

To the north of Victoria, the Saanich peninsula offers many scenes for painting, including well-known Butchart Gardens, the small Church of the Assumption along West Saanich Road, as well as many roadside stands and walks along beaches and laneways.

However, the first neighborhood where Amos lived when he arrived and the one where he now lives is Oak Bay. Surely, its Willows Beach with its white sand beach, playground, and the Kiwanis Tea Room, was a favourite place to visit with his young daughters years ago. Now in his senior years, there is still the attractive village with many shops, restaurants, coffee places, and colourful banners (created by local artists and that change with the seasons). He remembers going to the Oak Bay Theatre, and though it is long gone, the Oak Bay sign for it is still there. The old picturesque fire and police station is still in use, though it can no longer accommodate the latest fire engine.

Another inspiration to paint local scenes occurred after seeing a memorial exhibition of an artist who resided in Oak Bay – Edward Goodall. He lived at an historic home Inchgarth on Wilmot Place near the village and ran Goodall’s Pencil Postcards. Amos pondered the question of what makes someone love a painting enough to buy it. Was it colour or style? That’s when he realized the “recognition” factor. People often want a work of art that has something to which they can connect; it helps them tell their stories. Over the years Amos has been very successful with private commissions – people wanting a painting of a home or place they know and love.

Many paintings have been prompted by the view from the water side along Dallas Road, winding to Oak Bay’s Harling Point with the Chinese Cemetery, then over Gonzales Hill to Beach Drive that passes through the Victoria Golf Course (with views of Trial Island), by the Oak Bay Marina, Willows Beach, Uplands-Cattle Point Park, including the John Olmstead designed Uplands Estates with the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. The vistas can be breathtaking.

Amos has been clear about his purpose. “Because my work is first and foremost, of local interest, I did not pursue gallery representation. As it is unabashedly old-fashioned, I never bothered to try for government grants. My goal has been to create paintings, which people will like, and which will become part of the life of the community.” Thank goodness we have the work of Robert Amos, which are cherished chronicles of times and places dear to our hearts. And when we truly appreciate something small and close, perhaps that is the path to understanding much larger ideas and views.

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Christina Johnson-Dean graduated from the University of California, Berkeley (B.A. in History with Art minor) and then trained as a teacher.  After three years teaching in public schools, she took her retirement money and travelled around the world, teaching in Thailand and New Zealand, before settling in Victoria.  She completed a M.A. in History in Art and served as a teaching assistant as well as creating local art history courses for Continuing Education.  Since 1987, she has been teaching in the Greater Victoria School District.  Her publications include The Crease Family:  A Record of Settlement and Service in British Columbia (1981), “B.C. Women Artists 1885-1920” in British Columbia Women Artists (Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1985) and three titles for Mother Tongue Publishing’s Unheralded Artists of B.C. series:  The Life and Art of Ina D.D. Uhthoff (2012), The Life and Art of Edythe Hembroff-Schleicher (2013), and The Life and Art of Mary Filer (2016).  In addition, she contributed to Love of the Salish Sea Islands with an article about Gambier Island (2019). [Editor’s Note: Christina Johnson-Dean has recently contributed a review of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria’s current exhibition A View from Here, a retrospective essay of the life and art of Pnina Granirer, and reviewed books by Karen Rempel, Alex McKeen and George Harwood Smith, I.S. MacLaren, and Sonja Ahlers for The British Columbia Review.]

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The British Columbia Review

Interim Editors, 2023-26: Trevor Marc Hughes (non-fiction), Brett Josef Grubisic (fiction)
Publisher: Richard Mackie

Formerly The Ormsby Review, The British Columbia Review is an on-line book review and journal service for BC writers and readers. The Advisory Board now consists of Jean Barman, Wade Davis, Robin Fisher, Barry Gough, Hugh Johnston, Kathy Mezei, Patricia Roy, and Graeme Wynn. Provincial Government Patron (since September 2018): Creative BC. Honorary Patron: Yosef Wosk. Scholarly Patron: SFU Graduate Liberal Studies. The British Columbia Review was founded in 2016 by Richard Mackie and Alan Twigg.

“Only connect.” – E.M. Forster