Whyte Museum founders honoured 100 years since the birth of one of Banff's most benevolent residents
by Aimee Lorefice
It was Catharine and Peter Whyte's commitment to community that led to the creation of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies. And now, 100 years since Peter's birth, it's time to honour the life of its founders.
To celebrate Peter Whyte's centennial, Banff's Whyte Museum will showcase the couple who strived to preserve Banff's culture and history, and by doing so, left a legacy of their own. Celebrations involve special painting and photography displays in Banff and Calgary, and tributes to both Peter and Catharine beginning in January and continuing on throughout the year.
The inspiring story of landscape painters Catharine Robb and Peter Whyte began at the Boston Museum School of Fine Art in 1927. Peter was an avid skier and the son of a Banff merchant, and Catharine a debutante from Concord, Massachusetts. Catharine focused on figure sketches and portraits in her earlier years as an artist, later painting landscapes with great attention to detail. Peter's strengths were in composition and form. The two artists worked side-by-side while they were traveling or on holidays, and often painting the same scene from different angles. After a long, nurtured friendship, the two married and built a log home in the heart of Banff. There they grew as artists, travelers, skiers, and passionate envoys of their hometown, and their favourite visiting spots; Lake O'Hara and Bow Lake became common subjects of their paintings.
Peter Whyte, 'Skiers, Deception Pass', ci. 1935, oil on canvas.
Anniversary festivities got started in late January with a 'sneak peak' preview in honour of Peter's centennial. An ambitious photography show follows featuring young upcoming photography talent, with the official opening taking place in early spring. Exhibits showing the Whytes' work and demonstrating Banff heritage will be ongoing until Thanksgiving. Banff old-timers will reunite for 'Back to Banff Day' in the spring, and two surprise announcements will also be made then, says the Whyte Museum's Art Curator, Lisa Christensen, who has been planning the anniversary events for the last two years. Exhibits will showcase many of Catharine's letters, sketchbooks that belonged to the pair, and portraits, never before displayed, of Catharine's art school classmates from the late '20s and '30s. Events will continue through the fall.
Christensen says this celebration is long overdue: "It's a personal opinion that I have that they become more well known. They never grew tired of the mountains. They really loved where they were, and they painted most of their lives."
Peter's centennial also ties in with the 100th birthday of Alberta. Festivities will be an opportunity to expose for the first time the Whyte's collection of Catharine and Peter Whyte's work to people living outside of Alberta. The couple is not well known to most Canadians because their artwork has never entered the public market. This is indicative of the freedom financial security offered them, and their desire to pursue other interests, which allowed them to paint for pleasure.
Catharine and Peter Whyte firmly believed that the culture and history of the Rockies needed to be remembered. At their home in Banff, they encouraged their friends to share stories, which they sometimes recorded. Their log home was a jovial gathering place for people of different walks of life - a place to have tea, laugh, and share memories. The Whytes had friends all over the world.
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Peter and Catharine Whyte worked throughout their lives in Banff to preserve the community's culture and history. Today, the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies is a testament to their passion.
The two went out of their way to support their community by organizing and funding events and donating to charities. They also supported schools, clubs and museums. Peter and Catharine worked hard to help their friends strive and achieve their goals. They were especially touched by the creative endeavours of others. Catharine was a staunch supporter of The Banff Centre, where she served on the board of directors and helped finance the construction of the Margaret Greenham Theatre. She also took measures to help Morley First Nations artists sell their artwork because she believed they were undervalued by local merchants. Catharine was in turn ordained by the Stoney people as a tribe member, and presented with a medallion and hand-knit white buckskin dress.
The Whyte Museum began as a dream Catharine and Peter thought up with a friend during the summer months of the late 1950s. The three friends dreamed of building a community centre in Banff with a library and gallery. The year of Canada's centennial was the date Catharine Whyte hoped to have the museum completed. Sure enough, the Banff Public Library and Archives of the Canadian Rockies was erected on the Whytes' property in 1967, near Banff's town centre. The building containing a library, art gallery, archives collection, and performing space was opened to the public on June 16, 1968 to a crowd of hundreds, and officially introduced by Banff outfitter Jimmy Simpson. Walls of Peter's paintings and sketches were displayed in the Peter Whyte Gallery. Old newspapers, photographs, and letters could be read in the archives. The library carried a collection of about 10,000 books.
Established in 1968, the Whyte Museum has since collected historic artifacts of mountain culture from early and contemporary explorers. Major renovations of the museum, completed in 1993, fully equipped the facility with a refurbished art gallery exhibit, heritage collection space, expanded administration, and new mountain culture programs.
Peter Whyte lived to be 61. Previous to his death in 1966 (1905- ), Peter struggled with alcoholism and developed cataracts in both eyes. However, his happier and more adventurous years were marked with memories of a kind man who pursued a love of sport and art, passions he shared with the people he loved. Catharine's activities continued, even flourished, after Peter's death. She fostered new friendships, re-learned to ski, traveled to places she hadn't explored with Peter, and continued to support her community with greater zeal. She was named Outstanding Citizen of the Year by the Banff Kiwanis Club in 1969, and received an honourary doctorate from the University of Calgary. In 1978 she joined the Order of Canada. Catharine Whyte died in 1979 at the age of 73.
If You Go:
For more information on exhibits, events, and the anniversary events honouring founders Peter and Catharine Whyte, visit the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies web site at www.whyte.org. Some dates for the Peter Whyte anniversary are still pending.
Exhibit information is also featured in the Bow Valley Arts Calendar in each edition of SolaraLife.
Aimee Lorefice is a Canmore-based freelance writer who has a particular passion for the arts and traveling. She is currently indulging the latter while learning Spanish in Costa Rica.
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