Downtown Vancouver Art Walk: a self-guided walking tour of the city's best galleries

By Lydia Millett

An amazing cross section of local and international art at the Howe Street Gallery. (Image: Howe St Gallery)

After a quick bite, it was on to the Howe Street Gallery of Fine Art, which was full of surprises. This gallery featured paintings and sculptures from local Vancouver artists, as well as artwork from Canada and the rest of the world.

I was fascinated by Richard L. Minn’s bronze sculptures. I’m not usually attracted to biblical artwork, but I found the sculptures of 'Samson Slaying the Lion' and ‘Moses Betrayed’ to be enthralling. I also loved the life-size sculptures by the Professor Cao Chong-en, a renowned sculptor. One of his pieces was a 12-metre-high sculpture of Bruce Lee!

The gallery has a vast collection of paintings: Neil Patterson’s large oil landscapes in bright oranges, golds and reds; the Vancouver Harbour scenes by Senlin Gui; and the semi-abstract landscapes of Xu Man, an incredible artist who spent years painting in secret during the Chinese revolution. Like I said, full of surprises and worth a look for sure!

Howe Street Gallery featured in Good Life CONNOISSEUR Magazine