Esplanade proud to display works of late artist

By Mo Cranker on July 31, 2018.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker

A number of Joan van Belkum’s paintings are on display at the Esplanade and will be shown in the gallery through Sept. 15.

The artist moved from England to Medicine Hat in 1955 and painted for more than 50 years before passing away in 2014. Esplanade director of exhibitions and collections Joanne Marion is excited to be able to put van Belkum’s art on display.

“Before Joan passed away in 2014 we had a number of studio visits with her and had a number of pieces in our collections,” she said. “We now have more of her work and have installed it chronologically in the gallery.

“It’s a really great collection of her work that has pieces from a lot of different time periods and styles that she would have used.”

Marion says van Belkum was a very well-known painter provincially, and the artwork on display is of the highest quality.

“Joan was a phenomenal painter,” she said. “We worked with her to figure out how she wanted her works to be represented and shown to the community, so we added a number of new pieces to the collection and that’s what people will see when come in here.

“The collection is a very good representation of Joan and all she was able to accomplish as an artist over the many years she was painting.”

Marion says the many different styles used by van Belkum show her versatility as an artist.

“When you look at the walls you can see the paintings really follow different themes and different styles,” said Marion. “It’s hard to define all of her work because you really don’t want to pigeon hole Joan into one certain style — she really did so much great work over the years.

“Many people will remember Joan as a great person and a really valuable member of the community here in Medicine Hat.”

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