Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky
Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky is a painting by Canadian artist Emily Carr, created in 1935. It is oil on canvas and measures 112 cm by 68.9 cm. The work is in the Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver.
Carr made this painting during a time when she was moving away from dense forest scenes toward new ideas. Art historian Doris Shadbolt said Carr was “clearing her thoughts for her emerging new phase of creation.” The piece is part of Carr’s 1930s series about people harming the land, alongside works like Stumps and Sky, Logger’s Culls, Above the Gravel Pit, and Odds and Ends. It was probably inspired by logged areas on southern Vancouver Island, where Carr spent a lot of time after buying a caravan in 1934 to travel around Victoria.
Scorned shows a forest after logging. In the foreground you can see bare ground and stumps, while an isolated coniferous tree stands alone, with two more trees in the background. The tree is painted with bold brushstrokes that give a dramatic sense of clouds and atmosphere.
The painting first appeared at the Vancouver Art Gallery in October 1938, in a show of 28 works. It was offered for sale for $225 but did not sell.
After Carr died in 1945, she left money to create the Emily Carr Trust. Scorned became part of the Trust’s collection, which lets the gallery sell or loan Carr’s paintings as long as profits go to art education in British Columbia.
In 2014, the Vancouver Art Gallery showed Scorned together with Edward Burtynsky’s industrial landscape work to highlight environmental change. In 2011, artist Douglas Coupland created digital versions inspired by Scorned. Musician Neko Case, who studied at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, has two tattoos that reference the painting’s title and name it as one of her favorite works.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 11:01 (CET).