Art involves suffering. In the case of the prominent painters that travelled the trails of Jasper National Park in the early part of the last century, that pain involved hauling heavy equipment with the help of canvas rucksacks, easels strapped to their backs while wearing hobnail boots and a suit and tie.

She might be living in the modern era, but there a few as aware of these conditions as Calgary’s Lisa Christensen. The author of three books on the history of art in the Canadian Rockies, Christensen is in Jasper this weekend as part of the Artists on Rails program. She thinks it’s very appropriate to be sharing her stories with VIA passengers on the trip from Edmonton to Jasper.

“The train was what really shaped the way art developed in the mountains,” she said. “I’m very excited about this, it’s the first time I’ve taken this train trip.”

When Christensen arrives in Jasper, she’ll be off to the creature comforts of the Sawridge Inn. When artists such as A.Y. Jackson and Lawren Harris turned up in 1924, their journey had just begun.

“The Jackson-Harris expedition is quite a tale,” Christensen said. “They started off at the lodge, went deep into the Maligne Valley long before there was a road and ended up high in the Brazeau.”

These and other stories will be told by the author in a slide show presentation to be held at the Sawridge on Friday evening (5 p.m.).

“I’ll be able to add a lot of visuals to these stories,” she said.

While the primary narrative in this region extends from the travels of Group of Seven members, Jasper represents something significant for Christensen.

“One day I was sitting on the shore of the Maligne River with a friend, telling the story of Harris and Jackson painting in the Opal Hills,” she recalled. “My friend told me that it could make a good book and I thought, of course it could! It really just crystallized right there for me.”

As an art historian, Christensen spends a fair amount of time in archives and galleries, but her self-described obsession with the art of the Canadian Rockies means that the trails are her office as well.

“It’s so incredibly enjoyable,” she said. “I think that it’s important for people to understand more about where art is coming from. A portrait is so much more interesting if you know something about the individual in the painting, and it’s the same way with landscapes. It’s better when you know about the area and the history and what it was like for the painter.”

It’s a good time to be producing new work about the art history of this area, Christensen believes.

“Rocky Mountain art is now drawing top dollar at auction... Canadians feel really connected to the mountains, it’s our Shangri-La.”