The Three Forces

Gift of the Artist to the Canadian Legion, Morin Heights, Quebec Private Collection, Toronto

Laura Brandon, “Ready for the Unexpected? The War Art of Edwin Holgate,” in eds. Rosalin Pepall and Brian Foss, Edwin Holgate, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, 2005, page 98 Dennis Reid, Edwin H. Holgate, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1976, pages 7-24 Evelyn Walters, The Beaver Hall Group and Its Legacy, Toronto, 2017, pages 38-43

A recognized serviceman and unofficial war artist during the First World War, Edwin Holgate returned to Montreal at the end of the war with pages of sketches of military life. Holgate continued his work in his Montreal studio focusing on figurative, portraiture and landscape works along with various mural commissions for the Chateau Laurier, the Canadian Pavilion for New York's World Fair (1939) and the Canadian National Rail. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Holgate took up an official post as a Canadian War Artist with the Royal Canadian Air Force for the Canadian War Art Program. Stationed at airbases in Sorel, Quebec, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and in various bases in England during his tenure, Holgate was afforded the opportunity to witness the daily regime of the RCAF and Navy men in nearby Naval bases. As official artists were limited to only their assigned environments, they could not participate in operational experiences. This rigid structure allowed Holgate to document multiple portrait sketches and military landscape studies to later transform into larger complete canvas works. Laura Brandon, the authority on Canadian War Art, argues that Holgate was able to “capture with sensitive skill the often tedious reality that was the experience of most service personnel and home front labourers in the Second World War.” Upon resigning from the War Art Program before the conclusion of the Second World War, Holgate retuned to Canada and moved to Morin Heights, a small town outside of Montreal. Here, this new more rural life suited the older Holgate as he had greater time to reflect and enjoy life separated from the busy Montreal art scene which focused on the emerging abstract art movement. “The Three Forces” was donated to the Morin Heights Royal Canadian Legion Branch 171 by Holgate, a former member of the branch, in 1971. It hung above the Legion's piano for over 40 years. The gaiety in the faces of the men along with dramatic perspective employed with their tapered bodies, expresses a moment of fun and reprieve from the war. Expressing the comradery between the Navy, Army and Air men, the stage scene is a charming depiction of entertainment and a unique token of Canadian military history.