Rosemarie Tovel, “Crisp Whites and Rich Blacks: The Wood Engravings”, Edwin Holgate, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, 2005, pages 68-71
Holgate was inspired by the revival of wood block and wood engraving prints after the First World War as it was an appropriate medium to convey the clean modernist aesthetic through the strong classic contrast between black and white. With a focus on sharp sinuous lines within the composition – the swirling curves of the decorative details in the stove and kettle, complemented by the strong vertical lines of the door – Holgate developed his print making practice throughout the 1930s producing his strongest print works in this early phase of his career. This piece gives an intimate view of a fisherman's humble home life in the small kitchen space. On “Labrador Kitchen No.”, noted scholar and expert in print-making in Canada, Rosemarie Tovel, states that “its rendering of elaborate and diverse textures, lights, and forms within a complex composition is unparalleled among Holgate's prints.”
