Maquette for Boat Sight by John McEwen

Provenance:
Acquired directly from the artist (1988)
Private Collection, Regina

Literature:
Bruce W. Ferguson, Public Work: John McEwen, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, July 23 - September 4, 1988, pages 36-41 for “Boat Sight” (1984-85) located at the Parc des Portageurs, Hull, Quebec
Gary Michael Dault, John McEwen, Canadian Art, Summer 1985, pages 46-52

McEwen's large-scale public artwork “Boat Sight” is located on the Ottawa River just above the Chaudière Falls. Ferguson writes that “the steel frame of a boat is lodged between the limestone slabs, a steel guard dog 'looks' across the river while a steel wolf 'circumvents' the site.” The work was commission by the National Capital Commission, Government of Canada. In a 1985 article, Gary Michael Dault describes that “the hull of McEwen’s ‘Boat Sight’ is a steel drawing in space, a derelict icon of culture as a container.” John McEwen proposes that, in this work, “ an animal moves to the site, an animals moves down to the water, a boat moves ashore. One stands then between two very different objects, between the container and the animal, between the container of culture and the life of the animal.”