The Parade

Roberts Gallery, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto

Laura Brandon quoted in Allison Lawler, ‘Molly Lamb Bobak was first Canadian Woman Sent Overseas as War Artist’, “The Globe and Mail”, March 14, 2014 [online] Michelle Gewurtz, “Molly Lamb Bobak: Life & Work” [online publication], Art Canada Institute, Toronto, 2018, pages 63-65

A trailblazer for women in the arts in Canada, Molly Lamb Bobak was an official war artist during the Second World War, stationed in England. She often gravitated towards scenes of crowds as she was inspired by the victory parades of the Allied forces at the end of the war. Bobak returned to Canada and began teaching at the University of New Brunswick in the fall of 1960. The move to Fredericton supplied Bobak with new subject matter and her work began to reflect a celebratory attitude towards public events and crowd scenes. “I think that it is an interest I have had ever since I was a kid,” Bobak shared. “I simply love gatherings, mingling... It’s like little ants crawling, the sort of insignificance and yet the beauty of people all getting together.” As her career progressed, Bobak became increasingly concerned with movement and rhythm in her scenes of parades and sporting events. “The Parade” takes on an almost abstract quality with the density of figures merging on the canvas as a singular mass. The brightly coloured yellow and white uniforms of the musicians echo the joyful energy of the event and exemplify Bobak’s talent for capturing collective experience and emotion.