Laurentian Village by Edwin Headley Holgate
Edwin Holgate
Laurentian Village
oil on board
signed with initials lower left; signed and inscribed “Laurentian Back Street” on a label on the reverse
8.5 x 10.5 ins ( 21.6 x 26.7 cms ) ( board (overall) )
Auction Estimate: $20,000.00 - $30,000.00
Price Realized $36,000.00
Sale date: December 1st 2022
Walter Klinkhoff Gallery, Montreal
Galerie d’Art Vincent, Ottawa
Private Collection
Dennis Reid, “Edwin H. Holgate”, Ottawa, 1976, page 22
In Montreal Holgate enjoyed the friendship of A.Y. Jackson, Clarence Gagnon, Mabel May, Lilias Newton, Randolph Hewton, and many of the younger artists who became known as the Beaver Hall Hill Group. Holgate was a good skier and took regular trips to various parts of Quebec, often in the company of Jackson. On skis, the two artists visited many of the well-known areas of Charlevoix and the Laurentians. “Laurentian Village” would have been painted on such a trip. The mid-winter scene depicts several buildings in shades of grey and red receding into a background of snowy hills. The tight placement of the houses suggests a fairly densely populated area for the generally rural Laurentians. Signs of life are visible in the central shed, with a figure standing in the doorway, and the black cat walking through the snow in the foreground.
This charming oil painting was completed in 1930, the year before Holgate became known as the eighth member of the Group of Seven and remained a member of the Group until it disbanded in 1933. Dennis Reid describes the artist’s Laurentian paintings as “among the most sensual of his works, they reveal across every inch of their surfaces the long hours of concentration that have brought to them the gentle glow of life.”
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Edwin Headley Holgate
(1892 - 1977) Group of Seven, Canadian Group of Painters, RCA
Edwin Holgate was born in Allandale, Ontario. Holgate began his art education at the Art Association of Montreal studying under William Brymner who was also A.Y. Jackson's teacher. In 1912 he went to Paris where he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière under Claudio Castelucho and later under Lucien Simon and René Ménard. He was in Russia at the outbreak of the First World War. He returned to Canada where he enlisted and served with the 5th Canadian Division Artillery in France (1916-19). He married Mary Frances Rittenhouse in 1920 and returned to Paris where he continued his studies. There he attended the Colarossi under Adolph Milman, a Russian refugee.
He returned with his wife to Canada in 1922 and opened a studio. He taught wood engraving at the Ecole des Beaux Arts for six years. In Montreal he enjoyed the friendship of A.Y. Jackson, Clarence Gagnon, Mabel May, Lilas Newton, Randolph Hewton, and many of the younger artists who became known as the Beaver Hall Hill Group. Holgate was a good skier and he would take trips to various parts of Quebec to sketch during the winters, sometimes at Baie St. Paul where A.Y. Jackson, Clarence Gagnon, Mabel May and others would congregate.
In 1926 he accompanied A.Y. Jackson and Marius Barbeau to the Skeena River area in British Columbia. Barbeau had been investigating the condition of the Indian totem poles, many of which were restored by the C.N.R. engineer Mr. T.B. Campbell. Holgate and Jackson made a number of sketches of the poles and the Indian villages in the area. From his sketches, Holgate made several large canvases. One is in the collection of the National Gallery and entitled is “Totem Poles, Gitsegiuklas”.
Holgate became the eighth member of the Group of Seven in 1931 and remained a member of the Group until it disbanded in 1933. From it arose the Canadian Group of Painters of which he was a founding member. Paul Duval noted that Holgate and Varley were the only members of the Group who drew and painted nudes. Holgate was well known also for his portraits and did many striking character studies of inhabitants of Canadian bush country. The Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of Canada have his nude studies in their collections.
During the Second World War, Holgate served overseas as an official Canadian war artist with the R.C.A.F. and painted mainly portraits of flying officers. Holgate’s wood-engravings are exceptionally well done and interesting. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy (A.R.C.A. 1934 - R.C.A. 1935). His work has been exhibited in many group shows over the years. He is represented in many collections including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the McMichael Collection.
Source: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume II”, compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1979