In October 1946, the Dominion Gallery held a large and commercially successful exhibition of twenty-five years of Edwin Holgate’s work. This lovely oil on panel was included in the exhibit, as identified on the reverse, and visible in a photograph of the exhibition from 1946.
Holgate loved the outdoors and was always interested in depicting the wilderness of the Quebec landscape. He was a good skier and took regular trips to various parts of Quebec, including the Charlevoix region, often in the company of A.Y. Jackson. "Baie St. Paul" illustrates a landscape of cottages and homes covered in a soft blanket of snow. Tones of orange, yellow and whites bring warmth to the sunny winter day. The home raised on stilts in the foreground reminds one of the St. Lawrence River surrounding the area, with the landscapes of mountains in the background, rugged and beautiful.
Edwin Headley Holgate - Baie St. Paul | Cowley Abbott