signed lower left; signed and titled on the stretcher on the reverse
34 × 45 in (86.4 × 114.3 cm)
Messrs. Frost and Reed's Galleries, St. James's, London
Collection of General Motors, Oshawa, Canada
Private Collection, Whitby, acquired 2018-2019
"In King George of Canada's Realm", The Sphere, London, England, 22 May 1937, reproduced page 25 as Their Only Chance (owned by General Motors Canada)
"North Woods Drama: The Forest Fire-Realistic Impressionism by a Great Canadian Painter", The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, London, England, 24 September 1937, page 33 reproduced
Correspondence from W.E. Austin to T.R. Lee, General Motors Canada, Oshawa, 2 March 1955, Arthur Heming Fonds, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Cassandra Getty, et al., Arthur Heming, Chronicler of the North, Museum London, 2013, pages 9-11
Arthur Heming gained international recognition during his career for his dramatic paintings of the Canadian wilderness, “symbolizing the country as a mythic ‘Great White North’ in the minds of millions”, according to Cassandra Getty. Heming’s livelihood was as a dynamic creator of illustrations for books and publications. As Getty notes, Heming was “a colourblind nature advocate. Though his imagery was derided by some as being anti-intellectual, as ‘merely’ illustration, he remained deeply committed to the merit of illustration and its strong influence on his production.” Arthur Heming’s paintings drew on firsthand experience, having spent many years involved in lumbering, mining, railroading and big-game hunting, as well as living in the wilderness. He undertook expeditions into the backcountry to gather material for romantic adventure illustrations in books and publications.
In Their Only Chance, Heming has captured the electrifying moment of man succumbing to the power of nature in this highly romantic image, depicting a group of men desperately paddling a york boat away from shore as a forest fire ravages the land. In the foreground, a moose and bear swim through the water, also fleeing the disaster in a moment of heightened drama. Heming’s power as a painter was in his conviction to depict thrilling, sometimes tragic incidents, leaving depictions of the softer, more sentimental side of nature to his contemporaries.
According to a letter dated 1955 from Mr. W.E. Austin, Public Relations Manager of General Motors (GM), to Mr. T.E. Lee, three paintings by Heming were hanging in the offices of the Senior Executives of GM. Their Only Chance was one of these paintings, acquired for a calendar series that GM designed to exhibit different methods of transportation.
