PROVENANCE
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal
A Distinguished Private Collection, Vancouver

Edwin Headley Holgate was born in Allandale, Ontario, but his family settled in Quebec when he was a young man. He attended classes at the Art Association of Montreal where, beginning in 1905, he trained with William Brymner, Maurice Cullen and others. From 1912 to 1914, he studied in Paris at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. At the outbreak of the First World War, Holgate returned to Canada, traveling across Asia, eventually reaching the west coast and returning to Montreal.

Following military service in World War I, Holgate became a leading figure in the Montreal-based Beaver Hall Group. In 1929, he was invited to become the eighth member of the Group of Seven. Holgate was also a gifted teacher and taught at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal and later at the Art Association of Montreal. A skilled printmaker, Holgate was a leading figure in the revival of wood engraving, which he taught for many years. He and his wife Frances moved to Morin Heights in 1946, but the artist had explored and painted the area, north of Montreal, for many years.

An inscription and signature on the verso of this sketch by Holgate himself, “Painted on Rivière Rouge—about 1938” both dates the work and securely identifies the location of this strikingly decorative painting. Holgate’s signature, richly calligraphic, is complemented by his carefully placed initials on the face of the painting. Although the simple EH might be easily missed, Holgate has ensured that the letters will be read by painting them in a vivid red slightly more intense than the colour used in the leaves of the bushes.

Holgate’s close attention to pictorial design animates the whole composition. In the foreground, a dense pattern of sumac bush provides a colourful and rhythmic linear introduction to the landscape. The bright red leaves and strongly delineated branches suggest the powerful life force of the natural world. Beyond this introductory screen of foliage, Holgate has painted an expansive landscape. His innate skill as a designer is evident when one considers how he has composed this scene.

The foreground branches and leaves are depicted in detail and vivid in colour. The background is less detailed—a bright green field immediately behind the foreground foliage, then some quickly painted trees. Holgate has been careful to paint these trees as patches of colour, rather than using the linear patterns so important in the foreground screen of foliage. Beyond these trees is a loosely defined area of landscape that allows the curving branches of the foreground bushes to be easily read. In the distance, to the right, is a mountain form that Holgate uses as a dark background to again highlight the pattern of the foliage. In the left background, the scene opens up to a distant mountain and clear blue patch of sky, dotted with two clouds above.

Holgate’s enormous skills as both designer and painter make Rivière Rouge, Morin Heights a rich and compelling image. His deep affection for the landscape of rural Quebec is strongly realized in this painting.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars