Lot 132: Edwin Headley Holgate 1892 - 1977 Canadian oil on

Edwin Headley Holgate 1892 - 1977 Canadian oil on panel Drying Fish, Mutton Bay 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches 21.6 x 26.7 centimeters on verso titled and dated 1932 on the gallery label and inscribed ""Edwin Holgate did this sketch when he was in Mutton Bay, Quebec in the Summer of 1932"" by Frances Holgate on a label Provenance:Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal Private Collection In 1932, Edwin Holgate was based in Montreal with a studio on Saint Catherine Street West. As with all the Group of Seven members (although Holgate was a late joiner in 1929), he had a love of landscape and sketching directly on site. His visit to Mutton Bay was tied to a 1932 trip to Labrador in which he also visited Natashquan in Quebec. Mutton Bay was an inaccessible fishing village located farther east along the north shore of the St. Lawrence. In such a remote place, simple and traditional ways such as drying fish in the sun would have caught Holgate's attention. His interest in rural themes included wor ing people such as lumberjacks, fishermen, fire rangers and farm workers, who were portrayed with empathy in his prints and paintings. The only other Group member who painted figuratively to any extent was Frederick Varley. Drying Fish, Mutton Bay is a fascinating time capsule of traditional rural life in Quebec; everyday activities carried out peacefully on a radiant summer day rich in atmosphere.