A new temporary exhibit is on display at the Museum of Fine Arts until Dec. 16 featuring works done by renowned Canadian printmaker Edwin Holgate.
Holgate, born in 1892, would soon become a leading artist in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s. He spent the early years of his career in Montreal, Quebec, where he was also a respected teacher, after being trained in the art of wood engraving in Paris. He would carve his images into wood, add ink and then transfer that image onto a piece of paper.
The majority of his prints are in black and white, though some do use a few more muted colors. The prints themselves are small so they may not be as eye-catching as other larger and more colorful works, but the amount of intricate detail is impressive and interesting to see, especially when the art was first carved into wood and transferred to paper.
Holgate’s inspiration came from his country as he traveled across Canada in hopes of capturing a wide variety of subjects for his prints. Most of Holgate’s prints on display were of Canadian landscapes, rural life and homes as well as the Natives of Canada and parts of their culture.
Holgate was able to create a mix of messages with his prints. Many prints show the beauty of Canada and the rural lives of the country’s inhabitants. Other prints show the history of Canada and its attempts at erasure and assimilation of its Native peoples.
Unlike other exhibits in the MFA, the walls in this exhibit are completely white, which helps to keep the focus on Holgate’s small and complicated works. The high contrast between black and white is powerful and helps the meaning and history behind the art make an even greater impact on the viewer. His most powerful works, however, were those that contained color. Using color, Holgate was able to highlight the history and culture of the Canadian Natives.
The print “Totem Poles, No. 2” was made in 1926 after a visit to the Gitxsan First Nation in British Columbia. This was one of the few prints that Holgate added the use of a different color, brown, on top of the classic black. He did so because he wanted to show the depth, detail, and physicality of the wooden totem poles.
The print that contained the most color in the collection was made in 1926, titled “Tsimshian Indians.” It depicts three Natives and two totem poles with shades of muted red and green and of course black and white similar to the rest of his prints. This one stood out because of the use of bright color which was intended by Holgate to better represent the Natives and their culture.
Many of the prints on display at the exhibit are landscapes, and even if they were not the main focus, many had some type of nature in the background.
Two of his prints, “Horse and Buggy” made in 1930 and “Laurentian Landscape” in 1924 are both intricate and beautiful depictions of a Canadian landscape. The amount of detail in Holgate’s prints shows that color isn’t necessary to see the beauty of a landscape.
Similarly to his fascination with landscapes, Holgate also had an interest in the people who lived and worked in nature. Two of his prints, “The Lumberjack (The Log Driver)” made in 1924 and “Lumberjacks” in 1925 capture another part of Canada’s rich history, the logging industry.
This exhibit offers the unique experience of insight into Canada’s deep history shown through Holgate’s incredibly intricate and detailed prints.
