# Edwin Holgate > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Edwin_Holgate > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Edwin_Holgate.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Holgate > Source revision: 1353361081 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Canadian artist (1892–1977)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox artist | name = Edwin Holgate | image = Edwin Holgate.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Edwin Holgate, 1930 | birth_name = Edwin Headley Holgate | birth_date = {{birth date|1892|08|19}} | birth_place = [Allandale](/source/Innisfil), [Ontario](/source/Ontario), Canada | death_date = {{death date and age|1977|05|21|1892|08|19}} | death_place = [Montreal](/source/Montreal), [Quebec](/source/Quebec), Canada | nationality = | known_for = [painter](/source/Painting) and [engraver](/source/engraver) | spouse = Mary Frances Rittenhouse (m. 1920) | training = | movement = | notable_works = | patrons = | awards = [Art Association of Montreal](/source/Art_Association_of_Montreal)'s Jessie Dow Prize (1938) }} '''Edwin Headley Holgate''' {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|RCA|size=100%}} (August 19, 1892 – May 21, 1977), was a [Canadian](/source/Canadians) [painter](/source/painter), muralist, and printmaker. Holgate played a major role in Montreal's art community, and the [Montreal Museum of Fine Arts](/source/Montreal_Museum_of_Fine_Arts), where he both studied and taught. He was known primarily as a [portrait](/source/portrait)ist and for his treatment of the female nude in an outdoor setting in a series of paintings and prints during the 1930s. == Life and career == thumbnail|left|Edwin Holgate painting in his workshop, Montreal, 1940 Holgate was born in [Allandale](/source/Innisfil), [Ontario](/source/Ontario), Canada, the son of Bessie Bell (Headley) and Henry Holgate.{{cite web |title=Edwin Holgate |url=http://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=9205&type=pge |website=patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/ |publisher=Government of Quebec |access-date=May 6, 2021}} Holgate's family moved to [Jamaica](/source/Jamaica) in 1895 where his father worked as an engineer. In 1897, he was sent to [Toronto](/source/Toronto) to go to school. In 1901, his family returned from Jamaica and settled in Montreal. Holgate studied at the [Art Association of Montreal](/source/Art_Association_of_Montreal) with [Alberta Cleland](/source/Alberta_Cleland) (beginning in 1905),{{cite web |url=http://beaverhallgroup.weebly.com/edwin-holgate.html |title=Edwin Headley Holgate |work=The Beaver Hall Group Canada's other Group of Seven |publisher=Gibbs Appraisals Ltd |access-date=June 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304142241/http://beaverhallgroup.weebly.com/edwin-holgate.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=live}} [William Brymner](/source/William_Brymner) (who also taught [A. Y. Jackson](/source/A._Y._Jackson)), and later [Maurice Cullen](/source/Maurice_Galbraith_Cullen).{{cite web |last1=Pepall |first1=Rosalind |title='An Art of Vigour and Restraint". Edwin Holgate |date=2005 |website=librarysearch.library.utoronto.ca |publisher=Montreal Museum of Fine Arts |others=Rosalind Pepall, Brian Foss |location=Montreal|url=https://librarysearch.library.utoronto.ca/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Edwin%20Holgate.%20Rosalind%20Pepall,%20Brian%20Foss.%20Montreal:%20Montreal%20Museum%20of%20Fine%20Arts&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=UTL&vid=01UTORONTO_INST:UTORONTO&offset=0 |access-date=2021-05-07}} From 1912 until 1923, he exhibited in the annual Spring Exhibitions almost every year. From 1912 to 1914, he studied in [Paris](/source/Paris) at the [Académie de la Grande Chaumière](/source/Acad%C3%A9mie_de_la_Grande_Chaumi%C3%A8re) but found it disappointing. He was travelling in Ukraine at the outset of [World War I](/source/World_War_I), and was forced to cross Asia to return to Canada. He enlisted in 1916 and returned to France with the Canadian Army.{{cite web |url=http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/cybermuse/enthusiast/thirties/artist_e.jsp?iartistid=2482 |title=Edwin Holgate |website=cybermuse.gallery.ca |publisher=National Gallery of Canada |access-date=June 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025093001/http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/cybermuse/enthusiast/thirties/artist_e.jsp?iartistid=2482 |archive-date=October 25, 2015 |url-status=dead}} Holgate's first exhibition was held at the Arts Club of Montreal in 1922. In 1933, he had a solo exhibition at the [Montreal Museum of Fine Arts](/source/Montreal_Museum_of_Fine_Arts).{{cite book |last1=Cogeval |first1=Guy |title='Director's Foreword". Edwin Holgate |date=2005 |publisher=Montreal Museum of Fine Arts |others=Rosalind Pepall, Brian Foss |location=Montreal |url=https://librarysearch.library.utoronto.ca/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Edwin%20Holgate.%20Rosalind%20Pepall,%20Brian%20Foss.%20Montreal:%20Montreal%20Museum%20of%20Fine%20Arts&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=UTL&vid=01UTORONTO_INST:UTORONTO&offset=0 |page=8 |access-date=May 6, 2021}} He taught wood engraving at the [École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal](/source/%C3%89cole_des_Beaux-Arts_de_Montr%C3%A9al) from 1928 to 1934, then with [Lilias Torrance Newton](/source/Lilias_Torrance_Newton) directed art classes at the museum from 1934 to 1936 and again, from 1938 to 1940. Holgate was said by [A. Y. Jackson](/source/A._Y._Jackson) to be the instigator of the [Beaver Hall Group](/source/Beaver_Hall_Group), of which he was a member, in 1920.{{cite web |last1=Foss |first1=Brian |title="Living Landscape". Edwin Holgate |date=2005 |website=librarysearch.library.utoronto.ca |publisher=Montreal Museum of Fine Arts |others=Rosalind Pepall, Brian Foss |location=Montreal |url=https://librarysearch.library.utoronto.ca/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Edwin%20Holgate.%20Rosalind%20Pepall,%20Brian%20Foss.%20Montreal:%20Montreal%20Museum%20of%20Fine%20Arts&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=UTL&vid=01UTORONTO_INST:UTORONTO&offset=0 |access-date=May 8, 2021}} He was the eighth member of the [Group of Seven](/source/Group_of_Seven_(artists)) — he was invited to join the group in March 1929 and showed with it in 1930 and 1931.{{cite book |last1=Silcox |first1=David P. |title=The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson |date=2011 |publisher=Firefly Books Ltd. |isbn=978-1-55407-154-8 |page=47}}{{cite web |url=http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/cybermuse/servlet/imageserver?src=DO93-1000&ext=x.pdf |title=Charles Hill Interview With Edwin Holgate |last=Hill |first=Charles |date=September 20, 1973 |website=cybermuse.gallery.ca |publisher=National Gallery of Canada |access-date=April 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418031943/http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/cybermuse/servlet/imageserver?src=DO93-1000&ext=x.pdf |archive-date=April 18, 2018 |url-status=dead}} In 1934, he was elected an associate of the [Royal Canadian Academy of Arts](/source/Royal_Canadian_Academy_of_Arts). He was elected a full member in 1935. He resigned in 1945 but was reinstated in 1953.{{cite web |title=Members since 1880 |url=http://www.rca-arc.ca/en/about_members/since1880.asp |website=rca-arc.ca |publisher=Royal Canadian Academy of Arts |access-date=September 11, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526215339/http://www.rca-arc.ca/en/about_members/since1880.asp |archive-date=May 26, 2011 }} He was also a founding member of the [Canadian Group of Painters](/source/Canadian_Group_of_Painters).{{cite book |last1=Bradfield |first1=Helen |title=Art Gallery of Ontario: the Canadian Collection |date=1970 |publisher=McGraw Hill |location=Toronto |isbn=0070925046 |url=https://search.library.utoronto.ca/search?N=0&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nu=p_work_normalized&Np=1&Ntt=Helen%20Bradfield%2C%20canadian%20collection%20%2C%20art%20gallery%20of%20ontario&Ntk=Anywhere |access-date=July 7, 2020 |archive-date=June 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607002632/https://search.library.utoronto.ca/search?N=0&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nu=p_work_normalized&Np=1&Ntt=Helen%20Bradfield,%20canadian%20collection%20,%20art%20gallery%20of%20ontario&Ntk=Anywhere |url-status=dead }} Holgate worked as an official Canadian [war artist](/source/war_artist) with the [Royal Canadian Air Force](/source/Royal_Canadian_Air_Force) in [England](/source/England) during [World War II](/source/World_War_II). On his return to Montreal after the war, he found that the arts scene had changed, with the arrival of the [Automatistes](/source/Les_Automatistes). He left Montreal to live in the [Laurentians](/source/Laurentides) in 1946.{{cite web |url=http://sobeyartfoundation.com/en/crombie-collection/the-group-of-seven/edwin-holgate/ |title=Edwin Holgate |website=sobeyartfoundation.com |publisher=The Sobey Art Foundation |language=en-US |access-date=January 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122073008/http://sobeyartfoundation.com/en/crombie-collection/the-group-of-seven/edwin-holgate/ |archive-date=January 22, 2018 |url-status=live}} In 1954, he was one of 18 Canadian artists commissioned by the [Canadian Pacific Railway](/source/Canadian_Pacific_Railway) to paint a [mural](/source/mural) for the interior of one of the new [Park cars](/source/Park_series) entering service on the new ''[Canadian](/source/Canadian_(train))'' transcontinental train. Each the murals depicted a different national or provincial park; Holgate's was [Mont-Tremblant National Park](/source/Mont-Tremblant_National_Park).{{cite journal |url=http://www.exporail.org/can_rail/Canadian%20Rail_no503_2004.pdf |title=The 50th Anniversary of the CPR Stainless Steel Passenger Fleet |journal=Canadian Rail |date=November–December 2004 |issue=503 |pages=211–223 |access-date=February 7, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924005431/http://www.exporail.org/can_rail/Canadian%20Rail_no503_2004.pdf | archive-date=September 24, 2015 |url-status=live}} Holgate died in 1977 and was buried at [Mount Royal Cemetery](/source/Mount_Royal_Cemetery) in Montreal.{{cite web |url=https://thegroupofseven.ca/edwin-holgate/ |title=Group of Seven |website=thegroupofseven.ca |publisher=The Group of Seven |access-date=July 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720012156/https://thegroupofseven.ca/edwin-holgate/ |archive-date=July 20, 2019 |url-status=live}} The [National Gallery of Canada](/source/National_Gallery_of_Canada) held a [retrospective](/source/retrospective) of his work which travelled across Canada in 1975. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts organized a second retrospective in 2005, curated by Rosalind Pepall and [Brian Foss](/source/Brian_Foss).{{cite journal |title=Lifeworks: A late modernist |last=Sibbald |first=Barbara |journal=Canadian Medical Association Journal |date=August 16, 2005 |volume=173 |issue=4 |pages=393–394 |doi=10.1503/cmaj.050924 |pmc=1188229 }} In 2024, the [Museum of Fine Arts Boston](/source/Museum_of_Fine_Arts%2C_Boston) displayed his prints in ''Edwin Holgate as Printmaker''.{{Cite web |title=Edwin Holgate as Printmaker {{!}} Museum of Fine Arts Boston |url=https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/edwin-holgate-as-printmaker |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=www.mfa.org |language=en}} ==Notes== {{reflist|30em}} === Bibliography === * Harper, Russell. ''Painting in Canada: A History 2nd ed.'' Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1981. {{ISBN|0-8020-6307-1}} * {{cite web |last1=Pepall |first1=Rosalind |last2=Foss|first2=Brian|title= Edwin Holgate |date=2005 |publisher=Montreal Museum of Fine Arts|location=Montreal|url=https://librarysearch.library.utoronto.ca/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Edwin%20Holgate.%20Rosalind%20Pepall,%20Brian%20Foss.%20Montreal:%20Montreal%20Museum%20of%20Fine%20Arts&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=UTL&vid=01UTORONTO_INST:UTORONTO&offset=0 |access-date=2021-05-08}} * Reid, Dennis ''A Concise History of Canadian Painting'' 2nd Edition. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1988. {{ISBN|0-19-540663-X}}. ==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050627000843/http://www.mmfa.qc.ca/en/expositions/exposition_97.html Holgate Retrospective at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art] {{Commons category|Edwin Holgate}} * [https://www.gallery.ca/collection/artist/edwin-holgate Profile] at the [National Gallery of Canada](/source/National_Gallery_of_Canada) {{Group of Seven}} {{Authority control (arts)}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Holgate, Edwin}} Category:1892 births Category:1977 deaths Category:20th-century Canadian painters Category:Anglophone Quebec people Category:Canadian male painters Category:Group of Seven (artists) Category:Artists from Simcoe County Category:Artists from Ontario Category:Artists from Montreal Category:Canadian portrait painters Category:Canadian Impressionist painters Category:Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Category:Burials at Mount Royal Cemetery Category:20th-century Canadian male artists Category:Canadian Post-impressionist painters Category:Canadian Group of Painters --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Edwin Holgate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Holgate) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Holgate?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.