Sold for: $23,750

PROVENANCE
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal
Private Collection, Ontario

LITERATURE
Rosalind M. Pepall and Brian Foss, Edwin Holgate, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2005, reproduced page 132 and listed page 173

EXHIBITED
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Edwin Holgate, May 26 - October 2, 2005, traveling in 2006 - 2007 to the Glenbow Museum, Calgary; McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton

Edwin Holgate was based in Montreal for much of his life. However, Holgate’s love of nature drew him to the wilderness - in particular the Laurentian Mountains, which became an important painting place for him. In 1925 he built a log cabin at Lake Tremblant, often traveling there to sketch, and in 1946 he moved to Morin Heights, in the Laurentians. Saint-Faustin is in familiar territory for the artist, midway between Mont-Tremblant and Morin Heights. In this rich painterly work, thickly applied brush-strokes capture the ambience of a humble hotel room full of furniture and objects for the comfort of the traveler. In this crowded room, Holgate’s inclusion of the open door is a significant dramatic device, bringing the association of movement and other spaces into the confined area. Holgate’s use of the brush is broad, and he boldly defines the objects and planes of the walls and door. This is a classic subject (such as Vincent van Gogh’s simple room in the South of France, with its narrow bed and cane chair), and Holgate makes this room in the Grand Union Hotel both intimate and universal.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars