Literature:

Ian M. Thom, The Prints of Edwin Holgate, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinberg, cat. number 44, n.p., illustrated.

Francois-Maec Gagnon, Edwin Holgate, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2005, page 34 (chapter entitled “Edwin Holgate and Rural Life”), illustrated.

Note:

Thom writes: “Holgate’s two Labrador Kitchen prints are superb examples of his ability to control light and exploit the crisp whites and rich blacks of this medium.” In the catalogue for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts exhibition titled Edwin Holgate, Francois-Marc Gagnon describes the scene depicted in this woodcut: “There is no human presence: on the right we see an old fashioned wood-burning stove with generously curved legs, and in the centre a table bearing a basin, with a towel and mirror above. This is obviously the corner of the room set aside for washing, with the kettle standing conveniently nearby on the hob…” Holgate’s rendering of the space in light and dark contrasts is striking; he captures the intimacy and candidness of the fisherman’s quarters. In a Holgate letter of 1935, found in the National Gallery of Canada Archives, the artist distinguishes his second print of the Labrador kitchen as “a better thing than the original one.”