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| Filling the Shell Holes in No Man's Land, Mary Riter Hamilton, 1920, Oil on paper, Library and Archives Canada, Mary Riter Hamilton collection, e011201064 |
A new exhibition of paintings depicting the immediate aftermath of the First World War just opened at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
The exhibition, Resilience – The Battlefield Art of Mary Riter Hamilton, 1919–1922, features 15 works of art from the collection of Library and Archives Canada.
In 1919, the Amputation Club of British Columbia — which later became The War Amps — hired Mary Riter Hamilton to travel to Europe to paint the post-war period for the club’s magazine.
While in Europe, she produced more than 300 paintings of scenes in Belgium and France. She later donated much of the collection to Library and Archives Canada.
“Resilience highlights not only Europe’s reconstruction in the wake of the conflict, but also the remarkable success of The War Amps in rebuilding bodies and lives,” said James Whitham, acting director general of the Canadian War Museum. “We are very proud to partner with The War Amps for this exhibition celebrating the charitable organization’s 100th anniversary, as we begin winding down our commemoration of the First World War Centenary.”
The exhibition is divided into three parts: Documenting History – with scenes from Flanders, Hill 70, the Somme and Vimy Ridge. Remembering the Dead – contains paintings of temporary monuments and crosses built to honour fallen comrades. Regeneration – features paintings of post-war life: men clearing battlefields of unexploded ordnance, filling in craters in the ground caused by the relentless artillery shells and a market in Ypres.
Mary Riter Hamilton returned to Canada after the war, eventually settling in Vancouver, where she died in 1954 at the age of 80.
Resilience – The Battlefield Art of Mary Riter Hamilton, 1919–1922 is being presented in the lobby of the Canadian War Museum from September 20, 2018 to March 31, 2019 and is free to see.
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