The Exhibition Colours of War speaks to emotions at the Canadian War Museum
Ottawa, Ontario, November 5, 2001 - The evocative new exhibition Colours of War: Works on Paper from the Canadian War Museum, 1914 to 1945 is now on view at the Canadian War Museum.
Colours of War features 50 significant works on paper by outstanding Canadian and European artists - including Alex Colville, Charles Comfort and Pegi Nicol MacLeod - depicting scenes from the First and Second World Wars. After its success at the Museum of the Regiments in Calgary, Colours of War is presented in two parts at the CWM, each displaying 25 hidden treasures from the war art collection, on the following schedule: Colours of War (Part I) from November 2, 2001 to February 3, 2002, and Colours of War (Part II) from February 8, 2002 to May 12, 2002.
"Colours of War is an exhibition which speaks to the very human side of war. This exhibition cannot fail to provide viewers with a better understanding of what Canada's military history is really all about. It is an example of the kind of exhibition visitors will be able to see in the new Canadian War Museum, which will open in 2005, stated Joe Geurts," Director and CEO of the Canadian War Museum.
The works of art presented in Colours of War demonstrate the remarkable quality of the paintings completed in watercolour during the First and Second World Wars, as well as the variety of subjects. "They show Canadian artists painting at their best," says Canadian War Museum curator Laura Brandon.
Artists from Canada, Great Britain and Belgium approached war as a subject matter in many different ways, often finding a tragic beauty in the human and material destruction they witnessed. Many were officially commissioned war artists or painted with specific military units as service artists. Others sketched in their spare time because they had been painters in civilian life.
Some of the paintings are relatively rapid sketches done in the field; others are preliminary studies for finished canvasses. All are imbued with personal emotion. They speak democratically, silently, to all Canadians, not of any nationalist mythology of maudlin sentiment, but simply of the experience of generations, now passing, whose sacrifices formed the foundation of modern Canada.
Colours of War forms part of a trio of Canadian War Museum war art shows currently touring Canada and overseas. Battle Lines: Canadian Artists in the Field 1917-1919 will be presented at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia starting December 14, 2001, and the acclaimed exhibition Canvas of War: Masterpieces from the Canadian War Museum is now on view at the Art Gallery of Ontario until January 6, 2002.
Information (media) :
Communications Officer
Canadian War Museum
Phone: (819) 776-8607
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