William Abernethy Ogilvie, (March 3, 1901 – August 28, 1989) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

painter and war artist.

Early life

Ogilvie came to Canada in 1925 and after living in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, went to

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from 1925–1930 to study at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at American Fine Arts Society, 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists ...

with

Kimon Nicolaïdes Kimon Nicolaїdes (1891–1938) was an American art teacher, author and artist. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army in France as a camouflage artist. He was of Greek descent. __NOTOC__ Early life Nicolaïdes was born in Washington, ...

, the author later of an important text on drawing, ''The Natural Way to Draw'' (1941). He worked briefly in New York as a commercial artist before returning to Toronto and joining

Charles Comfort Charles Fraser Comfort, LL. D. (July 22, 1900 – July 5, 1994) was a Scotland-born Canadian painter, sculptor, teacher, writer and administrator. Career and biography Early life Born near Edinburgh, Scotland, Comfort moved to Winnipeg in 1 ...

and Harold Ayres in a company which offered diverse skills, part advertising, part magazine illustration. In 1933, he was one of the founders of the

Canadian Group of Painters The Canadian Group of Painters (CGP) was a collective of 28 painters from across Canada who came together as a group in 1933. Formation The Canadian Group of Painters succeeded the disbanded Group of Seven, whose paintings of the Canadian wilde ...

and from 1933–1989, he was also a member of the

Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour The Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour (in French: La Société Canadienne de Peintres en Aquarelle), founded in 1925 is considered to be Canada's official national watercolour Society. Since the 1980s the Society has enjoyed Vice-regal ...

. In 1936, he did murals for the Chapel of Hart House, University of Toronto.

War artist

After working at the

Art Association of Montreal The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square ...

, Ogilvie joined the Canadian army in 1940 and was commissioned as the first Official War artist in 1942. Attached to the

1st Canadian Division The 1st Canadian Division (French: ''1re Division du Canada'' ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short ...

, he made the first significant art work in an active theatre of war, nearly always under fire. From 1943 on, he was in Sicily, mainland Italy and Northwest Europe. His paintings of the ruined buildings at Caen in Normandy, the Falaise Gap, and refugees are memorable.

Later career

After the war, Ogilvie taught at the Ontario College of Art (1947–1957) and as special lecturer at the department of fine art at the University of Toronto (1960–1969). His work has been widely exhibited and collected, most notably by the

Canadian War Museum The Canadian War Museum (french: link=no, Musée canadien de la guerre; CWM) is a national museum on the country's military history in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The museum serves as both an educational facility on Canadian military history, in a ...

. He lived for the latter part of his life in

Palgrave, Ontario Palgrave is a Compact Rural Community and unincorporated place in the Town of Caledon, Regional Municipality of Peel in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It is about north of Bolton and about northwest of Toronto. Palgrave is located ...

Honours

For his work as a war artist, he was awarded the M.B.E. (Military). In 1979, he was made a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

as well as a member of the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

Notes

Bibliography

*
Will Ogilvie fonds
at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...