I Can Only Paint: The Story of Battlefield Artist Mary Riter Hamilton

Irene Gammel

Published by McGill-Queen's University Press 2022

I Can Only Paint

The Story of Battlefield Artist Mary Riter Hamilton

Irene Gammel

Volume 31 in the series McGill-Queen's/Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation Studies in Art History

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780228013716

Overview
Contents

About this book

Uncovering the life of Mary Riter Hamilton and the lasting significance of the art she created on the battlefield.

For Mary Riter Hamilton, capturing the emotional landscape of battlefields and graveyards in the months after the Great War's armistice became an artistic calling and defined her work. This book recovers a body of work that stands as a unique and enduring portrait of the effects of the Great War.

Author / Editor information

Gammel Irene :

Irene Gammel teaches communication and culture and directs the Modern Literature and Culture Research Centre at Ryerson University.

Reviews

"Through her paintings, prints, and drawings, Mary Riter Hamilton (1873–1954) played a significant role in visually documenting Canada's participation in the Great War. Her endeavor was complex and physically demanding, and ultimately her health and her fortune were sacrificed to this goal. Meticulously researched, carefully documented, and handsomely illustrated, this volume provides a thorough, engaging examination of Hamilton's life." Choice

"Some of Hamilton's most arresting work springs from her observations of life returning even to the front lines. Trenches on the Somme is filled with startlingly red poppies against a grim purple sky, for instance. Two older men in white put their shovels to work in Filling the Shell Holes in No Man's Land, with a few charred trees in the background. With I Can Only Paint, [Gammel] has given us a revelation about a remarkable painter." Literary Review of Canada

"As [I Can Only Paint] reveals, Hamilton had many strikes against her in the opinion of the art establishment a century ago, but her failings did not, apparently, include production of inferior or subversive art. "Walker, Brown and Shepherd," Gammel writes of the powerful gallery triumvirate, "agreed that such a troublesome woman, no matter how good her art, had no place in the nation's gallery." Galleries West Magazine

"Mary Riter Hamilton's remarkable story is one of struggle, talent, commitment, and courage. Gammel has undertaken years of painstaking research in archives and in the field but also goes far beyond the sources at hand to carry us into the aftermath of Great War catastrophe and one woman's determination to record it. I Can Only Paint brings Hamilton's human and artistic story powerfully to life, filtered through the experience and intelligence of someone who cares enough to place her before us. Brava!" Sherrill E. Grace, University of British Columbia

Topics

Front Matter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Here’s Where the World Ends An Introduction Publicly Available Download PDF	3
Through Love and Loss Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
Becoming Mary Riter Hamilton Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	28
The Home Front Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	48
Becoming an Artist-Witness at Camblain-l’Abbé Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
In the Valley of Ablain-Saint-Nazaire Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	100
Among the Gravediggers in Écurie Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
A War Studio in Arras Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	154
Market among the Ruins of Ypres Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	172
The Somme and the Forgotten Sites Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
Close Calls in Flanders Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
My Candle Is Almost Burnt Out Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	238
Into the Limelight Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	266
Going Home Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	288
Epilogue I Have Been Lucky Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	299
Chronology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	309
List of Exhibitions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	319
Note on Transcriptions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	323
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	325
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	371
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	385

Language: English
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 400
Illustrations
- Other: 160 photos, full colour

eBook

Published: March 30, 2022
ISBN: 9780228013716