William E. deGarthe
| William Edward deGarthe | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Birger Edward Degerstedt 14 April 1907 Kaskinen (Kaskö), Ostrobothnia, Finland |
| Died | 13 February 1983 (aged 75) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Resting place | Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Nationality | Finnish |
| Education |
Museum of Fine Art, Montreal Academie de la Grand Chaumiere, Paris Accademie di Belle Arti, Rome |
| Known for | Painting, drawing, sculpture, lithography, fresco, writing |
| Notable work |
Looking for the Mothership (1955) Approaching Storm (1959) Fishermen’s Memorial Monument, Peggy’s Cove (1977-1983) |
| Movement | Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism |
| Spouse(s) | Phoebe Agnes Payne 1935-1983 (his death) |
William Edward (Bill) deGarthe (1907–1983) was a Finnish-born painter and sculptor who lived for much of his life in Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia.
William deGarthe (1907–1983) was born Birger Edward Degerstedt in Kaskinen, also known as Kaskö (Swedish), a remote island town off the northwest coast of Finland. He was the son of Edward Degerstedt, a Swedish-speaking school principal and artist. The third-oldest in a family of five brothers, deGarthe was competitive and athletic but demonstrated an early aptitude for art. After graduating from high school with his strongest marks in art and drawing, deGarthe studied art in Helsinki while awaiting his call-up for active duty in the Finnish military.
After his release from service, deGarthe obtained his passport – declaring his profession as “artist”—and emigrated to Canada in the fall of 1926. Landing in Halifax, he boarded a train for Toronto intending to join other expatriate Scandinavians in the northern Ontario forestry trade. The work was hard and the climate unforgiving; after only two months he left the woods bound for Montreal. Virtually penniless, he made his way to a mission where he showed the supervisor some of his drawings. Impressed with the work and with the 19-year-old’s determination, the man introduced deGarthe to a local publisher who hired him as an illustrator in January 1927 at a rate of $7 a week.
It was around this time that the young artist changed his name from the Scandinavian Degerstedt to the French-sounding deGarthe. While continuing his work as a commercial artist, deGarthe continued his formal art studies in Montreal at the Museum of Fine Art under Edmond Dyonnet but the restless young man was still seeking something more. Declaring he was on a quest to find “the most beautiful spot on earth”, in 1930 deGarthe quit his job in Montreal with the goal of sailing to Brazil to join an aunt there. He travelled by rail to Halifax to board a ship bound for South America but on disembarking he was struck by the similarity between Nova Scotia and the rugged seacoast of his native Finland. He later declared, “I didn’t have to travel any farther.”
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