, 2008. Fibreglass stone and airplane. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Purchased 2011. Photo © Roman März](/images/content/menuSeeGallery.png)
Benjamin West
The Death of General Wolfe (Detail), 1770
oil on canvas
152.6 x 214.5 cm
Transfer from the Canadian War Memorials, 1921 (Gift of the 2nd Duke of Westminster, England, 1918)
National Gallery of Canada (no. 8007)
Collections
Enlarge image
The Woolsey Family, 1809
William Berczy
German, Canadian, 2
- 1813
oil on canvas
59.9 x 86.5 cm
Gift of Major Edgar C. Woolsey, Ottawa, 1952
National Gallery of Canada (no. 5875)
Between July 1808 and July 1809, William Berczy was living in Quebec City. From his correspondence with his wife during this period we learn that he was devoting himself diligently to the creation of this family portrait, executing a study of each of the eight figures before transposing them onto canvas. The composition is organized around the hierarchical, frieze-like positioning of the people depicted: in an architectural interior that unifies the whole, the father, shown standing at the rear, dominates the image; the mother and the rest of the family occupy the mid-ground, while the dog is alone in the foreground. The smooth finish and the rather cool chromatic range, with green and blue predominating, give the work a distinctly neoclassical flavour.
Categories
Audioguide
Audioguide (1 min 47 sec)
Media
No Media
Library and Archives
Extras
No Extras
Elevation for a Façade
Marguerite de Muralt
John Dillon
Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter
YouTube
