painting, Bulletins at Lunch
Report a Mistake- Object Number 19710261-5741
- Event 1939-1945 Second World War
- Affiliation --
- Artist / Maker / Manufacturer MacLeod, Mrs. Pegi Nicol
- Date Made 1944/08/26
- Category Communication artifacts
- Sub-category Art
- Department Art and Memorials
- Museum CWM
- Earliest 1944/08/26
- Latest 1944/08/26
- Inscription RECTO, LOWER RIGHT, HAND-WRITTEN IN PURPLE AND PINK PENCIL: BULLETINS; AT LUNCH;C.W.A.C. GLEBE;AUGUST 26;1944.; VERSO, BOTTOM: NATIONAL GALLERY LABEL; HAND-WRITTEN IN BLUE CRAYON: SER NO 22;UPPER LEFT IN PURPLE PENCIL: 14 (IN A CIRCLE)
- Medium watercolourgouachecoloured pencil
- Support wove paper
- Materials Not applicable
- Branch Canadian Women's Army Corps
- Service Component Canadian Army
- Measurements Height 71.0 cm, Width 43.0 cm
- Caption Pegi Nicol MacLeod (1904 - 1949)
- Additional Information Beyond the obvious role of woman artist, Pegi Nicol MacLeod saw military service from two points of view: that of women who were left behind, and that of the female participants. She was uniquely placed to contribute valuable insights into a relatively underappreciated aspect of war service. The result is a picture of the war years in North America from a woman's perspective. Pegi Nicol MacLeod's war art began with her experience of a military presence in Fredericton, moved through her National Gallery commissions (1944 and 1945), where she observed military service on a daily basis, through to New York, where she lived with women who had seen husbands and sons go off to war. For most of this period, MacLeod lived in poverty, with a young child and a less-than-satisfactory marriage. The war art of Pegi Nicol MacLeod is very different from that of the majority of her Second World War contemporaries. Brash and colourful, much of its subject matter centres on Canada's servicewomen cleaning, cooking, washing up, and serving as well as participating in the drills and parades central to life in the women's services. Hers is the only painted record of any substance that depicts what it was like to be a woman in uniform in wartime Canada. This record is paralleled by MacLeod's attempt to capture the war experience as it reflected her home and professional life. MacLeod's work represents a record of the 17,000 women who served in the RCAF (WD), the 21,600 who served in the CWACs, and the 7,000 Wrens.