The General Portrayed: Sir Arthur Currie and his Painters

Abstract

Artistsplayed an important part in propagandizing, documenting, and memorializing the battles and leaders of the First World War. Numerous artists portrayed General Sir Arthur Currie, Commander of the Canadian forces in the First World War and later Principal of McGill University. The portraits, together with related correspondence g e r new glimpses of Currie and his wide variety of painters. This study rounds out Currie's visual portraits with a f~ verbal ones, and touches on the entrepreneurial side of portraiture, the neglect of Canadian war art, the famous, maligned military groups by John Singer Sargent and Emily Warren, the prestige of painting over photography, and Currie's own views on art.