Homer Watson was frequently patroned by Commander James Kenneth Levenson Ross, a Canadian businessman and art collector. Just after the end of the First World War, Ross commissioned Homer to create two artworks that would “tell the story of Canada’s part in the gigantic struggle”[1], which the artist named Passage to the Unknown and Out of the Pit.
Passage to the Unknown shows lines of soldiers walking across an ethereal bridge surrounded by towers and spires, which disappear into the night sky. The piece is representative of the beginning of the war, with soldiers marching overseas to Europe towards an unknown fate.[2]
The second work, Out of the Pit, shows a triumphant rainbow over a destroyed castle to represent hope the end of the war.[3] The painting is currently a part of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery’s collection.
These artworks were allegorical and symbolic, which was different from Homer’s usual focus on capturing landscape. He had difficulty with depicting what he wanted to say, and the commissions moved slowly as he realized the allegories were becoming “obscured”[4] and “not self-explanatory”.[5] Despite the long process and hard work, Homer wasn’t fully satisfied with the final product, and the paintings were not as well received as he had hoped. The current location of Passage to the Unknown is itself unknown, and it is suggested that there is a possibility that Ross may have thrown the painting away because he disliked it.[6]
These unique works are a part of the beginning of Homer’s “Late Period” of art, where he began to focus on heavier brushwork and his relationship to spiritualism. Despite the artist’s frustration, these two pieces demonstrate Homer’s engagement with spiritual themes and offer some insight into his interpretation of the events of the Great War.
[1] Muriel Miller, Homer Watson: The Man of Doon, 2nd ed., (Toronto: Summerhill Press, 1988), 95.
[2] Brian Foss, “Homer Watson: Life and Work”, Art Canada Institute, 2018.
[3] Foss, “Life and Work”.
[4] Miller, The Man of Doon, 2nd ed., 96.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Foss, “Life and Work”.
