Volume 101 Number 4, 2009 Issue #431

IN THE 1950S, FOLLOWING NEWFOUNDLAND’S UNION WITH CANADA IN 1949, THE NEW PROVINCE WAS DISCOVERED BY A GROUP OF CANADIAN ARTISTS, MAINLY FROM ONTARIO, WHO FOUND THERE A CAPTIVATING COASTLINE AND AN ABSORBING SOCIETY. PROMINENT AMONG THEM WAS CLARE BICE OF LONDON, ONTARIO, WHO, BEGINNING IN 1951, MADE MANY TRIPS TO NEWFOUNDLAND. ON THE LAST OF THESE — HE WAS IN THE PROVINCE IN CONNECTION WITH AN EXHIBITION OF HIS WORK AT THE MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY — HE DIED SUDDENLY AT THE BATTERY, A ST JOHN’S INN, ON 18 MAY 1976.¹

Bice was drawn especially to Port de Grave, Conception Bay, which in the first decade after Confederation began to emerge as a Newfoundland Peggy's Cove (a signature Nova Scotia outharbour). History runs deep in this long-settled part of the Avalon Peninsula, and Bice was intrigued as much by Port de Grave's past as he was by its inviting seascapes. He was an artist and author/illustrator of Newfoundland profonde, for whom Port de Grave became the emblematic outport. His Newfoundland artistic oeuvre is decidedly in the Canadian landscape tradition — post-Group of Seven but powerfully influenced by that movement. A deep patriot and strong traditionalist, Bice was not attracted to the abstract expressionism that began to take root in Toronto and elsewhere in the 1950s. Rather, he sought to expand the bounds of Canadian art by applying proven approaches and techniques to challenging new subject matter — the tenth province and its myriad seascapes. He idealized Newfoundland ways and scenery, and his work there was arguably inspired by the search for order, quietude, and domesticity - perhaps even "getting away from it all" - that characterized much of Canadian life following the great upheaval of the Second World War. Bice was a talented romantic who, with brush and pen, portrayed a Newfoundland poised between tradition and modernity.

Albert Clare Bice was born in Durham, Grey County, Ontario, on 24 January 1909, and was the younger of two sons² born to Albert Artemus Bice (2 September 1875-29 April 1948), an Anglican priest (later an archdeacon), and Elizabeth (Bessie) McKay (12 January 1879-28 February 1958). In 1910 the family moved to London, Ontario, and there the future artist attended Aberdeen Public School (1913- 21) and London Central Collegiate Institute (1921-26). As a boy, he "dabbled at drawing and copying, but never studied art seriously," apparently regarding it in his teenage years as a "sissy" activity.³ In 1926 he registered at the University of Western Ontario, graduating in 1929 with a general BA. At Western he studied English and history and played basketball and football, but confined himself artistically to "producing cartoons and posters for dances."⁴

Following graduation, however, under the influence of the gifted London portrait and flower painter Eva Bradshaw (1871-1939), he quickly found his life's calling. He remembered Bradshaw as having had "the true art spirit" and "a magnificent gift of color which she imparted generously to a great many art students who had the good fortune to know her."⁵ He was lucky enough to be one of them.

Clare Bice and wife Marion. Photo courtesy of the Bice family.

Bice worked first for an advertising agency and then became a freelance "commercial artist." In 1930-31 he studied in New York at the Art Students League, where he worked with George Brant Bridgman, Frank Vincent DuMond and Ivan Olinsky, and at the Grand Central School of Art, where he worked under George Oberteuffer; in this period he also toured Europe with a group of Canadian writers. By his own account he apparently learned little in New York because of "floundering" with "the technical difficulties of oil paint."⁶ Back in London, like many other aspirant 1930s artists and writers he found it very hard to get started in the depression conditions of the time, though a portrait by him — this became a favourite and financially rewarding genre — was shown at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair.⁷

In 1940 his career entered a new phase when he was appointed curator of the art museum in the Elsie Perrin Williams Memorial Building, which opened that year at 305 Queens Avenue.⁸ Around this time he was also elected to the Ontario Society of Arts and, thanks to the initiative of C.W. Jeffries and William Beatty, neither of whom he had met, made an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy. The cultural facility he headed was housed with the London Public Library and was said to be "the only completely municipally owned and controlled art museum in Canada."⁹

Bice's counterpart at the London Public Library was Richard E. Crouch (1894-1962), another energetic innovator and community builder.¹⁰ In 1941 — he was now also teaching evening art courses at H.B. Beal Technical and Commercial High School, London — Bice published Jory's Cove: a story of Nova Scotia, set in a fictionalized Peggy's Cove. This work, published in New York by Macmillan, was well illustrated and launched him into a branch of literature that he would make his own. In September 1941 critic Valerie Conde wrote that Bice's painting was characterized by "[v]itality, significance and technical skill": "He does not follow any school, academic, impressionistic, or modern, but prefers to keep an open mind on the subject of technique, letting the subject and what he has to say about it dictate how it shall be painted. He regards painting as a pictorial and emotional expression which should not need an explanatory treatise to make it understandable to any intelligent person. His pictures do not make anyone feel puzzled or bewildered. Rather they give pleasure, or are stimulating to thought and feeling. His portraits are eloquent, his landscapes striking records of the varied Canadian scene."¹¹ Bice, she reported, had "spent several summers along the Atlantic coast," had sketched in Northern Ontario (mainly around Lake Penage), painted in various parts of Europe, and was now on a sketching trip to Quebec. He was "not a 'modern,' but neither could he be called a thoroughly academic painter." His favorite artist was Jan Vermeer (1632-1675), but he was also drawn to the work of Edgar Degas (1834-1917) and Walter Sickert (1860-1942). Bice did not limit himself "to any one field, painting landscapes, marine subjects, flowers and portraits with almost equal impartiality." As a curator, Bice broke new ground when, in 1942, he introduced an art loan program, to benefit both artist and borrower. The scheme began with thirty pictures, and the rental fee was set at one per cent of the value of a picture (in 1948 the minimum charge was 25¢ and the maximum $1.50). The new venture soon proved its worth, flourishes to this day, and has been widely emulated.¹²

Bice's career was finally taking off, only to be interrupted by military service — a common experience in his generation of Canadians.¹³ Having served in the Canadian Officers' Training Corps in 1927 and 1928, he joined the 15th Field Ambulance Reserve in August 1940. He then enlisted in London on 9 November 1942, having been granted leave of absence from the museum.¹⁴ On enlistment, he stated his address as 135 Inkerman Street (the location of the manse of All Saints' Anglican Church on Hamilton Road). He was given the regimental number A-99393, and his attestation paper was signed by Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps Major F. G. Thompson, the officer commanding the London Military Hospital (LMH). In a 1943 document Bice described himself as being able to speak and read both English and French. He did his initial training at the London armouries and was attached to the LMH until June 1943, when he joined 4th Fortress Company, Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE), in Vancouver, to attend a course on camouflage at "The Gables," University of British Columbia. On successfully completing this work (he achieved Distinguished¹⁵ standing and an average of 91% in all subjects), he returned to London, where he was eventually sent back to the LMH. In December 1943 he was posted to #21 General Hospital at Listowel, Ontario, and on 1 March 1944 was made Acting Corporal. From Listowel he went overseas with the same unit, disembarking in the United Kingdom four days after D-Day, on 10 June 1944 (he had been made a corporal nine days before). He arrived in France on 16 September 1944.

In a personnel selection record dated 4 November 1942, Captain D.A. Sutherland of the LMH wrote that Bice had "a very brilliant mind capable of going places in either civil or army life" but did not "desire to get into a combatant corps" because he was "against the idea of war."¹⁶ If he could get over this, Sutherland ventured, he would make "a good officer" because he had the requisite "appearance, intelligence and other qualities required."¹⁷ A form recommending Bice for a commission was signed, on 8 February 1943, by F. G. Thompson (now a lieutenantcolonel), who wrote that a "[s]plendid educational background, good appearance, intelligence, and other qualities should make him a good Officer."¹⁸ This recommendation was strongly supported by Major J.N.C. Lewis of the Canadian Camouflage School, RCE, who offered this advice to National Defence Headquarters: "The remarks on the Personnel Selection Record about his so-called 'Against War' tendencies seem to be rather misplaced. This man is a complete realist, and tho' like any civilized being he is 'against war' he fully realizes the necessity of this present conflict. He would welcome a commission in any combatant unit. I feel that this man could notably serve his country as a commissioned officer, in some capacity where he can make full use of his talents. The obvious choice appears to be as a Camouflage Officer."¹⁹

Clare Bice in his studio. Photo courtesy of the Bice family.

In October 1943 Major W.H. M. Collison of the Camouflage wing at "The Gables" made another appeal on Bice's behalf. Having heard that, since returning to London, Bice had been employed "on routine laundry, garbage, latrine and clerical work," he told Ottawa that this soldier "could be far more usefully employed as a Camouflage Instructor on the Staff of one of the Army's many Tr[ainin]g. Centres" — a role for which he had been recommended by Major Lewis and the staff of the Vancouver school.²⁰ In November a recommendation from the headquarters of Military District No. 1 in London that Bice be transferred "to [the] R.C.E. for training and observation as possible Officer Material" gave this account of him: "This man states that he is content with his present job but that he should have a commission in camouflage work. He states that he believes it his mission in life to do something constructive, not destructive. He has not as yet had any Basic Training. A well-built man of definitely superior intelligence who is not particularly anxious for combatant duty. I believe that if this man proceeds for Basic and Advanced Training he will forget about his non-aggressive attitude and do a good job. In support of this, he once played for one of Western University's best rugby teams. He says he is anxious to take more military training and should have no difficulty in qualifying. He is well qualified to be at least an N.C.O. [non-commissioned officer] instructor in Camouflage work."²¹

The response of National Defence Headquarters was that Bice had "neither the educational nor occupational background" to be reassigned to the RCE "as potential officer material."²² In the circumstances, the recommendation of Adjutant-General H.F. G. Letson to the district officer commanding Military District No. 1 in London was that, unless Bice could "be reallocated more suitably" in the district, he be trained "for inclusion in Other Rank personnel" to be assigned to hospital duty overseas, where his camouflage training might also be useful. It was this directive that started the chain of events that ultimately landed Bice in France. Everything considered, the medical service obviously suited his religious background and quietist and artistic temperament. If he was not a conscientious objector, he clearly had an ambivalent attitude to war.

In November 1943, while his superiors were considering his future, Bice applied for special permission to marry Marion Agnes Reid (26 August 1916 - 1 January 1998) of 433 Ontario St., London, whom he had known for three years.²³ She was the daughter of William Edgar (Bill) Reid (1887-1960), a CPR railway engineer, and Alberta Jane (Ayre) Reid (1881-1952), known as Alberta. Permission was duly granted and the wedding took place on 26 November at King Street United Church, London (Richard Crouch was best man).²⁴ In October 1944 A.M. Thomas, vice-president of Copp Clark publishers of Toronto, wrote to Major-General A.E. Potts, the district officer commanding Military District No. 2, to inquire whether Bice, described as "one of our outstanding Canadian artists," could be made available for work on a set of readers for grades 4-6 the company was producing for the four western provinces.²⁵ Potts passed the request along, but heard back that there was as yet no policy whereby soldiers serving overseas could be returned to civilian employment. In January 1945 a follow-up request came from the Alberta Deputy Minister of Education, G. Fred McNally, who wrote that Bice "could render service of high quality as an artist and illustrator" for the books being done by Copp Clark.²⁶ He reported having heard from the company that Bice was "too old for front line service" and was "doing work which might be performed by another man." This appeal went nowhere, but another one from Potts in May elicited the information that further consideration was being given to how to handle and decide on "applications for discharges which violate[d] the government's discharge policy of 'first in first out.'"²⁷ After Bice made a further appeal on his own behalf for early release, Copp Clark applied to the Industrial Selection and Release Board, National Selective Service. This application described Bice as a "[p]ractising artist and book illustrator with special art training" and as having "[e]xperience in text-book illustration (a specialized field)."²⁸ "Text-book illustrators who work in colour," it was explained, "are very few in Canada, and Mr. Bice will aid in the production of hundreds of thousands of volumes of elementary school texts which can not be produced without men of his training. These series have been held up pending his release." This time the requested release was granted, whereupon Bice left for Canada on 19 November 1945 aboard HMCS Puncher. Prior to leaving the United Kingdom, he was registered with the Khaki University of Canada and in this capacity was attached (26 September - 18 October 1945) to the British Institute of Adult Education in London, where he "[s]tudied types of exhibitions, [and] methods of display suitable to popular needs."²⁹

Just days before turning 37, Bice was discharged from the army at Wolseley Barracks, London, on 15 January 1946. He had served for 572 days in Canada and 302 overseas (105 in the United Kingdom and 197 in France), and had mainly been employed as an orderly room clerk. On the form used by the Department of Veterans Affairs to counsel individuals about re-establishment, Army Counsellor J.L. McKnight gave this optimistic account of Bice's prospects: "Bice is a well built man, 36 years of age, married. He has a pleasing personality and has attained a high standard of education. This man offers no problem as far as employment is concerned[;] he was employed prior to enlistment by the city of London as Curator of the art gallery and museum also as art teacher at the H.B. Beal Tech school, and will return to his profession upon discharge. Bice has his B.A. degree, he is highly qualified in his profession and will no doubt continue to be successful. He is a specialist in English and History as well as art. He also does paintings himself and could if necessary, devote his full time to this endeavour."³⁰ For his war service, Bice was awarded the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp, the 1939-45 Star, the France- Germany Star, and the War Medal 1939-45. He also received the gratuity and re-establishment credit payable under the War Service Grants Act of 1944 — entitlements that helped launch the baby boom in Canada.³¹ In the case of Clare and Marion Bice, two children arrived soon after the war — Kevin Robert on 4 October 1946 and Megan Elisabeth on 16 December 1949.

The decade after the war was a golden time for Bice, artistically and personally. Canada entered boom times, London prospered, the family moved to 1010 Wellington Street in the comfortable and companionable north end of the city (his widowed mother lived on nearby Patricia Street),³² and his curatorial and artistic endeavours flourished. While in uniform, Bice had two pictures in the 1944 Canadian Army exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada organized by the Directorate of Auxiliary Services (Army),³³ and in preparation for the next phase of his life he drafted an application for a Guggenheim Foundation Art Fellowship. Though he did not receive the grant, his application is important for understanding his artistic, curatorial and literary purpose.³⁴ Under the heading "Plans for Work," he specified three projects that he believed he could complete within a year of being demobilized from the army. The first was for "a profusely illustrated children's book on Canada and its peoples — a comprehensive description of the several major types of people which comprise the Canadian nation, their character, customs, and activities, together with the appearance of the country and the effect of these natural conditions — sea coast, prairies, mountains — on the daily life and character of the people." The book would present "a panorama of Canada as it is today" and would "treat the Canadian nationality" by surveying "The Maritime Provinces of the Atlantic Coast," "French Canada," "Ontario — industrial and rural," "The Prairie Communities," "People of the Rockies," "The West Coast," and the "The New North."

The Maritime section "would portray the life in a typical little Atlantic fishing village such as Herring Cove or Blue Rocks or Peggy's Cove, with, if possible, a description of a big schooner fishing harbour like Lunenburg."³⁵ The section on French Canada would highlight "[t]he people of a small village-farming community...and...include something of the old world flavour of Quebec City." The account of Ontario would feature an "English-influenced manufacturing centre surrounded by its mixed farming on rich rolling lands," while the section on the Prairies would describe "[a] struggling ...village with its grain elevators, surrounded by wheat fields as far as the eye can see" and with the "little community...made up of Icelandic, Ukrainian, German, Swedish and English people." The Rockies would be represented by "[a] ranch in the foothills with the snow capped peaks for a backdrop or a railway section-man's house deep in the mountains"; the West Coast by a "big family" that included "shipyard workers and cannery workers" and operators of "a small...fishing boat"; and the New North by "Eskimos...but with the quickly awakening activity of air routes and radium mines all around them."

A drawing from The Great Island.

The proposed book would have two purposes: "to give children in the United States and England a fuller understanding of Canada and the Canadian people, helping to correct such partial conceptions as 'Canada: land of eternal snows and trappers and mounties,' or 'land of French habitants'"; and "provide a much needed school text or supplementary reading book for use in teaching children in the Canadian schools, themselves so far removed from each other across four thousand miles of extremely varied country, that an intimate knowledge and understanding of their compatriots in other areas is very difficult." To achieve its objectives, the proposed volume would be "presented in a picture story book format rather than as a factual text book" — but not "at the expense of accuracy and information." As evidence of his qualifications to undertake this project, Bice noted that he had travelled from Vancouver to Halifax; been in Europe and the United States; collected and sketched in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia; discussed his plan with Doris S. Patee, children's book editor at Macmillan in New York; and consulted with teachers and librarians.

To facilitate work, Bice proposed to make "two observing-sketching journeys" — one to the Atlantic coast and the other through the Prairie provinces to the west coast. The painting and sketches which would be a "natural by-product of these expeditions" would constitute his second overall purpose in making use of the Guggenheim Fellowship. His third mission would be to complete "A Survey of the Activities of the Smaller Art Galleries and Museums in Canada, with consideration of possibilities for increasing their number and extending their activities." As evidence of what could be done, Bice cited the accomplishments of the Williams Memorial Public Library, Art Gallery and Museum, "a new type of institution," which held the promise "of bringing creative art and music and literature and many other things into the experience of people who live in the smaller communities." In "one well-designed building," London had a public library, children's library, art gallery and museum, a 300-seat auditorium, and "several other general purpose rooms." In this setting "the Art Association, the Historical Society, Chamber Music Society, Horticultural Club, and a large number of study groups and other associations...[found] good facilities and fertile ground for existence." Londoners could borrow books, records, sheet music and scores, films, and, for a small charge, "oil paintings, water colours, aquatints, etc. by leading Canadian artists." They also enjoyed the advantages of travelling exhibitions; a show, held every June, of Western Ontario regional art; various commercial, industrial, and historical displays; children's art classes; and a program of "talks and demonstrations by leading Canadian artists and craftsmen." The institution was supported through city taxes and its exhibitions and lectures were "free to the public at all times." Through visiting, supported by the grant he sought, Bice hoped to "gather ideas from other Canadian centres for the further extension and development of the Williams Memorial Art Gallery and Museum in making it an effective cultural force in London and Western Ontario," and "make a general survey of the possibilities for establishing similar community centres in other Canadian provincial cities, or encouraging the extension of the public libraries to this broader vision and purpose."

The Guggenheim was not forthcoming, but Bice's application for it stands as a good summary of his curatorial and artistic philosophy. It also presaged much that he did in the fifteen years after the war. In 1949 he published, with Macmillan in New York, Across Canada: stories of Canadian children — the work that had long captured his imagination. The book was well received at the time but was panned in 1978 by Mary Rubio in Twentieth-century Children's Writers. While the "realistic illustrations" gave "an appealing pastoral vision of Canadian provincial life," she wrote, the story was "drab," had "little dramatic action or plot," and emphasized "superficial visual details" over "character analysis."³⁶ In 1944 Bice illustrated Animals Plants and Machines by Lucy Sprague Mitchell and Margaret Wise Brown and over the next quarter century collaborated with authors William Sherwood Fox — 'T Aint Runnin' No More: the story of Grand Bend, the Pinery, and the old river bed (1946),³⁷ The Bruce Beckons: the story of Lake Huron's great peninsula, (1952), and Silken Lines and Silver Hooks: a life-long fisherman recounts his catch (1954); Hilda Mary Hooke — Thunder in the Mountains: legends of Canada (1947); Catherine Anthony Clark — The Golden Pine Cone (1950), The Sun Horse (1951), The One-Winged Dragon (1955), The Silver Man (1958), The Diamond Feather, Or, The Door in the Mountain: a magic tale for children (1962), and The Hunter and the Medicine Man (1966); T. Morris Longstreth — The Force Carries On: the sequel to The Scarlet Force (1954); Elma E. Gray — Wilderness Christians: the Moravian mission to the Delaware Indians (1956); Mabel Tinkiss Good — At the Dark of the Moon (1966); Adelaide Leitch — The Great Canoe (1966); and William E. Corfield — Keen for Adventure (1967). His work with Sherwood Fox (1878- 1967), president of the University of Western Ontario 1927-47, was especially notable, as The Bruce Beckons attracted a broad and continuing readership and sold well for the University of Toronto Press. Two striking pictures by Bice from this period are his "London" for the Seagram Cities of Canada series and his compelling portrait of Roderick, Cameron, and Baxter Willis as boys. The London picture is a vigorous cityscape, showing Richmond Street looking north towards the Dominion Building and St. Paul's and St. Peter's Cathedrals, with the fleche of the latter rising high into the sky. The Willis portrait was commissioned by the boys' parents (Ross Willis was eventually vice-president of administration and finance at the University of Western Ontario) and is an exceptional evocation of both a time in life and an historical moment.

In a November 1952 article in Saturday Night, critic Lenore Crawford called Bice a "Triple Career Curator" — he ran an innovative gallery, was a prolific illustrator, and was an accomplished author of stories for children.³⁸ Bice, she reported, did about 25 exhibits a year for the gallery, exchanged shows with other galleries in Ontario, New Brunswick, British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec, circulated collections to smaller centres in the Western Ontario region, and had been active in the opening, in Toronto, of an art club for new Canadians. Over the previous six years he had also done two portraits of Anglican Archbishop C.A. Seager (one for the Diocese of Huron and the other for Trinity College, University of Toronto), as well as portraits of W. Sherwood Fox and three other University of Western Ontario notables. "I sometimes think," she quoted Bice as saying, "that if I did one job, instead of trying to do three, I'd make more of a success of it." In 1952 the busy Londoner was awarded one of the fellowships the Government of Canada was now providing (using funds only available overseas) to selected artists for study in Europe.³⁹ In March 1956 the London Gallery and Museum opened the exhibition "Canadian Artists Abroad," which then circulated to other Canadian cities with the support of the National Gallery of Canada.⁴⁰

A drawing from The Great Island.

In 1951, with his career manifestly on a rising tide, Bice ventured for the first time to Newfoundland. He was prompted to go there to gather material for another book. On 21 March 1951 he wrote to Doris Patee in New York that he was mulling over three book ideas. First on his list was "[a] story, rather in the Jory’s Cove manner, about children in a tiny Newfoundland village":

There is the romance of the old and the new in Newfoundland — The old and quaint and characterful fishing harbours and the new Trans-Atlantic airways for which Newfoundland is an important waystation. I'm sure an exciting and a colourful story could be built up around these two factors. It would have interest for American children both as a story of "foreign" far-off places and, since American air lines go to Europe via Gander, these children might also feel somewhat possessive about it as well. As far as the sale of such a book in Canada is concerned, I'm sure that it would be well received for the first of the foregoing reasons, and also for the information it might give about life in our new Province. I've been thinking of going down to the East Coast this year in late summer and early fall and might easily go on to Newfoundland with the story and drawings for this book in mind. However, I'd like to do a great deal of preparatory work before that time. I'm intrigued by an island that has Gander as a name for its big airport and that has place names like Horse Chops and Trouty and Joe Batts Arm and Comfort Cove, not to mention Happy Adventure and Little Hearts Ease. And I know people there have quaint accents and turns of phrase.⁴¹

His other current literary ideas, he explained, were for a book on the Saint-Tite-des-Caps area of Quebec, where he had recently sketched, or for "a picture book for younger children," in which his own "almost-five boy" would "be a wonderful help both as collaborator and model." In reply, Patee encouraged the Newfoundland project and suggested he begin work on this right way, whereupon Bice began making plans to go to the province.

Travelling in Newfoundland in the early 1950s was a complex matter. Trans-Canada Air Lines had started service to St. John's during the war, and there was a ferry link between North Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Port aux Basques, with connecting train service to St. John's. There was also an extensive coastal boat service, which connected hundreds of isolated outports to each other and to the larger world. But roads existed only in pockets, with the best network on the Avalon Peninsula, where most of the population was concentrated. One of the most scenic paved roads in the province linked St. John's to the outports around Conception Bay and this drive attracted many visitors, Bice among them. The Conception Bay route offered the comforts of St. John's but with easy access to functioning and traditional small communities. Through various inquiries, Bice found his way there.

In preparation for his visit he corresponded with a variety of Newfoundland contacts — H. Faith Mercer of the Gosling Memorial Library, St, John's; Deputy Minister of Education G.A. Frecker; Memorial University College geography professor and well-known St. John's artist Harold Goodridge; Darroch Macgillivray, a Newfoundland student at Lakefield Preparatory School in Lakefield, Ontario (he was the son of St. John’s businessman and artist H. Darroch Macgillivray); and Margaret Godden, assistant director of the Newfoundland Tourist Development Office. To facilitate matters, Bice sent out a questionnaire with four questions (varied as required by correspondent). To Deputy Minister Frecker he posed the following: "1. What suggestions would you care to make regarding the choice of an interesting and colourful fishing village, if the choice were restricted to places on Trinity Bay, Conception Bay or the coast North of St. John's. Several choices if you care to make them, in the order of your own preference, and any comments or descriptions regarding them"; "2. Before the summer it would be extremely valuable to have some letters or perhaps essays from school children in some of these villages, as an approach to the children's point of view in such matters as boats, school, play and home life. Would it be at all possible for some of the supervisors of elementary schools in the districts mentioned, to arrange for letters or essays to be prepared in certain schools in their districts, or to put me in touch with teachers who might offer assistance?"; "3. Ideally, the sort of information I want would be best obtained by living for a week or so with an ordinary pleasant family in a village, if they would consent to give me board and room at the usual rates for that length of time. Would you have any suggestions?"; "4. Any further comments would be very welcome, or if you think I may be overlooking something important I would be glad to know of it."⁴²

Frecker graciously facilitated Bice's request for student essays, and lively papers were eventually forthcoming from pupils in Holyrood, New Perlican, and Bay de Verde, thanks in the latter two places to the efforts of Principals Eric A. Parrott and Mary North, respectively. Various suggestions were made as to a suitable venue for Bice's Newfoundland work, a list that included Trinity ("second to none"); Catalina ("I grew up there myself"); Chapel Arm ("[v]ery lovely spot"); Clarke's Beach ("picturesque fishing-farming settlement"); Brigus (I don't think you could do better from the pictorial point of view"), and Port de Grave ("the best location").⁴³ Eventually, both for artistic and practical reasons, Port de Grave was Bice's choice. Margaret Godden told him that it had "a most unusual coastline" and had "drawn painters from the Art Students League of New York back there for several summers."⁴⁴ The local "rock formation" was "very brutal but intriguing." From Faith Mercer he heard cautionary words about applying the term "village" to Newfoundland places. "'Outport'" she wrote, "is the Newfoundland word for all coastal settlements other than St. John's — in fact, it is often used to include every town and village in Newfoundland, inland as well as along the coast, that is not the capital."⁴⁵ With a view to visiting Gander,⁴⁶ Bice corresponded with R. C. MacInnes of Trans-Canada Air Lines, which now ran two flights a day there from St. John's. MacInnes wrote a letter of introduction for him to station manager Kilpatrick at Gander but on behalf of "Miss Clare Brice."⁴⁷ Having corrected this error, MacInnes quipped: "Knowing Gander as I do, possibly Mr. Kilpatrick would prefer to settle for a willowy blonde, but I am sure that you will find him most co-operative even to a 6 ft. 200 lb. male."⁴⁸ From Harold Goodridge, Bice heard that he would be able to get canvas panels of the size he wanted, along with some paints, from the Newfoundland Academy of Art on Cochrane Street, but that he should bring good quality water colour paper with him.⁴⁹

Before going to Newfoundland Bice was further advised by Toronto artist George Pepper and Montreal artist and designer John Ellison. Pepper and his artist wife, Kathleen Pepper Daly, had visited Newfoundland in 1950, ventured forth from St. John's in a rented car, gone to the French possession of St. Pierre, and travelled on the SS Kyle up the Labrador coast as far as Hopedale. Cautioning Bice that he was "a little embarrassed at being considered something of an expert on Newfie," Pepper observed that "[o]ne season there is just enough to indicate the terrific scale of the country and something of its variety."⁵⁰ He also noted the absence of indoor plumbing in many places ("In one of the most paintable villages we discovered there wasn't a single toilet — inside or out — in the whole village"); the scarcity of accommodation; the relatively high cost of food; and a tendency not to offer fish to visitors ("The people are very apologetic about serving any kind of fish. If you don't watch out they will serve you spam or corned beef upon every possible occasion"). Brigus, Pepper wrote, not only was wonderful for painting but had "an excellent place for meals." Ellison, who had been stationed in St. John's for about eight months during the war, contacted Bice at the suggestion of Art Gallery of Hamilton curator Tom MacDonald. He reported that he and his wife had made a very successful sketching trip to Labrador two years before and had been in Newfoundland in September 1950. "Newfoundland," he told Bice, "offers much to the artist and writer and I'm sure you will have no difficulty securing material and sketches that will make your trip an interesting one."⁵¹ To assist Bice in his planning, Ellison sent him a map and some photographs, telling him that the choice of outports he proposed to visit was "very sound." Like Pepper, he singled out Brigus for special praise ("a lovely place and very interesting").⁵²

Bice arrived in St. John's in mid-August and stayed there at the Newfoundland Hotel (under renovations at the time), to which he had sent a trunk full of art supplies.⁵³ At Port de Grave, his principal outport destination, accommodation was arranged for him by Rev. J.T. Richards with Mrs. Selby Morgan, whose husband was a carpenter and therefore "not likely to be at home."⁵⁴ The Morgans lived "close by George Dawe & Son" and had "two little girls Florence and Yvonne."⁵⁵ These arrangements appear to have suited Bice's purpose admirably, and after his brief stay in Conception Bay, he pushed ahead quickly with his Newfoundland book, finishing some of the work on it while in France on his Canada Fellowship. "I found it difficult," he subsequently recalled, "to recreate the speech and atmosphere of a Newfoundland outport in the midst of the sophistications of Paris."⁵⁶ Finally, in 1954, guided by the skilful editorial hand of Doris Patee, The Great Island: a story of mystery in Newfoundland was published by Macmillan. It ran to 103 pages plus introductory matter, had thirty-three black and white illustrations (including a map of Newfoundland), and featured a full-colour frontispiece and dustjacket. The book was dedicated "To Megan and Kevin, and to the boys and girls of Newfoundland who are brave and polite." Woven into the story are multiple themes of larger and lasting interest: the uncertainty of the fishing economy; the burden of having a parent working away from home (a common Newfoundland experience then and now); the emotional toll of possible relocation; and the impact of technological change (in this case air travel) on a conservative culture.

Clare Bice painting in Bareneed. Photo courtesy of Kevin Bice.

The Great Island is set in Ship Cove (fictionalized Port de Grave). An introductory section, "This is Newfoundland...," describes the island as lying at "America's front door" and as a place "where the tides of the Atlantic ebb and flow, and the gales sweep in from the tumbling ocean; where the brave little fishing boats find their way through fog or storm; where the sunlight dances on the water in a thousand bays and coves; where live a happy friendly people." Once resorted to by pirates, Newfoundland was now a landing place for transatlantic airliners, whose passengers looked "out upon a ragged coast line, a wilderness of lakes and trees and bogs, and the long paved runways of Gander airport." But there was "much more" to Newfoundland than this: there was also "endless tales of sturdy ships and men of courage; lively folk-songs, and kind and comfortable people; and…the ever-changing, majestic beauty of hills and seacoast." Truly, Newfoundland was "a great island!"

In the mystery adventure tale that follows, the central character is schoolboy Angus Bussey, and the action is set during summer holidays ("Angus had a feeling that something unexpected — or maybe, even, something wonderful! — was going to happen before the summer ended").⁵⁷ His father, a carpenter and boat builder, is named Henry. His mother is named Martha but, save for a single reference, she is referred to throughout as "mom" (her "young brother" had been lost at sea during the war).⁵⁸ Angus has two younger sisters, Margaret and "Little Cassie," and his great chum is schoolmate Johnny Pike. Higher up the Ship Cove social ladder are Canon and Mrs. Peddigrew and storekeeper Mr. Bartlett. Angus and Johnny have the run of the outport and enjoy all the delights of fishing wharf and berry ground. Angus is also fond of watching planes flying overhead on their way to Gander and likes listening — on a radio belonging to schoolteacher Mr. Pendle, who boards with the family during the school year — to communications between pilots in the air and controllers at the big Newfoundland airport. Angus is rooted in one Newfoundland but is intrigued by another, and in this is perhaps a representative 1950s figure. A shadow over his life is the fact that his father has to work away from home in St. John's. This is because of lack of opportunity in Ship Cove, which badly needs a plant for freezing fish. Angus dreads the thought of ever having to move to the city ("He thought of the warm and homey kitchen and his own bedroom — oh, it would be miserable to leave it all, to pack up everything and go in to some other house in St. John's that wouldn't be the same at all!').⁵⁹ His mother is of like mind and tells a neighbour: "I don't know what I'd do if we have to leave Ship Cove. Ship Cove's a happy place and I'd rather stay here than any place in the whole world, including St. John's!"⁶⁰ Angus imagines finding pirate treasure and using it to ease the family's passage ("Father could come home again and they'd all be together, and they wouldn't have to be worrying so much about paying Mr. Bartlett's bill. He'd buy Mom a new dress from the mail order house, the best one in the whole catalogue. And perhaps he could buy a real expensive radio for himself, one that he could listen in to Gander airfield and the big airliners").⁶¹

His interest in buried treasure is fed by his many conversations with Uncle Abe Dagg, who exemplifies the continuity of outport life ("He wasn't really Angus' uncle, but in Newfoundland when a man gets too old to go out to sea and has to take things easy like old Abe Dagg did, everyone called him 'Uncle.' A mark of respect, sort of")⁶² and personifies the maritime calling of Newfoundlanders ("Fishin's the thing for Newfoundland. Always has been since the days of John Cabot, an' always will be. Fishin' and seal hunting!").⁶³ Uncle Abe believes that treasure was buried somewhere in the area in 1679 from one of the ships of a pirate named Captain Mannering. Uncle Abe has an old map showing the location near a tunnel, but the treasure has never been found (though a family named Neary had moved on after apparently profiting from a separate cache). One day, while out roaming the coast, Angus and Johnny see two strangers in a cove along with Ship Cove resident Ranny Roberts. They suspect them of being in search of the treasure. Next, while on a berry-picking expedition with their families, the boys chance on a tunnel "leading to a narrow rock ledge beside the water" and an excellent place for tying up a schooner — "or a brigantine — a pirate ship!"⁶⁴ They are excited by the find and plan to return to the site ("Up beyond Bareneed. Right beside the water of the North Arm. In back of the berry hills")⁶⁵ as soon as possible with Uncle Abe, the latter's rheumatism notwithstanding, and his map.

The strangers they saw with Ranny Roberts, it turns out, are Boston archeologist Professor Jebb, who is visiting for the summer looking for evidence of Viking presence in the area, and Mr. Tilson of St. John's. When Uncle Abe hears about the tunnel and Jebb about the markings, an expedition is hastily organized, but this proves disappointing for all except Mr. Tilson, who, Angus notices, "seemed quite jubilant, whistling merrily all the way back to Ship Cove." The tunnel, Uncle Abe explains, was the work of Captain John Mercer, who had used it for hauling seals ashore. As for the markings, Professor Jebb quickly determines that these had been made by a chain used "to tie up vessels or to anchor a landing stage."⁶⁶ Subsequently, Jebb breaks his ankle while exploring alone along an isolated part of the coast. He is spotted by Angus from a fishing boat, and the boys come to his rescue. While Johnny goes back to Ship Cove to summon help, Angus stays with the injured archeologist. Their conversation turns to the tunnel, and they simultaneously hit on the idea that Captain Mercer may only have improved upon a tunnel already there and that this might be the site shown on Uncle's Abe's map after all.

Amidst great excitement, another expedition is organized, with Jebb making his way on crutches and Uncle Abe transported in a wheelbarrow pushed by Fred Snow. This time, after much digging, a chest is found, which produces "a little heap" of gold coins and three silver plates.⁶⁷ The Spanish booty has been found — and for safe keeping is deposited at Ship Cove in the house of Canon and Mrs. Peddigrew. Angus's share eventually finds its way into a bank account at nearby Port Gloster ("'A good sum toward your schooling,' Mom said, 'or to start you out in whatever you decide to do or to buy something fine and wonderful should you want it'").⁶⁸ However, with his mother seemingly now reconciled to having to move to St. John's, Angus longs to spend the money to reunite the family in Ship Cove — but while he has "a tidy sum" he does not have a "fortune."⁶⁹ "No," his mother explains, "Father will find his own good work to do, and if we must go to St. John's to be with him in it, we will go."⁷⁰ But all is soon well. After Angus returns to school ("Little Cassie" began classes that fall), Canon Peddigrew, Professor Jebb, and Mr. Tilson arrive in his classroom with big news. For his summer heroics, Angus will be rewarded by being taken on a trip to Gander by the professor, who is about to return to the United States. Moreover, Mr. Tilson announces that a fast-freezing plant will be built at the deepwater anchorage near the tunnel — a location he has discovered thanks to Angus, Johnny, and Uncle Abe. When Angus rushes into his house with all the good news, his joy is made full to discover his father at home. He is back from St. John's for good and will be the "boss carpenter" in the building of the fish plant.⁷¹ Angus's outport idyll is complete, and he muses that in all the great island of Newfoundland "there was never an outport...the equal of Ship Cove: "'We're going to stay — stay right here in Ship Cove!'...I'm some glad!'"⁷²

A drawing from The Great Island.

The Great Island was well received, and Doris Patee expressed the hope that the author would be as pleased by its appearance as the publisher was. Macmillan's Canadian office, she reported, was "very enthusiastic" about the book and hoped "to find a large sale for it in Canada as we do here."⁷³ From St. John's compliments were forthcoming from Evening Telegram book review editor Patrick Pickett, who had attended the University of Western Ontario and met Bice before the latter had set out for Newfoundland. "It's refreshing," Pickett wrote, "to read something genuine about our island written by an observer who saw and interpreted correctly. There is so much trash written about us since we entered Confederation. Your book will be a valuable addition to the literature in our libraries."⁷⁴ In January 1958, having bought the book, the puckish Newfoundland Premier J.R. Smallwood wrote Bice c/o Macmillan Canada — he began his letter "Miss (or Mrs. or is it Mr.?) Clare Bice" — looking to have his copy autographed.⁷⁵ When Bice responded positively, Smallwood invited him to visit if he ever came back to the province.⁷⁶ In her entry on Bice in Twentieth-century Children's Writers, Mary Rubio praised Bice for his "manipulations of time" — past, present and future — in The Great Island.⁷⁷ His "interesting technique" gave "depth" to a story in which "[d]ramatic action" was "sustained throughout." Bice was skilled at "conveying atmosphere and a sense of place and community: "His plots move quickly, and the humanitarian spirit which underlies his material rarely intrudes in the story."

In an August 1954 article, "With Illustrations by the Author," in the Canadian Library Association Bulletin, Bice himself reflected on the role of author/illustrator, observing that he often felt "sorry for the poor author of a children's book who must see someone else's illustrations sprinkled here and there through the pages of his beautiful text. These characters dashed off by the artist — how different they are from the way he had imagined them; how colourless and prosaic the setting presented by the illustrator!"⁷⁸ There were, no doubt, wonderful exceptions to this — books in which author and illustrator are inseparable, e.g., E. H. Shephard's illustrations for A.A. Milne's Pooh series. But in the case of "stories which are halftold in pictures — the books for boys and girls between 7 and 11 years of age," there were "great advantages for the author-illustrator," who could proceed "ambidextrously, as it were — in words which unfold the tale and in pictures which supplement the text with visual experience": "Some of the story can be left to be told in the pictures. The background, the stage setting, the costumes, the details of descriptions which might slow up the saga — all these may be by-passed with the full assurance that the illustrations will supply them." It was this approach that Bice sought to realize in The Great Island and in his other works of fiction for children — A Dog for Davie's Hill (1956), and The Hurricane Treasure (1965). Set in Scotland, A Dog for Davie's Hill, a mystery story about sheep stealing, involved Bice in extensive sketching and collecting in the Highlands, using the same approach he had worked out in Newfoundland.

In 1962 Bice was awarded a Canada Council Senior Arts Fellowship and in the same year was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Western Ontario.⁷⁹ By now he was one of the most prominent citizens of London, a prosperous, determinedly middle-class city of head offices with the reputation for being run by a gentry — the latter acquisitive, no doubt, but also with a tradition of benefaction and an interest in art (especially memorializing in portraiture). In the decade that followed — Bice retired in 1972 — much shifted for both the man and the city. In the 1960s London entered a deep process of change that saw the emergence of a large public sector, branch plant and service dominance in the private sector, and the eventual departure of most of the head offices and much of the old upper crust. London continued to prosper but was in time led by new elites, with public-sector plutocrats, who brought a very different style to the city, at the fore. New people and new business brought with them new social mores — and fresh perspectives in art.⁸⁰ At the University of Western Ontario, President G. Edward Hall (1906-72), who had been in office since 1947 and personified an order about to crumble, was challenged by insurgent faculty and resigned in 1967. Bice's last years as curator at the art gallery were likewise turbulent. When London produced a dynamic arts movement in the 1960s that drew national attention, Bice was easily cast in the role of an administrator tied to the past and an obstacle to change (he was president of the Royal Canadian Academy 1967-70). In a classic intergenerational conflict, his own achievements as a builder and innovator were either ignored or forgotten about. He had been shaped by the experience of the Great Depression and the Second World War, but the rising generation of the 1960s — the leading edge of the postwar baby boom — knew of these events, if they acknowledged them at all, only as increasingly irrelevant history best forgotten. Obviously, there was scope in all this — in London as elsewhere — for misunderstanding and conflict. Though it has not yet been documented, there was a cultural war of sorts in London in the 1960s. And Bice, who had struggled economically in the 1930s and wrestled with the morality of war in the 1940s, was now viewed as an establishment figure. Caught between the assertive young and conservative board members, he was buffeted by the many changes of the period - and his exit from the public scene, though decorous (he finally retired because of ill health), was decidedly bumpy.⁸¹

Through everything, though, he persevered in his own artistic endeavour, which never ceased to bring him satisfaction. Having gone to Newfoundland for a specific purpose in 1951, he found in the province a subject that drew him back again and again. According to his son, Kevin, just about every summer in the 1960s and 1970s he went east — either to the Peggy's Cove area of Nova Scotia or to the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland. His practice in Newfoundland was to spend some time in St. John's and then, just as has he had done on his first trip, venture forth in a rented car to the outport world of natural wonders. In 1972 Kevin went with him and learned his father's masterful technique of working en plein air.⁸² The senior Bice became well known in the growing post-Confederation Newfoundland arts community (his local circle included the polymath Fred Emerson, Memorial University Art Gallery director Peter Bell, and artists Harold Goodridge, Reginald and Helen Shepherd, and Christopher and Mary Pratt)⁸³ and over time produced a significant number of Newfoundland pictures, some of which were included in the fateful 1976 exhibition of his work at the Memorial University Art Gallery.⁸⁴ It is very good news indeed that his work will be represented in the exhibition being put together for 2012 by the Provincial Art Gallery at The Rooms, St. John's, on the work of central Canadian artists in Newfoundland in the 1950s. The Great Island likewise deserves a continuing readership. No doubt, it is an outport romance — perhaps even an escapist fantasy; but it has its own innocent charm. Lovingly and professionally illustrated, it is a gentle book by a gentle man. Moreover, in highlighting the dilemmas of resettlement, Bice touched upon one of the dominant themes of modern Newfoundland studies.

Bice was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1973, and when he died in 1976, the London Free Press remembered him as a painter and curator who had "encouraged and championed young painters"; for many years his name had been "synonymous with art in London."⁸⁵ Following his death (he was buried from St. John the Evangelist Church, London, with Canon Terence E. Finlay officiating, and interred in Woodland Cemetery), a collection of his papers was deposited with Library and Archives Canada by Marion Bice. This collection includes the spirited correspondence used in writing this paper, his original illustrations for The Great Island, essays he received in 1951 from pupils in outport schools, and much else of interest to students of Newfoundland culture. Unquestionably, the Clare Bice Fonds is an important source for understanding the recent art history of the province.

Peter Neary has a continuing interest in the art history of Newfoundland and Labrador.

¹ The Exhibition at the Memorial Gallery ran until the end of May (Evening Telegram, St. John's, 20 May 1976, 2).
² His brother, Lt. Col. Dr. William Kenneth Bice (1 September 1905-20 May 1968), known as Kenneth, practised medicine in London, Ontario.
³ Valerie Conde, "Bice Rising to Art Fame," Windsor Daily Star, 27 September 1941, second section, 2; Lenore Crawford, "Bice: Triple Career Curator," Saturday Night, 8 November 1952, 28.
⁴ Conde, "Bice Rising to Art Fame."
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Crawford, "Bice: Triple Career Curator."
⁸ Elsie Perrin Williams (c.1878-1934) was a London notable (her father was a biscuit and candy manufacturer). She was the spouse of Hadley Williams, a medical doctor. The building named in her honour was erected thanks to a bequest in her estate to the City of London.
⁹ Crawford, “Bice: Triple Career Curator.”
¹⁰ Crouch was also a Western graduate. He had served in the Great War, and had been chief librarian at the London Public library since 1923. The Hamilton Road branch of the London Public Library is named in his honour. For a summary of his career see Arthur McClelland’s brief biography in Michael Baker and Hilary Bates Neary (eds.), 100 Fascinating Londoners (Toronto, 2005), 65.
¹¹ Conde, "Bice Rising to Art Fame."
¹² In Baker and Neary (eds.), 100 Fascinating Londoners, 71, fellow artist Paddy Gunn O'Brien highlights Bice's "pioneering efforts in building a critically important artistic infrastructure in his own community and beyond." For details of the loan program see Public Pictures, Private Homes: London's lending library of Canadian art, 1942-1975 (London, Ont., 2007).
¹³ The account of his military career that follows is based on the information in Library and Archives Canada (LAC), Canadian Army Active Service Records, Albert Clare Bice file, 04-65001-A99393. I am grateful to Diane Gibson for facilitating my request for this information.
¹⁴ London Free Press, 5 November 1942, 5.
¹⁵ LAC, 04-65001-A99393, Collison to Secretary, Department of National Defence (DND), 11 October 1943.
¹⁶ LAC, 04-65001-A99393, #21 General Hospital, DND (Army), Personnel Selection Record.
¹⁷ Ibid.
¹⁸ LAC, 04-65001-A99393, "Recommendation for appointment to a commission."
¹⁹ LAC, 04-65001-A99393, Lewis to Secretary, DND, 3 July 1943.
²⁰ LAC, 04-65001-A99393, Collison to Secretary, DND, 11 October 1943.
²¹ LAC, 04-65001-A99393, Personnel Selection Report signed for J.C. McClelland, 7 November 1943.
²² LAC, 04-65001-A99393, Letson to District Officer Commanding, Military District No. 1, London, Ontario, 16 December 1943.
²³ Marion's brother, William Robert Reid, known as Bob, was killed in action in France on 28 August 1944, his 30th birthday.
²⁴ There is a photograph of the couple and an account of the wedding in the London Free Press, 27 November 1943, 7.
²⁵ LAC, 04-65001-A99393, Thomas to Potts, 24 October 1944.
²⁶ LAC, 04-65001-A99393, Deputy Minister to DND, 5 January 1945.
²⁷ LAC, 04-65001-A99393, Walford to District Officer Commanding, Military District No. 2, 15 May 1945.
²⁸ LAC, 04-65001-A99393, "Application to Industrial Selection and Release Board, Department of Labour – National Selective Service," 6 July 1945.
²⁹ LAC, 04-65001-A99393, record of attendance signed by Lt-Col T.F. Gelley, Khaki University of Canada.
³⁰ LAC, 04-65001-A99393, Department of Veterans Affairs – W.D. 12, signed by J.L. McKnight, Army Counsellor.
³¹ His war service gratuity, paid in instalments, was calculated at $501.21, but $126.00 was eventually deducted for overpayment of ration allowance while overseas.
³² Elizabeth Spicer, a well known librarian and local historian, was her lodger.
³³ An oil painting showed cooks at work and a watercolour depicted two men reading letters, likely from home, and an occasion of significant importance to all serving men and women. Thirty-three artists were represented in the 1944 exhibition, which travelled to New York, Washington (Corcoran Gallery), Montreal, Toronto and London, Ont. The oil "Army Cooks" was listed for $200 and the watercolour "Mail" for $40. (I am grateful to Dr. Laura Brandon, Historian, Art and War, Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, for this information. See also London Free Press, 12 December 1944, 10).
³⁴ LAC, Clare Bice Fonds, Accession 1981-5, LMS-0070 (hereafter CBF), Guggenheim Foundation Art Fellowhip - Clare Bice, "Plans for Work," box 27, unit III, 2, file 1.
³⁵ All the places mentioned are along the coast south of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
³⁶ Edited by D.L. Kirkpatrick (New York, 1978), 126.
³⁷ An account of the diversion of the Aux Sables (River of the Sands).
³⁸ Crawford, "Bice: Triple Career Curator."
³⁹ He reported on this in "A Report from Canada Fellowship Holders," Canadian Art, 12:4 (Summer 1955), 164-65.
⁴⁰ Clare Bice, "Canadian Artists Abroad – An Exhibition," Canadian Art, 13:4 (Summer, 1956), 320-23, 347.
⁴¹ CBF, Bice to Patee, 21 March 1951, box 23, unit I, file 5.
⁴² CBF, attachment, Frecker to Bice, 15 May 1951, box 27, unit III, 3, file 1.
⁴³ CBF. Mercer to Bice and attachment, 25 April 1951; Goodridge to Bice, 26 April 1951; Macgillvray to Bice, 3 May, 1951; and unsigned questionnaire, box 27, unit III, 3, file 1.
⁴⁴ CBF, Godden to Bice, 2 June 1951, box 27, unit III, 3, file 1.
⁴⁵ CBF, Mercer to Bice, 25 April 1951, box 27, unit III, 3, file 1.
⁴⁶ Construction of the Newfoundland Airport at what eventually became Gander began in 1936. During the Second World War this facility, run by Canada for most of the conflict, was crucial to the ferrying of aircraft from North American production centres to the United Kingdom. In the postwar period, returned to Newfoundland control, the airport prospered through the growth of transatlantic air travel. In the 1950s Gander advertised itself as "the crossroads of the world." For details see my Newfoundland in the North Atlantic World, 1929-1949 (Kingston and Montreal, 1988).
⁴⁷ CBF, Director of Public Relations to Kilpatrick, 3 July 1951, box 27, unit III, 3, file 2.
⁴⁸ CBF, MacInnes to Bice, 18 July 1951, box 27, unit III, 3, file 2.
⁴⁹ CBF, Goodridge to Bice, 5 August 1951, box 27, unit III, 3, file 2.
⁵⁰ CBF, Pepper to Bice, [6 May], 1951, box 27, unit III, 3, file 1.
⁵¹ CBF, Ellison to Bice, 12 July 1951, box 27, unit III, 3, file 2.
⁵² CBF, Ellison to Bice, 30 July 1951, box 27, unit III, 3, file 2.
⁵³ CBF, Manager, Newfoundland Hotel, to Bice, 17 July 1951, box 27, unit III, 3, file 2.
⁵⁴ CBF, Richards to Bice, 1 August 1951, box 27, unit III, 3, file 2.
⁵⁵ Ibid.
⁵⁶ Bice, "Canadian Artists Abroad," 164.
⁵⁷ The Great Island, 2.
⁵⁸ Ibid., 36.
⁵⁹ Ibid., 36-37.
⁶⁰ Ibid., 33.
⁶¹ Ibid., 20.
⁶² Ibid., 3.
⁶³ Ibid., 16.
⁶⁴ Ibid., 47.
⁶⁵ Ibid., 63.
⁶⁶ Ibid., 68.
⁶⁷ Ibid., 91.
⁶⁸ Ibid., 94.
⁶⁹ Ibid., 94.
⁷⁰ Ibid., 94.
⁷¹ Ibid., 100.
⁷² Ibid., 100, 103.
⁷³ CBF, Patee to Bice, 18 February 1954, box 23, unit I, file 6.
⁷⁴ CBF, Pickett to Bice, 20 November 1954, box 23, unit I, file 17.
⁷⁵ University of Western Ontario Archives, Clare Bice Fonds (hereafter UWOA, CBF), Smallwood letter, 31 January 1958, series 3, 1/23.
⁷⁶ UWOA, CBF, Smallwood to Bice, 3 April 1958, series 3, 1/23. Smallwood's copy of The Great Island is now in Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Queen Elizabeth II Library, Memorial University, St. John's. It is inscribed: "For the Hon. J. R. Smallwood/leader of a warm-hearted and colourful/and courageous island people./I hope this book interprets,with/some justice, the quality of their/character and the magnificent/landscape of Newfoundland to/children in other parts of Canada/and in other countries./ Clare Bice." (I am grateful to Joan Ritcey, Centre for Newfoundland Studies, for this reference).
⁷⁷ Kirkpatrick (ed.), Twentieth Century Children's Writers, 126.
⁷⁸ Clare Bice, "With Illustrations by the Author," Canadian Library Association Bulletin. 14:1 (August 1957), 24-27.
⁷⁹ The citation read in part: "We honour today a man who through his gentle but persuasive ways has brought pleasure and stimulation to thousands of persons who have been privileged to view works of art otherwise denied them." See Robert N. Shervill (ed.), They Passed This Way (London, 1978), 149.
⁸⁰ For a survey of the London art scene in the 1960s see Nancy Geddes Poole, The Art of London 1830-1980 (London, Ont., 1984).
⁸¹ In his review of Bice's 1976 exhibition in St. John's, Memorial University Art Gallery director Peter Bell noted that the London curator had recently "been in the middle of artistic confrontation and controversy, maintaining some balance in the midst of one of the most aggressive artist communities in the country. London has been the pivotal catalyst of much that has offended, even enraged, the gallery-going public; works by her politically conscious artists have been censured as either politically provoking or morally offensive. CAR [Canadian Artists Representation], a union of artists seeking practical recognition instead of customary lipservice patronage, originated in London. There is nothing small about London, at least about its artists. Many actually paint big, but all seem to think big in terms of their work. Some of Canada's most virile painters are Londoners." (Evening Telegram, St. John's, 22 May 1976, 17).
⁸² Kevin Bice has since made three other visits to Newfoundland. Marion Bice never went to Newfoundland because she disliked flying.
⁸³ On 12 April 1959, acknowledging the gift of a copy of A Dog for Davie's Hill, Fred Emerson wrote to him as follows: “Your visit here was a great success & know you must feel that the results justified the trouble you took to get here. We hope you will visit us again in the not too distant future. We all enjoyed seeing you immensely” (CBF, Emerson to Bice, 12 April 1959, box 23, unit I, file 10). See also UWOA, CBF, Kevin Bice to Marion Bice, 30 July [no year given], series 1, 1/9.
⁸⁴ Peter Bell's review, cited above, mentioned three Newfoundland works: two paintings — one of Bauline, Conception Bay, and the other of Bareneed (near Port de Grave) — and a small sketch, "The Yellow Dory, Newfoundland." Of the Bauline painting, he wrote: "Fresh and colorful, Bauline, Newfoundland is a happy harmony of loose brushwork and clarity of observation. One of larger straight landscapes, it is an effective and appealing work." "Bareneed, Newfoundland" was "[o]ne of the most attention-grabbing paintings" in the exhibition: "In this bird's eye view, the landscape plunges downward over the arm, flattens out in the sun-bathed area of houses, church and fields, then spreads out into the dark threatening landscape of the middle distance. A sugar-loaf hill rises menacingly to meet the banks of storm cloud above it. With its bright, luminous color it comes across strongly." Bell described "The Yellow Dory, Newfoundland" as "one of the most charming works in the show": This sketch, he wrote, "depicts a dory lying askew on a shore opposite an undulating rock-face. The latter is closely portrayed with its vertical strata appearing in loops as the weathered arms of rock fall into the water. The light on the shore contrasts with the mass of rock beyond."
⁸⁵ 21 May 1976, 6.