Exhibition Theme - Service

Early morning PT

Based on sketches completed in Petawawa, Ontario, in 1940, the painting was preceded by an approximately half-size, highly-worked pencil cartoon (Art Gallery of Vancouver). In a 1979 interview, Hughes recalled his war service as an official artist: "I was working day and night. In fact sometimes I was working so hard I was wishing that I was a combat soldier . they at least had a lot of time off to rest . I had no time to rest. As soon as I woke up in the morning, I had to be looking for subject matter continuously . until dark."

Oil on canvas 76 x 101.5 cm
Painted in 1945
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
Canadian War Museum 19710261-3174

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