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Item Name: Drawing
Title: Study for Canadians on the Rhine #7 (soldier sitting on rock)
Maker: Inglis Sheldon-Williams
Year: 1919
Country: Canadian
Materials: pencil and watercolour on paper
Measurements: overall: 31.5 cm x 23.9 cm
ID Number: PC83.1.65
Legal Status: PERMANENT COLLECTION


Extended Label Info: Inglis Sheldon-Williams served as an artist for Canada in the First World War, in the war artist program. This series of drawings were sketched on-site in Germany as preparation for the painting entitled, “Canadians Arriving on the Rhine” which documents Canadian soldiers of the 1st Division arriving at the end of the First World War to establish a defensive position on the banks of the Rhine River, a few miles above Bonn, Germany. The finished painting depicts part of the low mountain range on the east bank called "The Seven Hills," which is dominated by the Drachenfels ("Dragon Crag"). At the time, although the high command worried about the possibility of attack from German forces, this proved to be a peaceful moment. As such, the Canadian soldiers can be seen sitting and smoking while they wait for lunch. Sheldon Williams used his sketches and notes from his diary to create the final painting in his studio later in 1918, finishing just after the war, in 1919. The finished work is held in the collection of the Canadian War Museum and was originally hung in the Senate Chamber on Parliament Hill. (Henry) Inglis (Jodrell) Sheldon-Williams (1879-1940) was born in Hampshire, England. The son of a landscape painter, Sheldon-Williams immigrated to Canada in 1887 with his mother and sister, settling in Cannington Manor, Saskatchewan. He returned to England to study at the Slade School of Art, after which he traveled extensively in South Africa, India and Europe, producing drawings and watercolor illustrations that were published in London periodicals. In 1899, he joined the British army and served in South Africa, producing drawings and illustrations of scenes from the war. In 1913, Sheldon-Williams returned to Saskatchewan to settle in Regina where he met Norman MacKenzie, a prominent lawyer and art collector who became a strong supporter and patron. In 1916 Sheldon-Williams helped establish the Art Department at Regina College, and then left Saskatchewan to serve overseas as an official Canadian war artist in World War 1. After the war, Williams resettled in Europe.