Object TypepaintingArtistGlyde, Henry GeorgeDate Madedate unknown
Item Details
Object TypepaintingArtistGlyde, Henry GeorgeDate Madedate unknown
Accession Number
1974.23.38
Title
Preparatory sketch for "When All the World was Burned"
Object Type
painting
Artist
Glyde, Henry George
View People Details »Date Made
date unknown
Culture/Nationality
Canadian
Materials
gouache on paper
Measurements
overall: 45.7 cm x 62.5 cm; image: 42.4 x 43.6 cm
Description
The mural, ‘When all the World Was Burned’, painted by H. G. Glyde, was commissioned by Mrs G Ross Gibson of Medicine Hat in 1952 for the new Wauneita Society Lounge in the Students’ Union Building in what is…
The mural, ‘When all the World Was Burned’, painted by H. G. Glyde, was commissioned by Mrs G Ross Gibson of Medicine Hat in 1952 for the new Wauneita Society Lounge in the Students’ Union Building in what is now the President’s office in University Hall. This gouache painting was made as a preparatory sketch for the mural which is part of the Students' Union collection.
The Wauneita Club was founded in 1909 as a social organization for all female students. It succeeded the club SIS (Seven Independent Spinsters) which consisted of the seven female students who attended the University in its first year of operation, 1908-1909. The Wauneita Club devised its traditions and rituals from the Cree culture ("Wauneita" means "kind- hearted"). In 1929 the Club became a Society and was incorporated into the Students’ Union. As women became more directly active in University affairs during the 1970s, interest in the Society declined and it ceased to be listed as an active organization in 1973.
The painting depicts a Cree legend similar to the story of Noah in the Christian Bible. The legend states that long ago the world was full of rich and prosperous, but wicked people. One young man told the people over and over that ’the Great Spirit is going to burn this world because of its wickedness’. Everyone ignored him, except his wife who advised ‘let us make a place that will be safe from the fire’. The young man went to the top of a bare hill where there were no trees to burn and shot arrows in all four directions to form a plot of land that would not burn. The young man continued to warn the people that the fire is coming and the only safe place was his plot of clear ground but they would not listen. At last the fire came and some people ran to a lake for safety but the water boiled. A few animals succeeded in finding the cleared plot of land. After the fire, the young man and his wife were the only people left in the world, so they became the masters of all other creatures.
Credit Line
Gift of the artist
Location
Print Study Centre
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Citation
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Page Citation for 1974.23.38 - Preparatory sketch for "When All the World was Burned"
Page Citation
"1974.23.38 - Preparatory sketch for "When All the World was Burned", University of Alberta Museums Art Collection." University of Alberta Museums Search Site, https://search.museums.ualberta.ca/11-2264. Accessed 03 Dec. 2024.