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The Homecoming Party

Metcalfe, Eric

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Artwork Detail - V6

Metcalfe, Eric
Watercolour Painting
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
March 1968
watercolour on paper
overall: 32 cm x 36 cm
Homecoming depicts a Vietnam War veteran who lost a leg in combat. The veteran is surrounded by people in what looks like a party setting. The piece is more political than what Metcalfe was creating at the time, which was generally "pop anthropology" portraiture of upper-class people in group settings. This piece shows the influence of Eric's mentor and renowned modernist artist Maxwell Bates, known for his expressionist style portraiture. Eric's work duing this period often drew upon Bate's work and Eric's love of comic book-style 2D drawings.
The donor John Simpson and Eric Metcalfe attended UVic in the 1960s and were classmates and friends. This is an unusual piece for Metcalfe. Homecoming depicts a Vietnam War veteran who lost a leg in combat. The veteran is surrounded by people in what looks like a party setting. The piece is more political than what Metcalfe was creating at the time, which was generally"pop anthropology" portraiture of upper-class people in group settings. This piece shows the influence of Eric's mentor and renowned modernist artist Maxwell Bates, known for his Expressionist style portraiture. Eric's work duing this period often drew upon Bate's work and Eric's love of comic book-style 2D drawings.
Seven figures are seated around table where a war veteran/amputee sits in the middle. The veteran has a relaxed expression on their face. They wear a white collared shirt, black tie and purple jacket with metals fixed on the front. They have pants with yellow and purple vertical stripes and the veteran is positioned so that the viewer can see where their legs were amputated. The veteran wrests their left hand on their thigh in a position that shows off their wedding band. The veteran sits on a chair with short legs that has been set in the middle of a green table. A figure wearing a purple dress drapes their left arm over the veteran. With their right hand they hold the veteran's hand. The rest of the figures stand or sit around the table. 5 of these figures have short hair and wear suits with bowties. A couple of these figures also have coats draped over their suits. The 6thfigure wears an orange a purple striped dress and has long hair. The figure closest to the viewer is holding a slip of paper that reads "I-A" or maybe "1-A". The ground is painted brown and the background is medium blue.
Vietnam War, human figures, parties, veterans, wars
Works on Paper
Contemporary Art
Gift of John Simpson
U020.2.1

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