Carle Hessay 1974 VE Day

Carle Hessay: VE Day

This wildly exuberant semi-abstract of people dancing, shouting, and leaping about in the streets might have been based on the TV images of people celebrating the outcome of the American election in 2020. Actually, the swirling rhythms of this painting perfectly capture the joyous celebration of the end of World War II in Europe on May 8, 1945.

"In Canada, people filled city streets and town squares. From Sydney, Nova Scotia to Surrey, BC, offices and schools emptied, and some factories shut down for the day, as Canadians gathered in vast crowds to laugh, dance, attend outdoor band concerts, cheer the men and women in uniform, and watch tickertape fall from the sky." (Canadian Encyclopedia; https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/exhibit/ve-day-in-canada/)

Carle Hessay fought for the Canadian Armed Forces in Europe, where he advanced to the rank of corporal and was the recipient of the Defence Medal, the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (CVSM), and the War Medal.

Fast forward: this wildly exuberant semi-abstract of people dancing, shouting, and leaping about in the streets might have been based on the TV images of people celebrating the outcome of the American election in 2020-2021. In his time, Carle Hessay fought against the forces of fascism not only in the Second World War but as early as the Spanish Civil War. He would have been ecstatic to see authoritarianism held at bay once again, however precariously.

(Dimensions: 36.6 x 28.5 inches; 93 x 72.4 cm.; oil on burlap (?) stretched on board, 1974)