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WORLD WAR II AND CANADIAN LANDSCAPES ——o— Don SPARLING Abstract The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa houses one of the world’s largest collections of war art. The largest part of this was created in the course of four official programmes, beginning in World War I and continuing down to the present, whose aim has been to commission works recording the contribution of Canada to the various conflicts in which its armed forces have been involved over the years. This article gives an overview of the programmes and then focuses on the work created during World War IL, and specifically on landscapes in the broadest sense of the term as the genre that is often regarded as central to the Canadian artistic heritage. Keywords: war art, armed forces, World War II, Canadian War Museum Résumé Le Musée canadien de la guerre à Ottawa abrite l’une des plus importantes collections d’art militaire au monde. La plus grande partie de cette collection a été créée au cours de quatre programmes officiels, depuis la Première Guerre mondiale jusqu’à aujourd’hui, dont l'objectif était de rassembler des œuvres témoignant de la contribution du Canada aux différents conflits dans lesquels ses forces armées ont été impliquées au fil des ans. Cet article donne un aperçu des programmes et se concentre ensuite sur les œuvres créées pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, et plus particulièrement sur les paysages au sens le plus large du terme, genre souvent considéré comme central dans le patrimoine artistique canadien. Mots-clés: art de guerre, forces armées, Seconde Guerre mondiale, Musée canadien de la guerre One of Canada’s great cultural treasurers is the massive collection of works of art recording the country’s military engagements over the past century, which is now housed at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. This has taken shape over time through four distinct initiatives. The first was the brainchild of Max Aitken, later Lord Beaverbrook, a hugely wealthy Canadian newspaper owner +175 +
