The deGarthe Gallery in Peggy’s Cove displays 65 paintings and sculptures by Finnish-Canadian artist, William E. deGarthe, all of which were donated by his wife, P. Agnes deGarthe in 1993. The pieces follow deGarthe’s progression as a marine artist and sculptor.
Included in the gallery’s displays are deGarthe’s own depictions of Peggy, one of the possible namesakes for Peggy’s Cove, who, as the “keeper of the bounty” is always depicted carrying a basket containing fish. The gallery also includes information about deGarthe and his life as an artist and as a resident of Peggy’s Cove.
“Out of the Mist”, a painting of a schooner emerging from heavy fog, and one of deGarthe’s most famous pieces, is said by Biographer Douglas Pope to “owe its existence to two worlds, the seen and the unseen, the world of fact and the world of fancy”. deGarthe’s other pieces portray the vanishing way of life at sea that so many Nova Scotians once knew and lived. Schooners cutting through rough water, and fishing villages packed with fishing vessels, filled with life and activity.
Located outside of the gallery in deGarthe’s former backyard is the 30 meter (100ft) long “Fisherman’s Memorial Monument”, sculpted between 1977-1983 by deGarthe in a granite outcropping. He created the sculpture as a “lasting monument to the fishermen of Nova Scotia” and worked on it until his passing in 1983. In the gallery, you can learn about the tools which were used by deGarthe to cut through the harder-than-steel granite inside of the gallery.
