Molly Lamb Bobak

1920-2014

Painter, watercolourist and printmaker, Molly Lamb Bobak was born 25 February 1922 at Lulu Island, BC. She was educated at the Vancouver School of Art (1938 – 1941) and in 1942 joined the Canadian Women's Army Corp. In 1945 she was appointed a war artist, becoming the only woman to hold the post. It was here that she met her husband, Bruno Bobak, also a Canadian war artist.  In 1960 she moved to Fredericton, NB with her husband and held a teaching post at the University of New Brunswick. Bobak wrote Wild Flowers of Canada: Impressions of a Field Artist in 1978. She received honorary degrees from UNB (1983), Mount Allison University (1984) and Saint Thomas University (1994) and was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. In 1996 she received the Order of Canada and in 2002, the Order of New Brunswick. Bobak died on 2 March 2014 in Fredericton.

 

 

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Fredericton

Archival Material

• H. Mortimer-Lamb and Molly Lamb Bobak fonds
  ⌄
  Location

  University of New Brunswick Archives & Special Collections

  Website/Catalogue Record

  View Archival Record

  Retrieval Number

  UA RG 200

  Date Range of Material

  1913-1936, 1945-1969

  Extent

  4 cm textual records
  1 photograph ; sepia tone ; 20 x 25 cm

  Scope and Content Note

  This fonds contains correspondence from A.Y. Jackson (1882 - 1974) to H. Mortimer Lamb and his daughter Molly Lamb Bobak regarding the Canadian art scene. Topics covered include Jackson's exhibitions, sketching trips, his involvement in the Royal Canadian Academy of Art and his health problems. There is also a letter from Jackson's niece, Naomi Jackson Groves, to Bruno Bobak regarding the purchase of one of his paintings and a letter from Groves to Molly Bobak regarding the health of Alex Jackson. The fonds also includes one photograph, "A Canadian Soldier" taken by H. Mortimer-Lamb" which was exhibited at the London Salon of Photography in 1939.

• Molly Lamb Bobak and Bruno Bobak fonds
  ⌄
  Location

  Library and Archives Canada

  Website/Catalogue Record

  View Archival Record

  Retrieval Number

  R5336-0-6-E, MG30-D378

  Date Range of Material

  1930-2000

  Extent

  2.3 m of textual records.
  211 photographs : b&w and col.
  169 drawings : pen and ink, pencil, and felt pen, charcoal, watercolour.
  149 prints : woodcut, serigraph, and wood engraving.
  19 watercolours : pen and ink.
  147 p. of graphic material : folios.

  Scope and Content Note

  Fonds consists of personal records of Molly Lamb Bobak and Bruno Bobak. The textual records have been arranged in the following series: personal material and memorabilia; personal material and memorabilia, additional material; painting records; business correspondence; business correspondence - additional material; galleries; exhibitions; exhibitions, additional material; clippings; printed material; personal correspondence, individual and general files; family correspondence; family correspondence, additional material; diaries.Fonds consists of photographs: individual portraits of Bruno Bobak and Molly Lamb Bobak; Portraits of the Bobaks with friends Joe Plaskett and Phyllis Webb; photographs of works of art by Bruno and Molly Bobak; informal portraits of Bruno Bobak, Joe Plaskett and Lloyd Johnston; photographic Christmas cards by Donald Buchanan; portrait of pianist and composer Arthur Benjamin; portrait of composer and educator Jean Coulthard. Fonds consists of art material: drawings and watercolours by Bruno Bobak, Campbell Tinning and Will Ogilvie documenting activities of the Canadian Armed Forces overseas during the Second World War; drawings by Molly Bobak entitled the Old Testament; illustrations for Sasha Bobak's diary; prints of original and reproduction cards received by Molly Bobak by various artists; cards created by Bruno and Molly Bobak; wood engraving by Bruno Bobak; posters relating to Bruno Bobak's artistic career; folios of an illustrated war diary kept by Molly Bobak which document her experiences as an official Canadian war artist from November 1942 to September 1945.

• Harold Mortimer Lamb, Vera Weatherbie, and Molly
  ⌄
  Location

  Vancouver Art Gallery Association

  Website/Catalogue Record

  View Archival Record

  Date Range of Material

  1909-1978

  Extent

  17 photographs and other material

  Scope and Content Note

  The fonds provides a snapshot of the lives of Harold Mortimer Lamb and his wife, the artist Vera Weatherbie as well as Mortimer Lamb's daughter, Molly Lamb Bobak. The records contained within consist of personal correspondence, photographs, an unpublished manuscript, art works, diploma, medals, publications and magnetic tapes.