Born in Finland, William deGarthe, a painter and sculptor, immigrated to Canada in 1926, spending many summers at Peggy’s Cove. In 1955 he moved to Peggy's Cove and over two decades later, in 1977, at the age of 70 began the creation of this monument.
A bronze plaque nearby reads as follows:
FISHERMAN'S MONUMENT
BY WILLIAM E. DEGARTHE, ARTIST AND SCULPTOR
THIS WORK OF ART IS A LASTING MEMORIAL TO THE GALLANT MEN OF
PEGGY'S COVE, NOVA SCOTIA WHO HARVEST OUR OCEANS. THE MONUMENT
DEPICTS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: FISHERMAN'S FAMILY; PEGGY OF THE COVE;
FISHERMEN AT WORK.
THIS MONUMENT WAS DONATED TO THE PROVINCE OF NOVA SCOTIA BY
MRS. R. AGNES DEGARTHE IN 1984 IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WISHES OF
HER LATE HUSBAND, WILLIAM E. DEGARTHE.
Further away, still in front of the monument is a larger historical marker which provides more detail on the sculpture. Text from it is reproduced below.
A MONUMENTAL WORK OF ART
What would you do with a 30-metre (0.0I-mile) outcrop of granite in your backyard? Artist William deGarthe decided to carve a work of art from the granite you see here.
In 1977, at the age of 70, deGarthe picked up his chisels and power tools and set out to, as he put it, 'release the figures sleeping in the rock for over 10 million years.' The figures he carved formed a monument to the hard-working fishermen of his adopted home - Peggy's Cove.
This labour of love proved to be a challenge because granite, being as hard as ordinary steel, is not an easy rock to work with. After all, even glaciers one kilometre (0.62 miles) thick could not reduce the granite bedrock of Peggy's Cove to sand. But after years of study and preparation, and some basic sketches, deGarthe began the project in September 1977. The first figure he carved was a fisherman braving a harsh North Atlantic wind. Over the next six years, he would carve 30 figures in this granite outcrop, helped by Rene Barrette and for two years (1981-1983) by resident Donald Crooks. People from the community also provided deGarthe with inspiration for many of the figures you see here, and all were carved from memory.
deGarthe grouped the figures into three distinct sections - Work, Bounty and Grace. Work, the section on your right, shows local fishermen hard at work hauling nets, pulling a dory and using other tools of the trade to catch fish. The middle section, Bounty, celebrates the riches of the sea - the fish so essential to the survival of this community. The highlight here is the young woman carrying the basket. It's the famous 'Peggy,' who some say inspired the name of this cove, just as her legend often inspired deGarthe. The section on the far left, Grace, features a guardian angel watching over a fisherman and his family.
Sadly, deGarthe passed away in 1983 before he could complete this monument.
What he left behind is a work of art that is as much a tribute to his considerable talent as it is to the community and people he dearly loved.