Name/Title
"The Dutch Latch", MalahatEntry/Object ID
2026.10.01Description
In process
Drawing
This image depicts the "The Dutch Latch" restaurant that was owned and operated by Rudolph and Gerdina (Didi) Van den Brink, 1958-1978. This restaurant was a popular tourist destination with excellent food and gorgeous views from atop the Malahat. They also had a gift shop and sold imported Dutch foods, such as Gouda cheese.
The drawing shows the exterior of the restaurant, a low chalet-style building, high up over the Saanich Inlet with a small windmill to the left, a number of picnic tables and several gas pumps with a tall "Dutch Latch" sign to the right and space for parking. The image has a realistic illustration quality with a careful design and softly-created detail.Artwork Details
Medium
Graphite on paperSubject Place
Region
Pacific NorthwestContinent
North AmericaContext
The owners/operators of "The Dutch Latch" restaurant, Rudolph and Gerdina Van den Brink, 1958-1978, were the parents of Grace Van den Brink (1956-2026), the 72nd and first woman president of the Union Club (2019 to 2021). Van den Brink reportedly helped in her parent's restaurant.
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The Malahat is a rugged unincorporated area and mountain pass on Vancouver Island, B.C., some 35 minutes north of downtown Victoria along the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1). The Malahat ridge runs along the western shore of the Saanich Inlet and is part of the traditional territory of the Coast Salish Malahat First Nation (MÁLEXEȽ), one of the five W̱SÁNEĆ Nations. The Nation, south of Mill Bay, is named as one of the most sacred sites on southern Vancouver Island.
Altogether, the name Malahat includes the First Nations community, the mountain range, and the scenic Malahat Highway on Vancouver Island. The name comes from the SENĆOŦEN word “MÁLEXEȽ” and the Hul’q’umi’num’ word “Ma’le-‘h’xe’l’,” both derived from the word for “caterpillars,” recalling a historic infestation in the area.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Edward Goodall (1909-1982)Role
ArtistDate made
n.d.Time Period
20th CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born in Somerset, England, Edward Goodall was a Canadian artist known for his meticulous drawings, and later his paintings of Vancouver Island, B.C. and beyond. With a natural talent, he came from a family of successful artists (great grandfather, grandfather and more), and he studied art in Wales under the guidance of art master Marcus Holmes (1875-1951) of the Herkomer school. He then traveled, working on a tea plantation in India, later on to China and Japan, and then to Canada earning money for his trips by selling his drawings. He worked at many jobs, cutting ice blocks in Alberta, working on a cattle drive and in Victoria selling stocks and bonds. When World War II broke out, Goodall enlisted with the Royal Canadian Engineers. His art career really started after his discharge from the army, and his purchase of a house in Oak Bay, Victoria with a home studio.
In 1942 he applied for the copyright to “Goodall’s Pencil Postcard Series” and began drawing scenes of Vancouver Island creating more than 500 scenes for postcards. Through the 1950s he drew a series of west coast scenes for a British Columbia calendar, turning to painting later that decade. Other commercial commissions followed, including the Powell River pulp mill, Canadian Pacific Railway ships, the Kitimat smelter, a series on education facilities in Canada, and scenes for British Columbia’s 1958 centennial celebrations. As a member of the Alpine Club of Canada he climbed many mountains and turned his watercolours and sketches into calendars. By the 1960s he started to paint large watercolours on commission, and by the 1970s he was well known. He painted people’s homes, did personal Christmas cards for the Premier, Lieutenant-Governor, and others and also selling his photographs. Goodall rarely exhibited in galleries due to the nature of his production work, but in the early 1980s he had a solo gallery show in Victoria, selling out in an hour. Goodall was a member of the Island Arts and Crafts Society and later the Victoria Sketch Club.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
Title, SignatureLocation
Title lower left: "The Dutch Latch"
Signed lower right: Edward GoodallAcquisition
Acquisition Method
GiftDate
Oct 2026Notes
Grace Van den Brink (1956-2026) was the 72nd and first woman president of the Union Club (2019 to 2021).Copyright
Notes
Images are provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from the copyright holder. It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to determine the copyright holder and to obtain permission(s) as needed.
