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The WestmountNEWSLETTEROFTHE WESTMOUNT HISTORICAL HistorianASSOCIATION continuedErnst fromNeumann page 1 ing $3.50 for a print, $5.50 framed. VOLUME 4 NUMBER 1 SEPTEMBER 2003 These rates applied to what were called his Bread and Butter prints, scenes of Montreal that included har- bour scenes, Bonsecours Market, the ERNST NEUMANN Old Courthouse, Dominion Square and its caleches, as well as the Neumann was born in Budapest, quaint, ram shackle wood structure of May 1907. His life in Montreal, where Milloy’s Bookstore on Ste. Catherine he arrived in 1912, was one of poverty Street. Neumann would sketch direct- and caring for his ill mother. Those ly onto copper plates, even while sit- two factors instilled in him both bit- ting in the snow on cold days. terness and a compassion that spoke His en plein air approach to image- through his prints. The last in a series making often garnered him an audi- of studios was on Greene Avenue near ence. He was especially exasperated Ste-Catherine Street, sharing the premises with friend and colleague, by the well meaning souls who ERNST NEUMANN WEST END GALLERY asked him, as he regarded his sub- Goodridge Roberts. Neumann sus- ject in a mirror to correctly render it tained himself financially with prints on a plate backwards (since it prints of Montreal and society portraits but the other way), “Wouldn’t it be easier THE RAVEN OF SAINT ANTHONY his preferred subjects were victims of to look directly at your subject?” the Depression, society’s outcasts and The Raven inside the small shield on the Westmount Coat of Arms Neumann’s last year saw him off to satires on the judicial system. commemorates the Legend of the Ravens who fed Saint Anthony by France on a fellowship. Only two of He attended the Ecole des Beaux- his paintings were purchased by dropping bread into his place of refuge when he chose to live a solitary Arts and was a member of the Art As - External Affairs in Ottawa. The lack of hermit’s life. From 1879 to 1894, for fifteen soc ia tion of Montreal. Edwin Holgate recognition he received throughout years, Westmount was called Côte Saint- was one his instructors, influencing his career disappointed Neumann, Antoine, a continuation of the early name for Neumann with his wood engravings. but on the downtrodden, he lavished the land. At first it was the Village of Côte Neumann often produced prints that tenderness. He never finished his fel- Saint-Antoine, then in 1890, it became the were not for commercial consumption lowship year, felled by a heart attack Town of Côte Saint-Antoine. and among these were multiple- in Vence, France in March, 1956 and The raven was chosen to represent West - image studies that repeated the same figure at different angles and poses on his Montreal artist-friends exhumed mount in the Mosaiculture Inter national, one page. For these studies, Neumann the body and brought it back to Mont - when Westmount and the other seven- 2003 uses his lithographic stone like a real where it rests under a stone that teen boroughs of the new City of Montreal says, “Ernst Neumann – artist pein- sketch pad. It is notable that he ap - were invited to participate in the “Concours tre... He created beauty all his years/ pren ticed in a lithography shop in the Inter-arrondissements de Mosaicultures” The 500 pound sculpure took Fondly remembered by his friends. early 1920s. His other printmaking Edited and printed with kind per- Howard Ransom, a welder with the city, three weeks to construct. Then media were chine collé, etching and mission from Pompei Dimembro and Mélanie Bànninger, both gardeners with the city, woodcut. The Montreal Print Col - Written by Heather inserted small plants into the metal structure in the traditional Topiary Neumann made and exhibited lec tors Society. prints into the early 1950s, parallel to Solomon-Bowden. The West End style. This is our first 3-dimensional crest. The City crest and the clock ERNST NEUMANN WEST END GALLERY Gallery on Greene Avenue carries the are long standing 2-dimensional crests. his career as a painter. At the time, work of Ernst Neumann. The City of Westmount was the first Canadian City to obtain a coat of there were only four art galleries in 1930 and 1935, was the plight of the University as artist-in-residence. Neu - Montreal and artists not producing unemployed. mann did most of the teaching while (Answers to quiz on page 8) arms from Lord Lyon King of Arms (Edinburg, Scotland) on May 12th, 1945. The City obtained a patent of registration for the coat of arms with academic work created their own In 1936, Goodridge Roberts and Roberts offered painting and drawing focus. Neumann illustrated for left- Neumann opened the Roberts-Neu - demonstrations. The school closed Photograph Dates: the Canadian Heraldic Authority on 15th of February, 2001. Photo no. 1 – 1890, wing publications like New Frontier. mann School of Art following just three years later. The lady’s hairstyle; DOREEN LINDSAY JULY, 2003 Neumann’s main subject, between Roberts‚ three-year stint at Queens In the 1940s, Neumann was charg- Photo no. 2 – 1913, Men’s neckwear. continued on page 8 THE WESTMOUNT HISTORIAN PAGE 8 WHOSE STYLE IS IT ANYWAY? The Westmount PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Historian Westmount has been home to me for forty years. When I first moved NEWSLETTER OF THE WESTMOUNT here, it seemed very far from the centre of Montreal. It must have felt the A friend, recently re turned Italian artist from Prato, near HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION same to the first inhabitants, 300 years ago, who came up the slopes of the from Europe, was lamenting the Flor ence. mountain to settle and farm here. They travelled north-west, away from lack here of buildings of artistic Of special interest is the apse the over-crowded original settlement of Ville Marie, looking for fresh air and historical interest. with its al fresco paintings. This September 2003 and better farm land. It is true we do not have very technique of applying paint Volume 4 • Number 1 Over the years, Westmount has slowly seeped into my awareness. First ancient buildings and the build- directly on fresh plaster was as a parent, then as exhibition coordinator with Arts Westmount. It was ing styles we see around us well known in the Ren aissance during the panel discussion that I organized on Westmount’s Heritage as have their roots, for the most and learned by Nincheri in his EDITOR: part of the 1994 exhibition that the Westmount part, in other countries and home town. My particular Flora-Lee Wagner Westmount Photographs Historical Association sprang to life again after a few years of hibernation. other cultures, but it can be fas- delight are the wood carvings, Aline Gubbay held the chair as President while she was writing A View of cinating to identify the similari- dispersed throughout the build- . After her term ended, Flora-Lee Wagner energetically took over Their Own ties and highlight the differ- ing, but there is so much to CONTRIBUTORS: the chair for three years until 2003. Now, I have been asked to guide the Caroline Breslaw, ences so that we may arrive at a study and admire. Aline Gubbay, Doreen Lindsay, Westmount Historical Association for the next two years. picture of what makes them On the same block of land as Heather Solomon-Bowden – M.P.C.S. Westmount has a special and unique identity. Although it is changing particularly ours. St. Leo’s, stands the Church of along with other urban areas, I do not want it to lose its quiet charm and I asked my friend to come for the Ascen sion. We jump several grace. Only 10 years after the WHA was originally formed in 1944, then a walk, as I live within a block centuries to arrive at the 14th WESTMOUNT HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Vice-President, Alice Whitehall, saved our oldest extant farmhouse from of two Catholic churches, each a century inspiration for this fine BOARD OF DIRECTORS demolition. We are again presented with the problem of how to integrate fine example of two strikingly example of Gothic revival archi- this same 1739 Hurtubise fieldstone house into our lifestyle. Doreen Lindsay, President different architectural styles. St. tecture. Flora-Lee Wagner, Past President We have inherited many significant buildings. Two thirds of our Leo’s was founded early in the Built in the 1930s during the Caroline Breslaw, Vice-President Westmount buildings are considered to be of exceptional heritage quality. 20th century but radically Depression, the congregation Barbara Covington, Archivist The Victorian, Edwardian and often eclectic architecture of the large David Freeman, Treasurer altered in the 1920s in a robust had financial problems from the Andy Dodge, Secretary homes, the rhythmic repetition of row housing, all these continue to please Romanesque style. This 11th onset yet managed to produce a Elizabeth Henrik, Membership the eye and delight the owners. Collecting and preserving the early century style was itself, as its strikingly beau ti ful building. Its Anne Barkman experiences of the people who lived here before us enables us to under- name suggests, a revival of PHOTO ALINE GUBBAY tower is modelled on two Joan Clark stand the value of existing buildings, so that we may imaginatively main- Philip Dombowsky Roman forms focused around famous prototypes, among oth- Peter Lanken tain our heritage. DOREEN LINDSAY the Roman arch. It was revived ers, Magdalen College, Oxford Richard Lord in various forms over the years and and Worcester Cath edral, but it is here John Sancton owes its vigorous 19th century revival the product of a 20th century Gothic FALL LECTURE SERIES, 2003 to an American architect, Henry revival, led by several Amer ican Hobson Richardson.

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