PORTRAITS IN TIME — ’S CITIES THROUGH THE EYES OF ARTISTIC BEHOLDERS

Ihor Holubizky

Fifty years ago, the Cities of Canada exhibition commissioned by Seagram visited 23 cities after touring internationally to impressive crowds across Europe. The Canadian artists were commissioned by whisky baron Sam Bronfman, who believed in larger “horizons of industry,” and were selected by the eminent Canadian painters Robert Pilot and A.Y. Jackson. The resulting canvases of 22 Canadian cities constitute a unique Canadian collection, which has now been donated by Charles Bronfman to the McCord Museum of History at McGill University, where its mid- February opening coincides with the Bonfman-endowed McGill Institute for the Study of Canada’s conference on cities. Ihor Holubizky, who has curated the exhibition, looks back half a century to its corporate origins and the artists’ visions of Canada’s cities, which remain “relevant to the appreciation and understanding of Canadian art and history.” The paintings, he adds, “also underscore the complex issues of cities and urban life, then and today.”

En 1954, l’exposition Villes du Canada commanditée par Seagram faisait la tournée de 23 villes du pays, un an après avoir attiré dans toute l’Europe des foules impressionnantes. Samuel Bronfman, magnat du whisky désireux d’« élargir les horizons » de son empire, avait confié aux célèbres peintres Robert Pilot et A.Y. Jackson la sélection de 22 artistes canadiens qui peindraient chacun un tableau représentant une ville différente. Charles Bronfman ayant fait don de cette collection exceptionnelle au Musée McCord d’histoire canadienne de l’Université McGill, elle y sera exposée dès la mi-février en marge d’une conférence sur le thème de la ville organisée par l’Institut d’études canadiennes de McGill, et également parrainé par le donateur. Ihor Holubizky, conservateur de l’exposition, évoque les origines de ce mécénat d’entreprise et la vision offerte par ce groupe d’artistes, restée tout aussi utile à « l’appréciation comme à la compréhension de l’histoire et de l’art canadiens ». Les tableaux, ajoute-t-il, « mettent aussi en évidence la complexité des villes et de la vie urbaine, d’hier à aujourd’hui ».

n 1951, Samuel Bronfman, president of the House of St. John’s was his first time in Newfoundland, though we Seagram, commissioned 22 artists to paint the cities of might imagine that by that time he had, indeed, painted I Canada. To select the participants he relied upon the “all” of Canada. Artists were paid an average of $1,000 each expertise of artists Robert Pilot, then president of the Royal for their completed work, a significant amount of money in Canadian Academy, and A.Y. Jackson. Both had played the early 1950s. important roles in the formation of a modern vocabulary Bronfman stated on many occasions his belief that the for Canadian art in the first half of the 20th century, and “horizons of industry should not terminate at the bound- while their selection was drawn from members of the RCA, ary-lines of its plants.” This was hardly a typical view, and it also included younger artists — five of the 22 were under coming from a “captain of industry” might even be seen as the age of 40. Not all the artists painted their hometown; a self-serving platitude. Bronfman also felt that private rather, many were sent out across Canada to observe and enterprise had a responsibility to take an active part in pro- sketch firsthand. For A.Y. Jackson, the occasion of painting moting culture. An exhibition of the commissioned

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paintings was organized to tour the standing of Canadian art and history. earlier. There had been a dramatic Americas and Europe in 1953-54, and, The paintings also underscore the increase in population over the 50 years in its patron’s words, brought “to the complex issues of cities and urban life, since the 1900 census, almost tripling peoples of the world...views of then and today, and should be read as to 14 million (whereas the population Canada’s cities...rising from its sea- visual-social documents. merely doubled from 1950 to 2000). coasts, in the midst of its plains, at the Sixty percent of lived in foot of its mountains.” This was fol- lthough industrial images rural areas in 1900, but by 1951 the lowed by a cross-Canada tour in 1954- A appeared in Canadian art prior to urban population was in the majority, 55. Bronfman’s vision of a new urban the First World War, the prevalent sub- almost 57 percent. This trend contin- Canada was of the land, the people, ject matter for the first half of the 20th ues, and today almost 80 percent of cities, and the will to prosper, which century remained the genres of land- Canadians live in urban areas. At the he described in a 1954 radio interview scape, portrait and still life, with beginning of the 1950s, after 20 contin- as “the sum of the nation.” abstraction just on the horizon (clear- uous years of hardship with the Great The Cities of Canada works toured ly, a different horizon than the one Depression and the global conflict of again in 1964 and made their final Samuel Bronfman saw). Cities of the Second World War, there was a major public appearance during Canada marks a shift in the depiction sense of a new social purpose, well- Centennial Year in 1967. Although an of Canada, now an emerging urban being and optimism; this despite new global tensions arising from Cities of Canada marks a shift in the depiction of Canada, now the Cold War and the war in an emerging urban nation. Industry was very much a part of Korea. Many of the artists included in Cities of Canada the Canadian landscape after the Second World War, with the had served in the military, growth of cities and suburbs, new prosperity and a general and, to state the obvious, sense of optimism. Yet the Canadian wilderness was still being had also been affected by heavily promoted as the new growth industry. That wild, the Depression. In the immediate after- rugged image endures, even though the majority of math of the war in 1946, Canadians live in cities today. the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation held a immensely popular exhibition, it had nation. Industry was very much a part competition for the design of a small its critics. Some felt the corporate asso- of the Canadian landscape after the house that could be built for $6,000. ciation compromised the integrity of Second World War, with the growth of The three regional winning designs the work, and art historian Rosemary cities and suburbs, new prosperity and illustrated how the new post-war fam- Donegan suggested that Seagram had a general sense of optimism. Yet the ily would live and how its needs would undertaken the project as part of a pro- Canadian wilderness was still being be met with open concept living/din- motional program designed to circum- heavily promoted as the new growth ing areas, floor to ceiling windows, vent legal and moral restrictions on the industry, a destination for tourists basements with a recreation room, and advertising of liquor. She singled out from abroad but also for the modern even a fanciful helicopter landing pad one work as a “rather saccharine, Canadian family in search of leisure incorporated into the design by John abstract treatment...symbolizing the and recreation. That wild, rugged C. Parkin. A reviewing journalist wrote power and beauty of modern industry.” image endures, even though the that the post-war Canadian family was The studied disregard for these majority of Canadians live in cities different “from every other kind of paintings, which assumes they are today. A 2003 poll by the Centre for family that has ever existed,” and that tainted by a corporate vision, is a dou- Research and Information on Canada the housing designs offered “the future ble-edged problem. The art world indicated that “the vastness and beau- opportunity for the development of a often assigns merit by a formalist crite- ty of the land” is what most citizens lively Canadian vernacular art.” rion that looks beyond content, or think of as the essence of the country. In 1953, the first Canadian urban- privileges content-driven art that The 1951 census is pivotal to social engineering experiment was forms (some say, must form) a social understanding the dynamics that were launched, the suburb of Don Mills, critique. The middle ground is often changing, and continue to change, . There was no turning back. regarded as anecdotal or irrelevant pic- Canadian life and society. It was a por- In addition to the boom in resource ture-making. The Cities of Canada trait of the modern nation, the first industries and manufacturing, there was paintings have fallen into the latter conducted with 10 provinces and two unprecedented research undertaken in category. Nevertheless they remain rel- territories, as Newfoundland had the sciences and engineering — aero- evant to the appreciation and under- entered Confederation just two years nautics, for example. Consumer

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The Seagram Collection, McCord Museum , looking north on McGill College to the Roddick Gates and the Arts building of McGill University. Albert Cloutier’s oil painting includes the train tunnel’s south portal, later covered up by the Montreal building boom. Many paintings in the Seagram Collection, writes Ihor Holubizky, “now serve as important historical documents of urban development, as some prominent landmarks no longer exist.” products began to re-enter the market- Victoria, BC, a distance of 7,314 km. Accordingly, each artist took on the role place after wartime manufacturing Windsor was the southernmost city at of social geographer in selecting their restrictions, as well as new products, 42° latitude, the same as the top of view and interpretation of the city, its past such as Canadian-designed modernist Northern California. Edmonton was the and present, with a glance toward the furniture. Television provided a window most northern city at 53° latitude. future. Artist Charles Comfort noted in on the world and would have as pro- Equally challenging was the relative size his approach to painting Edmonton: “In found an effect on the sense of Canadian of the 28 cities depicted — Montreal had the mid-summer of 1952, [it] was like a nationhood as the transcontinental rail- the largest population at 1.4 million, and great booming vortex of industrial enter- way did in the 1890s. The cultural sector Charlottetown was the smallest at prises. I chose to paint a portrait of saw significant developments in the 16,000. There were also significant dif- Edmonton and not a created myth of my 1950s. There were individual initiatives, ferences in historical development, and own about the city; no artificial symbol- such as the publication of Marshall hence the urban fabric — City ism could communicate...the vigor and McLuhan’s The Mechanical Bride: Folklore was established in 1608, and Montreal in promise contained in that location.” of Industrial Man (1951), but public gal- 1642, while many of the Western Comfort’s thoughts were repeated leries were also established and new Canadian cities did not appear until the by many of the artists, and in turn, the- buildings constructed, the Canada end of the 19th century. matic threads can be seen. City skylines Council was formed (1957), and recur- Each city posed a challenge for the are the most obvious indication of ring events such as the Stratford individual artists. What to depict relative urban growth, but tall modern build- Shakespearean Festival appeared (1953). to old and new landmarks, how to reflect ings were rare in Canada in 1951, even the geographic terrain, and how to cap- though the tallest building in the he logistics of the Cities of Canada ture the essence of a city in a single, suc- British Empire always had pride of T project appears daunting even 50 cinct work? The works had to be dynamic place. Structures in Montreal and years later. The city locations stretched portraits as well as visual documents, took the premiere position in from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to which precluded the use of abstraction. quick succession until the construction

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of the 34-storey Canadian Imperial ing of Calgary, a view of downtown and The contrast in architectural styles Bank of Commerce, designed by archi- the Centre Street Bridge over the Bow caused Edmontonians to refer to the tects Darling and Pearson and complet- River, the tallest building was the CPR addition as “the Mac [as the original ed in 1931. As a consequence, CPR Pallister Hotel. It was designed by archi- MacDonald Hotel was called by locals] hotels built in the late 19th and early tects E. and W.S. Maxwell of Montreal, and the box it came in.” 20th century often dominated. They and opened in 1914. The 1929 hotel figure prominently in the paintings of addition was done by architect Lawrence o Edmontonians I contacted could Victoria, Quebec City, Toronto, and Gotch in the so-called Chicago Look, N identify the building in the paint- , and served as actual vantage with very pronounced geometric lines ing because it was demolished in 1986. This is yet another condition At the beginning of the 1950s, after 20 continuous years of of the new urban environ- hardship with the Great Depression and the global conflict of ment: short-term memory, or out-of-sight, out-of-mind. A the Second World War, there was a sense of a new social similar situation arose while purpose, well-being and optimism; this despite new global identifying two tall buildings tensions arising from the Cold War and the war in Korea. in a sketch of Toronto’s down- Many of the artists included in Cities of Canada had served in town by Joseph Hallam. One was the Bank of Nova Scotia, the military, and, to state the obvious, had also been affected completed in 1951, a site now by the Depression. occupied by the 68-storey Scotia Plaza Complex. My points for some artists. Churches were and an E-shaped design that gave it the search for the identity of the other build- also prominent landmarks, as were appearance of being three adjacent tow- ing had an amusing conclusion. A friend provincial legislative buildings, often ers. Charles Comfort’s painting of and colleague, who also happened to be the first major public building projects. Edmonton, likewise, is a view of the city the art and architecture critic for the Bridges, built before skyscrapers and centre from across the North Toronto Star, could not identify it. It another sign of the modern age, can be Saskatchewan River, and included the turned out to be the 22-storey Toronto seen in the paintings of Calgary, High Level Bridge, completed in 1913. It Star Building, which opened in 1929 and Edmonton, Halifax, Hamilton, Hull, was the first bridge in Canada to carry was demolished in 1971. Sarnia and Windsor. They were essen- four modes of transportation: rail, street- A preliminary sketch by Albert tial for the development of transport car, automobile and pedestrian. There is Cloutier shows another long-gone and industry, and a connection to trade an “anomalous” white box building in Canadian urban landmark, the entrance with the United States. Prominent fac- Comfort’s painting, and the only such to the five km long tory and industrial sites were depicted “international style” skyscraper in any of Tunnel. The Canadian Northern in Hamilton, Hull, Fort William/Port Arthur, Each city posed a challenge for the individual artists. What to Sarnia, Sudbury, and depict relative to old and new landmarks, how to reflect the Windsor, as well as the ocean ports of Halifax, St. geographic terrain, and how to capture the essence of a city in John’s, Vancouver, and a single, succinct work? The works had to be dynamic portraits Victoria. as well as visual documents, which precluded the use of abstraction. Accordingly, each artist took on the role of social ith few exceptions, W the artists strove geographer in selecting their view and interpretation of the for accuracy. For this rea- city, its past and present, with a glance toward the future. son the paintings now serve as important historical documents the Cities of Canada paintings. Only after Railway built it to provide access to lines of urban development, as some promi- much searching was I able to verify the north of Montreal without having to go nent landmarks no longer exist and identity of this building as the 16-storey around the city. The tunnel opened for urban expansion and suburban develop- extension to the chateau-style service in October 1918 at a cost of $5 ment eventually encroached on the MacDonald Hotel, built in 1915. The million, and because of its length elec- landscape. It is here that the documen- tower was started in 1950 and complet- tric locomotives used it; there were three tary value of these paintings is located — ed in 1953. Comfort’s painting, done in electrical power substations along the they reveal how “modernity came to the summer of 1952, depicts the incom- line. The Montreal building boom that Canada.” In Alfred C. Leighton’s paint- plete building, hence, the “white box.” started in the 1950s eventually covered

62 OPTIONS POLITIQUES FÉVRIER 2004 Portraits in time — Canada’s cities through the eyes of artistic beholders up the tunnel’s South portal, and the the Americas and Europe, together with April 1954. There were 24 stops in 23 tracks leading to it. a custom-built gallery and display units cities — it was shown twice in Toronto There are also historical “truths” consisting of moveable aluminum pan- — and a venue was added for the represented in many of the works. In els that weighed four tons in total. Memorial Gallery at the University of his commentary for the Cities of Catalogues were printed in English, Rochester. Typical venues included Canada catalogue Bernard K. Sandwell French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese public galleries, libraries, hotels, and wrote of Windsor’s proximity to editions, and in full colour, unheard of other public spaces. As with the inter- Detroit: “The American Revolution for gallery catalogues at the time. In national tour, the exhibition dates were separated the two places, but...they are addition a limited-edition deluxe folio short, between 5 and 16 days, but the still almost a single city in two catalogue was produced and used to attendance figures were equally impres- nations.” That “singularity” refers not promote the exhibition to government sive. The cumulative total was 304,000 only to the “walking distance” prox- officials, gallery directors and curators, visitors; Saskatoon topped the atten- imity, but the auto industry that the and other “captains of industry.” To fur- dance figures with 52,000 visitors over two cities shared. This compressed ther promote the exhibition a special six days; Regina was a close second with view is reflected in one of Frederick B. feature appeared in the May 1953 issue 49,000 visitors over six days. Taylor’s oil sketches of Windsor, with of New Liberty magazine, with a nation- There is an ironic and tragic anal- the skyline of Detroit looming above al circulation of 500,000. The article ogy in the ever-changing urban fabric. that of Windsor along the river Many of the artists in the and dominated by the With few exceptions, the artists Seagram Cities of Canada proj- Penobscot Building, designed strove for accuracy. For this reason ect have been covered-up by art in the deco-style and complet- history, and it is a rule of ed in 1928. It was the tallest the paintings now serve as thumb in the art world that building in Detroit until 1977. important historical documents of when artists’ “fortunes” fall, Taylor’s view is a still accurate urban development, as some they rarely recover. But this is representation of a visitor’s first prominent landmarks no longer only one perspective on the impression of Windsor. merits of art. Writing for New Meanwhile, his finished pres- exist and urban expansion and Liberty in 1953, Robert Pilot entation work for Cities of suburban development eventually stated that art provides a vision Canada requires the key of encroached on the landscape. for any nation: “We see the knowledge of local and social surging forth shown in history to unlock the pictorial door. It included commentary by the artists [Canada’s] oil developments, its min- shows an area along Riverside Drive themselves. ing communities, its vast wheat fields, known as Ford City, which developed The exhibition lasted a mere 7 to summarized eventually in these sky- out of the French parish Notre-Dame- 13 days in each city, but cumulative lines.” Unlike the wheat fields — or du-Lac. Ford City was incorporated as attendance figures were impressive — mountains, lakes or rivers — skylines a town in 1915 and was the centre of close to 200,000 visitors. The highest are not resolute, eternal subjects, and the Windsor auto industry. It was attendance was in Stockholm, with as an urban culture and society we amalgamated into Windsor proper in 28,000, and the show was extended in may have less critical knowledge of our 1935. Taylor’s point of view was from Paris to accommodate the high degree environment than an agrarian one. the roof of the original Ford assembly of interest. Venues varied, but were Learning about it, in the popular ter- plant, the location of a famous primarily grand hotels and public minology of the day, is a steep curve. If Canadian Auto Workers strike in 1945. buildings. In Rome the opening took the announced in place at the ballroom of the Grand 1920 that their modernity was “Art for he 1950s saw the United States and Hotel; a Seagram report noted “the a Nation,” the Cities of Canada paint- T European nations circulate art dramatic moment [with] the arrival of ings, 30 years later, were “A View of worldwide for cultural and promotional His Eminence Cardinal Tisserand the Nation.” Above all else, we should purposes. Canadian group exhibitions escorted by two official candle bear- be reminded that photography does were also mounted through the ers.” The public exhibition opened ten not provide a complete historical doc- National Gallery and toured within the days later at the International Fair ument, and that art can be much more British Commonwealth, but none Grounds. In two days alone, it attract- than something for its “own sake.” matched the scope and ambition of ed 19,000 visitors. Cities of Canada. The international tour Ihor Holubizky is curator of the Cities of was launched with an inaugural pre- pon returning to Canada the dis- Canada exhibition and collection at the view at the Chateau Laurier in U play units were refurbished and McCord Museum of Canadian History at in March 1953, then went to 16 cities in the exhibition opened in Montreal in McGill University.

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