The Beaver Hall Artists

I began this journey, writing about Phillips Square, because the Art Association of Montreal was located on the north-east corner of the Square; I always thought that members of the Beaver Hall group of artists could easily have walked up Beaver Hall Hill to the AAA where some of them attended art classes or looked at art. The Beaver Hall group of artists are considered to be the Montreal-based equivalent of the Group of Seven artists; in fact, A.Y. Jackson was a member of both groups. That is why I began collecting photographs of Phillips Square and the original building that housed the AAM, and I began looking for historical photographs of the Beaver Hall artists' studio on Beaver Hall Hill. I was curious about the Beaver Hall artists and how they are an important part of the history of Montreal; perhaps more importantly, I like their art very much. 

Someone I wrote about, Darrell Morrisey (no relation), has a kind of curious importance; Darrell is one of several Beaver Hall artists who have been forgotten by history. In Darrell's case, we really don't know what happened to her art, whether she gave up being an artist, or someone discarded her paintings after her early death in 1930, or whether she was not prolific and her remaining paintings have disappeared over time. In 2012 I wrote an essay about Darrell Morrisey and since then she was included in the Beaver Hall artist exhibition held at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 2015, she was included in their exhibition catalogue, and two of her paintings (on two sides of the same panel) and several drawings were discovered after I published my essay. She is not among the best of the Beaver Hall artists but she is an interesting story of endurance, family history, and one woman's effort to be independent. 

This old map of Montreal shows Beaver Hall Hill, St. Patrick`s Church
on an adjacent street to Beaver Hall Hill, and other locations

The arrow indicates the Beaver Hall artists`studio

The arrow indicates a building where the 
Beaver Hall artists' studio was located

This is a Google Street View of the previous image, as of October 2021, 
the relentless construction of condos and office buildings has destroyed
whatever was left of the original Beaver Hall Hill; the Beaver Hall artists' studios
were in a building to the right of the remaining building above

From Lowell's Montreal City Directory, the address of the Beaver Hall 
Group of Artists, 305 Beaver Hall Hill

Looking south on Beaver Hall Hill towards Victoria Square, 1950s

Phillips Square, Some Photographs

There are thousands of historical photographs of Phillips Square, here are a few that follow the changes in the square.

Here is Phillips Square when it was still treed and rural; the AAM in the background;
the city plans to restore some of the trees

The building on the right was owned by Alfred Joyce, a prominent Montreal businessman;
the building was demolished and the Canada Cement Building constructed 
on this site in 1922

The Canada Cement Building is directly behind
the statue of King Edward VII

Morgan's Department store on the left; 

Phillips Square is across the street from Morgan's

Phillips Square, 1950s

Phillips Square, The Art Association of Montreal

Phillips Square in 1916

Phillips Square, located across the street from The Bay department store in downtown Montreal, has always interested me. Just down the street from Phillips Square was the studio of the Beaver Hall artists, and it was not a long walk from there to the Art Association of Montreal, located on the northeast side of Phillips Square. Eventually, the AAM became the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, located on Sherbrooke Street West, and it now has several buildings at that location. The AAM building was opened in 1879; the Museum's "new" building, on Sherbrooke Street, was opened in 1912. I consider the MMFA / MBAM one of the great attractions of the city, one of the great bonuses of living in Montreal, both for tourists and for Montrealers. 

    The land that became Phillips Square was donated to the city of Montreal in 1842 by the widow of Thomas Phillips, a wealthy Montreal businessman. At that time this was a residential area as it remained for many years. However, over time, businesses began to move to this area and the residents moved out. Today the square is being made more user friendly by the city, trees are being planted and the whole square is being renovated (if that is the right word). Unfortunately, condos are also being built in the area, huge ugly monstrosities that dominate the skyline. The monument in the center of the square is a statue of King Edward VII, the British monarch from 1901 to 1910; Edward was the son of Queen Victoria and, as Prince of Wales, he opened the Victoria Bridge in 1860. 

    Here are photographs of the Art Association of Montreal, on the northeast corner of the square.

The Art Association of Montreal

Art Association building, Phillips' Square, Montreal, QC, about 1890

Art Association of Montreal exhibition, 1905

The Art Association of Montreal is on the right, on the left is
Morgan's Department Store, now The Bay

Phillips Square in 1907, the Art Association of Montreal is on the left behind the horse and sleigh