The Beaver Hall Artists

More photographs taken at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' 1920s Modernism in Montreal exhibition, 2015.

1920s Modernism in Montreal exhibit, MMFA

I'll go back and identify the artists of these paintings, all were exhibited at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' 1920s Modernism in Montreal exhibit in 2015. For instance, the first painting below is of St. Patrick's Church from the rear of the studio of the Beaver Hall artists.

This is St. James Cathedral, renamed Marie, Reine de la Monde around 1950
which was the year of Mary; it's just a few blocks west of Beaver Hall Hill

St. James Cathedral, Marie, Reine de la Monde

This Seventh Day Adventist Church is located in Upper Westmount

One of the two towers at the College de Montreal;
on the north side of  Sherbrooke Street West across from Fort Avenue 

Of course, this is where we began, looking down on the entrance
of Morgan's Department Store on the corner of Union and Ste. Catherine Street West

More on Darrell Morrisey

It isn't much but at least Darrell Morrisey (one of the "forgotten" Beaver Hall artists) now has some recognition; people know that she existed and that she was an artist. To this end, I wrote an essay on her and she was included in the Museum's 1920s Modernism in Montreal exhibit--in fact, this was a major exhibition at the Museum--and she was included in the catalogue published for the exhibition. Not much, but better than nothing. . .

From the MMFA's 2015 exhibition of the Beaver Hall artists

Bottom left, one of two extant paintings by Darrell Morrisey

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Here we are in October 2015 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on Sherbrooke Street West in Montreal, we're visiting an exhibition of the Beaver Hall artists; this building is where the Art Association of Montreal relocated in 1913. Banners for the 1920s Modernism in Montreal exhibit hang on the outside of the original building on the north side of the street; a newer building (the Jean-Paul Desmarais Pavilion, that opened in 1991) is located directly across the street; next door to the original museum building is the Marc Bougie Pavilion, that opened in 2010; the Marc Bougie Pavilion used to be the Erskine and American (Presbyterian) United Church until it was repurposed as an exhibition space for Canadian Art and a concert hall. 

For many years I have felt that the Museum is one of the great attractions to visiting Montreal and to enjoying living here. 

Opened in December 1913, this building replaced the AAA's Phillips Square location;
it is now one of several pavilions that comprise the MMFA; the original 1913 building is now the 
Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace

  

The Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace

The Marc Bougie Pavilion, note the addition of exhibition space at the rear of the building;
this was originally the Erskine and American (Presbyterian) United Church

Interior of the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace

Interior of the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace

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, 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