Œuvres d'art

Kathleen Morris painted this important work in her characteristically bold and rich colour palette. It is a view juxtaposing the varied and diverse constituents of the city centre, including working class Montrealers, the Catholic Church and what it represents in the roots of the City and the burgeoning religion of big business. Ste Cecile Street is a narrow street only a few blocks from the original building where the Beaver Hall Group exhibited 100 years ago now. A photo of the street in the McCord Museum of 1910 (access number MP-0000.825.8) of what was then called St. Margaret Street, was accompanied with the following description when published in the Montreal Gazette;

“The working-class flats were either clad in wood or in brick. They were exposed on two sides only and were, therefore, normally very dark. The street’s only redeeming feature was found by looking northward where an impressive view of the splendid cupola of St. James Cathedral (today, Mary Queen of the World) could be contemplated”. [1]

In Kay Morris’ composition we note the newly constructed Sun Life Building, a monumental structure finally completed in 1933, a landmark as important in its day to Montreal as Place Ville Marie was to be a generation later. Today there is only a remnant of Ste-Cecile Street, now with an office tower “1000 de la Gauchetière” overlooking the Cathedral from the south and the Sun Life Building beyond.

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Footnotes:
1. Robert N, Wilkins. “Many Narrow Streets of Yesteryear Still Exist — in Name Only.” Montreal Gazette. June 20, 2014. https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/many-narrow-streets-of-yesteryear-still-exist-in-name-only.