One might very well call the newly opened exhibition at the National Gallery in Ottawa Canada’s Great Exhibition, as it brings to mind the fabulous London exhibition opened by Queen Victoria in 1851.
That exhibition included four divisions: raw materials, machinery, manufactured products, and fine arts, whereas the one in Ottawa counts only three: artists, architects, and artisans. We have, after all, left the days of the Industrial Revolution behind.
Artists, Architects & Artisans: Canadian Art 1890-1918 explores how architecture, monumental sculpture, urban planning, mural and decorative painting, graphic design, decorative arts, and photography came together in Canada during those fruitful years.
It is sponsored by Heffel Fine Art Auction House, which explains in its brochure: “The Arts and Crafts movement began in Britain in the 1860s and quickly spread across America and Europe. It promoted recognition of the value of all the arts, rejected repetitive industrial mass production, and encouraged appreciation of handmade objects.”
And, as Geoffrey Simmins remarks in the accompanying book, “A select but significant group of Canadian artists, architects, and artisans also worked to align art, architecture, and craft more closely with everyday life, in private homes, in public exhibitions, or in the larger public sphere of the city.”
Simmins, a professor at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Fine Arts, adds that Britain’s Arts and Crafts movement was not the Canadians’ only influence—the French and American-influenced Beaux-Arts style also played an important role.
On Display
Walking through the dozen rooms devoted to the exhibition, which took six years to plan, visitors are almost mesmerized as soon as they enter the first room and see works by sculptor Alfred Laliberté (1878-1953) on loan from the City of Montreal.
“Boy with Turkey (Air)” is a superb example of Canadian sculpture, as is “Boy with Fish (Water)” standing at the room’s exit, both by Laliberté.
Paintings by Ozias Leduc (1864-1955), such as “Boy with Bread” and “The Young Student,” fit beautifully into the theme of the exhibition. The same is true for “Piano and Bench” by George A. Reid & Reid Brothers Manufacturing Co., Toronto, and the superb newel post from a house on Drummond Street, Montreal, by architects Edward & William S. Maxwell.
Women also joined the trend, and artists such as Nova Scotian Alice Hagen (1872-1972) painted the pedestal cake stand on display, although she was not a potter and did not mould it. Under her maiden name, Alice Egan, this porcelain artist also painted the vase, “Terns in Flight."
Ellen Hahn (1871-1965) is represented by her photograph frame of tooled leather over paper board, while Harriet Ford (1859-1939), a jewellery artist, is represented by “Clasps” featuring silver and malachite. There is another pair of clasps made of silver with rhodochrosite, as well as a beautiful necklace of silver with mother-of-pearl and rhodochrosite, all on loan from a private collection.
This is truly an exhibition to see as it features works from across Canada. It runs until Feb. 2, 2014. If you cannot attend in person, go to www.ShopNGC.ca where you can order the catalogue, selling for $45.
Susan Hallett is an award-winning writer and editor who has written for The Beaver, The Globe & Mail, Wine Tidings and Doctor’s Review among others. Email [email protected]
