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Robert
Harris and The Fathers of Confederation
by Moncrieff Williamson
Pages 1
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Notes
1 Letter to Rev. Edward Alexander Harris, Mahone Bay, N. S.; in the
Harris records, Confederation Art Gallery and Museum, Charlottetown.
Unless otherwise stated, all citations hereafter are contained in
documents in this collection.
2 Actual dimensions of original painting not recorded; see, however,
note 32 below.
3 Letter dated from 11 Durocher Street, Montreal, P. Q., to Sir
Joseph Pope, K. C. M. G., Under-Secretary of State for External
Affairs.
4 Harris married Elizabeth (Bessie) Putnam on 21 May 1885.
5 See note 3 above.
6 Letter to Pope (see note 3 above).
7 On 27 February 1919.
8 Letter dated 13 February 1918. Property of Dean W. S. McNutt,
University of New Brunswick.
9 Founded in 1880 by the Marquis of Lorne.
10 Synopsis of correspondence relating to the painting commemorative
of Confederation and destroyed in the 1897 fire. Public Archives of
Canada File A-27-1.
11 Public Archives of Canada, Order-in-Council P.C. 1239, 5 June
1884, R. G. 2.
12 See note 10 above.
13 Letter signed by A. Gobeil, No.30627, Subi. 33, R. G. 57. 186.
Property of Dean W. S. McNutt.
14 Minister of Public Works.
15 Letter of 25 April1916 to Sir Joseph Pope (see note 3 above).
16 Ibid.
17 Property of Dean W. S. McNutt.
18 Undated clipping.
19 Apparently Pope had heard of a decorative painting done for the
Royal Alexandra Hotel by F. S. Challener (see J. Russell Harper, Painting
in Canada, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966, p. 343).
In an article in The Star Weekly (Toronto) of 30 June 1939,
Eric Hutton interviewed Frederick S. Challener, R. C. A., who had
painted his "first" reproduction of The Fathers in
1914. In 1917, after the original had been destroyed, and apparently
without consulting Harris who was then still alive, the Ontario
government commissioned Challener to execute a large painting for
Queen's Park. Challener based his painting on "the rough draft
made by Harris on brown paper which was kept in the National Gallery of Canada." In the opinion of
the late H. O. McCurry, then Acting Director of the National
Gallery, "Harris painted [The Fathers] on direct
commission for the government and therefore did not register it, and
the government did not bother to copyright what it likely considered
the property of the whole people of Canada." At this late date
it is impossible to explain Challener's conduct in ignoring Harris,
which, in my view, was both discourteous and unethical.
20 Letter dated 25 April 1916 (see note 3 above).
21 Collection of Confederation Art Gallery and Museum,
Charlottetown.
22 The letter, written in May 1917, is reproduced in full on pages
20-21. Mr. Fleming was Art Instructor at the Normal School, Ottawa.
23 Armchairs which survived the Quebec Fire and were part of
original furnishings.
24 Harris's term for a room in which an historic
"incident" or meeting was held.
25 The letter is dated 4 March 1918. Sarah was the wife of Professor
George E. Robinson, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
26 Frank MacKinnon, "Robert Harris and Canadian Art," Dalhousie
Review, vol. XXVIII, July 1948, p. 149.
27 Letter dated from Ottawa 24 June 1916. Property of Dean W. S.
McNutt.
28 Property of Dean W. S. McNutt.
29 Sir Edmond Walker was Chairman of the Canadian Bank of Commerce.
Written from the bank's Head Office in Toronto, the letter was dated
29 November 1916.
30 Letter dated from 11 Durocher Street, Montreal, 1 December 1916.
31 Letter dated from 11 Durocher Street, Montreal,8 December 1916.
Property of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
32 On Wednesday 30 June 1965, the Hon. Alan A. MacNaughton, Speaker,
announced in the House of Commons that Confederation Life
Association would present to the Nation an exact restoration of the
Robert Harris painting by the Toronto artist Rex Woods. This canvas
would measure 7 x 13 feet.
33 See note 22 above.
34 Dominion Archivist from 1904 to 1935; later Sir Arthur Doughty.
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