Andrew McDermot meets Paul Kane

The Canadian artist Paul Kane was famous for his renditions of the people of the Prairies in the mid-1800s. Though the Manitoba Museum has a number of items that Kane collected during his travels, only recently have we been able to acquire and exhibit one of his original paintings. Even better, it’s a portrait of the almost-as-famous Andrew McDermot, the Red River merchant, landowner, and fur trader after which McDermot Avenue in downtown Winnipeg is named.

The availability of this small but vital painting first came to our attention in 2021. It had recently been purchased at an auction in Europe by a private collector. After considerable research by scholars and appraisers, and detailed analysis by the Canadian Conservation Institute, the Museum was able to acquire the painting with the assistance of the Department of Canadian Heritage. It has been on exhibit for the public in the Prairies Gallery at the Manitoba Museum since 2023.

Winnipeg officially became a city at the end of 1873, and in 1875 Andrew donated part of his land to the Winnipeg General Hospital (now the Health Sciences Centre) and Post Office.

Few Canadian historical painters are as thoroughly researched as Paul Kane. To sum up his life and work quickly, he was born in Ireland in 1810, and immigrated to Toronto with his parents when he was 10 years old. He was a self-taught artist, and was eventually able to conduct his European Grand Tour, a must for any serious aspiring European artist at the time. This took him to Italy, Switzerland, France and England. On his return to Canada, he was inspired to conduct travels in the West and paint First Nations and Métis individuals and cultural scenes. Throughout his travels in the 1840s, he painted hundreds of small sketches of people he met along the way, including Andrew McDermot. Kane returned to Toronto and began a huge cycle of 100 paintings depicting Indigenous cultures of the Northwest. These large oils incorporated the dramatic elements of European painting, while the material culture depicted was often copied from items he had collected on his journeys. But his small field sketches, mostly portraits, reveal much more about the real people of the west, in a fresh and lively manner. He became famous in the 1850s for his large oils, and his fame only grew after his death in 1871 of “a liver complaint.” His paintings are exhibited in galleries around the world.

The A. and M. Hurtig Furriers shop is a new exhibit in the Winnipeg 1920 Cityscape at the Manitoba Museum, featuring authentic fur accessories and furrier tools from the early 20^th century. The exhibit includes the front entrance display and the backroom workshop. A. and M. Hurtig Furriers was only one of forty-three furrier shops in Winnipeg.

Adolph and Max Hurtig were Jewish immigrants from Romania who arrived in Winnipeg in 1908. Ten years later they founded the A. and M. Hurtig Furriers business. Anne Hurtig, a relative, was the bookkeeper of the shop. Their employees made fur coats and accessories for a growing Winnipeg population. The early shop was at 476 Portage Ave, across from the current University of Winnipeg, and they in 1935 they moved to 262 Portage Ave.

By the 1920s, about half of all garment industry workers and owners in Winnipeg were Jewish.[i] In Canada, about one third of all furriers were from the Jewish community. [ii]  During this period, First Nations trappers across Western Canada also sold furs directly to Jewish itinerant traders, challenging large companies like the HBC.[iii] In the late 1920s and 30s, Hurtig Furriers became a site of bitter labour disputes that pitted labour unionists against garment and furrier business owners. This was resolved once union contracts were finally signed, and military contracts in the Second World War created huge demand for their products.

[i] https://www.jhcwc.org/exhibitions/a-stitch-in-time/the-garment-business/

[ii] Louis Rosenberg. Canada’s Jews: A social and economic study of the Jews in Canada. 1939. Pp178-179.

[iii] Colpitts, George. Itinerant Jewish and Arabic Trading in the Dene’s North, 1916-1930. 2013. Journal of the Canadian Historical Association, p 172.

Image: In 1935 the Hurtigs moved shop to a big, shiny, new Art Deco building at 262 Portage Ave. This building was designed by Green Blankstein Russell and Ham, and is considered one the most important Art Deco business buildings in Winnipeg. It currently stands empty, the one-time home of Dominion News. For more details visit https://winnipegarchitecture.ca/262-portage-avenue/

Exhibit production happens in stages, beginning with research and artifact selection, and moving on through design, purchasing of materials, construction, and artifact installation. In all, 10 museum staff and a volunteer were involved in the creation of the exhibition. Research assistance was also provided by staff at the Jewish Heritage Centre of Canada.

The Museum has a rich collection of Chinese-Canadian artifacts that have been donated over many decades.

Manitoba Chinese Historical Society Collection

One of the largest donations, comprising 51 artifacts, came in 2005 from the Manitoba Chinese Historical Society (1987-2005). It includes everything from hats and shoes to lanterns, tea canisters, and even an acupuncture kit. Their archival collection was donated to the Archives of Manitoba.

Since then, the Museum’s collection has continued to grow, showcasing the complexity and variety of Chinese- Canadian history and experience in Manitoba.

The Ong Collection

This collection, donated in 2022-2023, spans about 80 years and three generations. Chronologically it begins with the story of Yee Chung Yen, who came to Canada in 1917. His story was outlined in my previous blog, The Story of Yee Chung Yen.

Mr. Don Wing Ong came to Canada after fleeing Communist China for Hong Kong in 1949, and he befriended Yee Chung Yen in Portage la Prairie. Don’s wife Anne (Yu Kwan Ying) and son Bill immigrated some years later. Bill Ong attended Grant Park High School, and went on to get his medical degree from the University of Manitoba. He was an anesthesiologist, and was married to Dr. Virginia Fraser. For our May “First Friday” event, we premiered video interviews with Dr. Fraser and son Thomas Rempel-Ong, where they talked about the artifacts and family history.

Chinese Alcove Bed

We are also conducting research on a Chinese “alcove bed,” which was purchased in the 1950s by a Canadian UN delegate who worked in China. She eventually brought it back to Winnipeg. A volunteer researcher is providing translation and interpretation. This stunning bed, which includes an entrance room (alcove), dates to the 19^th century. It is a wonderful entry point to talk about Chinese traditions and symbols, and helps us bring the world to Manitobans. Click here to see a recent video about this artifact.

Chinese Laundries in Winnipeg

We have also updated the story of Chinese laundries in our 1920 Winnipeg Cityscape gallery, which now features the Sing Wo laundry, formerly located on Euclid Ave. The exhibit delves into the true history of the laundry trade and the incredible workload this entailed. To quote King Ho, the late Winnipeg laundry owner, “Words cannot adequately express how painful the work is.”

Little Restaurants on the Prairies

The Museum is currently in early production of a new Prairie Perspectives video with a rural Manitoban Chinese restaurant. From the perspective of the owner, we will learn more about this widespread Prairie institution and the role it plays in local communities. The video will be available for viewing in our Prairies Gallery, and released on our YouTube channel.

And of course there is so much more to the complexity of Chinese-Canadian history, from the traditions of the 19^th Century, to the early immigration to the Canadian West, the disgraceful Chinese Head Tax and Chinese Immigration Act, and the consequences of the Chinese Communist Revolution of the 1940s, including increased immigration to Canada. All of these historical events are, though vast in scope, linked to the individual lives of people who have enriched the province.

Persian carpets have a long history of excellence spanning centuries, and town manufacturers in particular are famous for perfectionism. The Naeen carpet industry began in the 1940s, and designers there were influenced by historic patterns from Isfahan, 150 km to the west. Isfahan flourished artistically during the Safavid dynasty (1501 to 1722). 

Islamic cultures from around the world are incredibly diverse, with long histories that have influenced many parts of the globe. Winnipeg is home for many people who continue to honour and celebrate these histories. This carpet was donated by Zahra Sahhafnia, who moved to Winnipeg in 2015. The carpet was an important part of her family’s legacy and inheritance, and now it is also part of Manitoba’s history.

Thank you Zahra! 

One of our most popular exhibits at the Museum is the “Winnipeg 1920 Cityscape”. Built in 1974, it used to be called the “Urban Gallery.” It’s the immersive experience of this gallery that makes it so popular. People love to walk through the buildings, turn corners, step through doors, discovering bits of history as they explore.

This year, you’ll notice some changes. Eleven all new, realistic mannequins inhabit the space, and more are on the way. Audio dialogues can be heard in three of the rooms, with people discussing the Strike of 1919 and the upcoming provincial vote of June 1920, in which some women could vote for the first time. Panels will provide historical context for people and businesses. Video projections on various buildings bring the place to life with film and slides of Winnipeg from the period. Wait till you experience driving down Portage Avenue in 1920! You’ll be thankful for today’s traffic laws.

And that’s just the start!

This project has been generously supported by The Manitoba Museum Foundation and the Province of Manitoba through the Heritage Grants Program.

He was also an amateur astronomer and constructed his own telescope; he formed a literary and theatrical society, and organized musical recitals; he organized and served on the local school board for 37 years; he was an assistant to the local doctor, providing a type of vaccine injection to locals during the 1918 Influenza pandemic; he was an electrician and fine carpenter; and he was renowned for owning a vast library. Evidently the only thing that didn’t interest him was farming, but he nevertheless cleared land, harvested crops, and received his full homestead grant.

The racism William Beal experienced in the United States denied him his chance of becoming a medical doctor. Though he formed close friendships in the Big Woody district, he was the only Black man in the area, and experienced racism there as well. 

In the early 1900s the Canadian government actively prevented immigration of Black people to Canada, through misinformation campaigns, bribery of officials, and arbitrary requirements not asked of white immigrants. In 1911, 200 Black farmers from Oklahoma were finally able to enter Manitoba at Emerson, after a rigorous and delayed inspection. It’s not known what hurdles Beal faced when entering Manitoba back in 1906, but after he settled in Big Woody district, he was there to stay, and contributed so much to the local community. He passed away in 1968 at the age of 94. 

Billy: The Life and Photography of William S. A. Beal, was published in 1988 by Leigh Hambly and Rob Barrows, a former Manitoba Museum photographer who grew up in the Swan River Valley. It features detailed research on Beal’s life and many of his photographs.