Lose yourself—and find yourself—at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery
I’m flat on my back on the floor in the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, NB, looking up at a giant white horse. The 3-D experience is making me giddy. And, no, I’m not taking any funny stuff. Rather, I’m looking at Salvador Dali’s painting, Santiago El Grande, an 18x12 ft. (407.7 x 304.8 cm) oil on canvass that the artist painted in 1957. This masterpiece depicts James the Great, one of the apostles and the patron saint of Spain.
Viewing this wondrous piece of art from the prone position, I’m also hearing stories from docent Gerry Rymes—a walking encyclopedia.
“Dali painted this with the intention that it would be used as an altarpiece, and this is how you would be seeing it, if it had been installed in a grand cathedral in Spain,” Gerry says, adding, “but that didn’t happen.” Rather, the painting was first displayed at the World’s Fair in Brussels. Dali then realized he was in a bit of a pickle. He had promised his patron Lady Dunn that he would create a major work for the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, slated to open in 1959, but he had also promised a major work to a gallery in New York.
“He solved the problem by creating Columbus Discovers America for the gallery in NY,” Gerry says, “and Santiago El Grande was shipped from Brussels to Fredericton to be the centerpiece for the opening of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.”
Lying there, looking up at the towering masterpiece, you can’t see a brushstroke on the entire canvas. But you can see what may be his muse (some say his wife, Gala,) peeking through a dark cape in the right bottom corner.
Although Gerry has not been on pilgrimage to Spain to tackle the 800-km route known as el Camino, a friend gave him a scallop shell, which is given to pilgrims. It ties in with this painting as Santiago de Compostela is known as the destination of the pilgrim’s route, and the remains of Saint James are said to be buried there in the grand cathedral. Fourteen shells are easily identified in Dali’s painting, and Gerry occasionally wears the shell when he’s giving a talk about this work of art.
After I’ve stood upright and cleared my head, I follow the energetic docent. We pause at one of his personal favourites—a painting of Saint-Jacques Cathedral in Montreal, created by French Canadian artist Maurice Cullen. It’s a winter street scene; horses seem to be patiently waiting their owner’s return.
The correct way to view Salvador Dali’s Santiago El Grande. Photo credit Fredericton Tourism
Gerry says “You can actually see the snowflakes gently dropping in the lamplight in front of the cathedral. This is a moment frozen in time…complete calm and quiet, even though you know that within the next hour, people will be coming out of church and that scene will change.”
I once read that art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. How true. I recall a visit I made to the gallery on September 11, 2001. That morning, while touring the gallery, I became so smitten with Tom Thomson’s Spring that I was moved to make notes which eventually morphed into a poem based on that painting.
Shortly after leaving the gallery that fateful day, I met friends at Brewbakers Restaurant for lunch and quickly learned what had happened. I was immediately struck by the juxtaposition of the horror happening in NY and the beauty (and solace) I experienced at the Beaverbrook. I recounted that story to Gerry; he smiled and nodded.
Later, in another part of the gallery, I saw a magnificent birch bark canoe. Gerry explained that the six-metre boat called Grandfather Akwiten Canoe was crafted in the 1820s by the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) of New Brunswick and is the oldest canoe of its kind in existence. It traces back to 1825 when Stepney St. George, a British officer, was in the Miramichi helping with aid after a devastating fire. At the time, canoes were used to move military personnel, surveyors and furs up and down the Saint John River. Before returning home, St. George shipped three canoes back to his family’s castle in Ireland; Grandfather was one of them.
After St. George’s death, his canoe ended up at the National University of Ireland, where it collected dust for several decades. In 2003 a geology professor discovered its Canadian roots. The canoe was eventually returned to Canada, restored by the Canadian Museum of Civilization, then shipped home to New Brunswick to be a guest of honour at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.
There’s so much more to this gallery it’s tough to bring this part of the story to a close, but I do want to mention something that made me do a 180-degree turn as I walked by. It’s Vincent van Gogh’s head. Although it looks as if it’s sculpted out of clay, mimicking his self portrait, it’s actually made of bronze, created by Joe Fafard in 1983. Van Gogh’s eyes are a piercing blue—and they follow you around!
And so it was that I said adieu to Gerry, Van Gogh and the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. But that wasn’t the end of my journey into the wonderful world of art in this fun city.
More art-filled places to check out
Stepping outside the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, veer left and cross the street to Gallery 78, the oldest private art gallery in New Brunswick. This small but impressive gallery is housed in a three-storey Queen Anne Revival style home that was built in 1900. The gallery showcases the work of New Brunswick’s notable and established painters, printmakers and sculptors.
Heading from the Beaverbrook uptown a block, you’ll find The Gallery on Quee, which boasts a fine collection of Canadian artists (several from Atlantic Canada.) The owner, Nadia Khoury, believes in providing an approach to collecting art that is affordable and accessible, and works hard to make that happen.
Mere steps away on the same street you’ll find the George Fry Gallery which represents the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. The College gallery showcases the work of students, faculty and invited artists with a wide range of creators.
For something unusual, slip into the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick (from September onward) and ask to see the set of 435 hand-coloured copper engravings of The Birds of America by John James Audubon painted in the 1830s. Purchased in 1852 for £800, the 5x3 ft. book is one of only five publicly owned copies in Canada. Only 200 sets were ever produced. In June 2018, The Birds of America sold for $9,650,000 at Christie’s Auction House in New York.
For a walk on the wild side, plan to include a Tuesday or Thursday evening visit at Officers’ Square for live music. The Garrison Night Market will return in 2022 with the usual suspects: local produce, artisan brews and lots of food. Out of scores of vendors, more than half are artists and fine craft designers. It’s almost as surrealistic as lying on your back at the Beaverbrook, looking up at Dali’s Santiago El Grande.
The Beaverbrook Art Gallery’s new face!
The Harrison McCain Pavilion is in the final stages of construction. The stunning 9,000 ft2 / 836 m2 addition covers the former lawn in front of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. Designed by world-renowned architectural firm, KPMB—a company that has earned more than 400 awards, including 16 Governor General’s Medals—it’s the first public building designed by the company in Eastern Canada. (The new Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is the second.)
Tom Smart, Director and CEO of the gallery, is chuffed. He explains that the architects spent a lot of time getting familiar with Fredericton’s architectural elements. “They picked up design motifs that are on some of these historical buildings and translated that into a contemporary design.” Scores of columns grace the front. “Imagine a centre point behind the building and these columns cant towards that point. They are ever so slightly angled,” he adds, “so it’s a dynamic front. The columns create a rhythm. The curve is meant to embrace—it’s an enticing, open, accessible feeling.”
What can visitors expect? Smart says, “It’s all about improving the visitor experience and providing more services.” For starters, the café will be in the new pavilion and the vacated space becomes an art education centre, summer art camp, artist in residence studio, and all-purpose classroom area.
The Harrison McCain Pavilion will also house more retail space, be able to service more tourist and bus tours, provide for expanded art exhibits, and will have greater capacity to host public gatherings. Smart adds, “To get from the new pavilion to the other parts of the gallery, we’ve commissioned Jordan Bennett to create an immersive mural that speaks to the history of the land, the river, the people who’ve lived along the river and the reconciliation of people past and present.”
Opening date? “The first day of April 2022, and that’s no April Fool.”