MONTREAL MANSIONS, 1974
PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHARLES GURD
June 16 - November 16, 2016
The exhibition features 40 black and white photos, taken in natural light in 1974 by young Montreal architect and photo artist Charles C. Gurd. They immortalize a bygone era of Montreal's Edwardian style homes, build from the 1910s to the 1930s by prominent Montreal businessmen (among them Louis-Joseph Forget) who hired the best architects of the day to build them luxurious mansions. The photographs illustrate the interiors of these exceptional mansions, which have since disappeared or have been altered, victims to changing times, tastes and new generations.
One of the homes portrayed in the exhibition was bequeathed to McGill University, while others changed ownership, such as the Forget mansion in Senneville and the Ogilvie mansion on Gouin Boulevard in Montreal’s east end. Marble floors and columns, oversized fireplaces and rich woodwork, and staircases and libraries built by the day’s top craftsmen all graced the homes’ elegant reception rooms, which were decorated with beautiful furniture and carpets, the tables gleaming with fine china and polished silverware. The prosperity and exquisite taste of the occupants was evident at every turn. The private mansions speak to the complexity of this North American bourgeoisie who at the time controlled much of Canada’s economy.
In 1974, Charles C. Gurd set out to preserve the memory of these mansions through photographs. He received support from many influential people of the day, including Gretta Chambers, a CBC radio reporter. He also obtained a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. Equipped with a Leica M4, he received permission from the families to carry out his project.
The series of his black and white photos were made from some of his 6,000 35 mm negatives. In 2014, Gurd donated 1,337 negatives to the McCord Museum along with 325 inkjet prints produced in 2013. The photographs featured in the exhibition have been drawn from this collection.
Charles C. Gurd – Biographical notes
Born in Montreal in 1950, Charles C. Gurd earned a degree in psychology from McGill University (1971) and an architecture degree from Rice University in Houston, Texas (1976). While pursuing an international career in architecture, he practiced photography and painting – as he continues to do today. A self-taught photographer, in the 1960s Gurd was influenced by the documentary style of Sam Tata, Gabor Szilasi, Louise Abbott and Brian Merrett. He lives and works in Victoria, British Columbia, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Click on images to enlarge them.
Hover your mouse over images for description and credits.
For more information, visit the McCord Museum website.
No comments:
Post a Comment