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Exhibition draws links to Jewish Montreal 

The final weekend of the McCord Museum’s exhibition of Jewish Painters of Montreal - Witnesses of their Time, 1930-1948 ended with a symposium on Montreal’s Jewish community that underscored Concordia’s connection to that group and its critical role in the development of the fine arts Faculty at the university.

President Judith Woodsworth (left) spoke on the eve of the event just prior to a reception at the museum. She mentioned that several of the artists featured in the exhibition helped establish the fine arts program at Sir George Williams University, in particular Alfred Pinsky. Others, such as Ghitta Caiserman Roth, taught at Sir George, and later Concordia.

Those academic ties continue to the present day, the show’s curator, Esther Trépanier is a member of Concordia’s Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art. Several Concordia professors contributed to the volume produced to accompany and enhance the exhibition when it was first shown in Quebec City two years ago (see Journal, April 3, 2008).

Other institutional links were underscored by the more recent exhibition, which featured Moe Reinblatt’s Portrait of Joey as well as Sam Borenstein’s Portrait of Ida Massey and De Bullion Street – loans from Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery. The symposium itself was organized by the Concordia Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies and featured a lecture by Loren Lerner, Chair of the Art History Department.