Name/Title
The Fathers of ConfederationEntry/Object ID
2021.03.01Description
Print
Reproduction print (circa 1890) after 1884 oil painting by Robert Harris.
This image was officially titled as "The Conference at Québec" where politicians from the British North American colonies gathered to discuss their unification into a single country. The image, better known as "The Fathers of Confederation" depicts the conference attendees, all male, some standing and some sitting, gathered in a meeting room in the Old Parliament Building overlooking the St. Lawrence River, near where the Fairmont Château Frontenac stands today in Québec City.
The absence of women's voices in the narrative of Canada's Confederation has been noted by historians; however, there were women who participated in this nation-building effort in different ways. These women are collectively known as the "Mothers of Confederation" (see Web Links below).Artwork Details
Medium
Reproduction print on paperSubject Place
Region
NortheastContinent
North AmericaContext
The Québec Conference was held October 10-27, 1864 to consider a union of the five British North American provinces. The conference resulted in the "seventy-two resolutions", 50 of which were written by John A. Macdonald, that were to form the basis of an independent Canada under the British Crown and Canada’s Constitution, and ultimately Canadian Confederation.
In 1866-1867, the resolutions were turned into legislation by delegates at the London Conference. That legislation became the British North America Act, which created the Dominion of Canada. The BNA act was passed by the British Parliament and became law on July 1, 1867.
_____________________
Delegates to the Québec Conference:
Canada East
- George-Étienne Cartier, Jean-Charles Chapais, Alexander Tilloch Galt, Hector-Louis Langevin, Thomas D'Arcy McGee and Étienne-Paschal Taché
Canada West
- George Brown, Alexander Campbell, James Cockburn, John A. Macdonald, William McDougall and Oliver Mowat
New Brunswick
- Edward Barron Chandler, Charles Fisher, John Hamilton Gray, John Mercer Johnson, Peter Mitchell, William H. Steeves and Samuel Leonard Tilley
Nova Scotia
- Adams George Archibald, Robert B. Dickey, William Alexander Henry, Jonathan McCully, Charles Tupper, John William Ritchie and Joseph Howe
Prince Edward Island
- George Coles, John Hamilton Gray, Thomas Heath Haviland, Andrew Archibald Macdonald, Edward Palmer, William Henry Pope and Edward Whelan
Newfoundland (observers)
- Frederick Carter and Ambrose SheaMade/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Robert Harris, RCA, CMG (1849-1919)Role
PainterArtist
UnknownRole
PrintmakerDate made
circa 1890Time Period
19th CenturyNotes
“THE FATHERS OF CONFEDERATION " COMMISSION
The artist Harris researched his project by sending questionnaires to the conference delegates from 1864, and also by consulting photographs taken by the internationally-recognized photographer William Notman and his firm in Montréal (Archive at McCord Museum of Canadian History) and those by William James Topley, who ran a branch of Notman’s firm in Ottawa (Archive at Library and Archives Canada).
Working in Montréal, Harris completed “The Fathers of Confederation” almost 20 years after the actual event. Unfortunately, the painting was destroyed when the Centre Block of the Canadian Parliament Buildings in Ottawa was destroyed by fire in 1916. The print on paper was commissioned by the Government of Canada, circa 1890. Harris’ sketches for his painting can be found at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.).
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born in Wales, Robert Harris was a Canadian painter, best known for his portrait of “The ‘Fathers of Confederation”, an iconic image in Canadian history. Harris came to P.E.I. via Liverpool with his family as a youth. His goal of being a portrait artist was set at an early age, and he studied art in Boston, attended London's Slade School of Fine Art, and later studied in Rome and exhibited in the Paris Salon.
In 1883, he was commissioned by the Dominion Government to paint a record of the 1864 Québec Conference, later known by the popular title “The Fathers of Confederation”. This painting, done early in his career, established his reputation as the most distinguished portrait painter in Canada. His already growing reputation for portraiture that started in P.E.I., was no doubt a contributing factor in the award of this commission and afterwards, in Toronto and Montreal, he continued painting for the social, business and political elites of both cities. He used mostly a formal academic style, later returning to an Impressionist-influenced style of his Paris days. Harris’ success is attributed not only to his artistic talent, but to his business acumen, and his sheer ability to connect with people, a valuable strength in a portrait setting.
His painting “A Meeting of the School Trustees”, of a PEI teacher, Kate Henderson, converting a group of male trustees to her point of view, was the sensation of the 1886 Royal Canadian Academy show, later appearing on a Canadian stamp and dramatized in a “Heritage Minutes” short film. Harris taught and exhibited at the Art Association of Montréal and lectured at other organizations, and was one of the first advocates for the distinctiveness of art in a young country such as Canada. Founding member and elected president of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1893, he worked for 13 years to promote and support young Canadian artists. In 1893, he organized the Canadian collection for the Columbian exposition in Chicago and that for the later Louisiana Purchase Exposition. His impressive oeuvre of portraits, genre work, landscapes and drawings, his teaching, his awards and his committed service to the arts remain an extraordinary achievement.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
InscriptionLocation
Lower centre in print: The Fathers of ConfederationDimensions
Dimension Description
FrameHeight
70 cmWidth
104 cmAcquisition
Acquisition Method
GiftNotes
Print in original frame donated by Cindy Lack, UCBC Member.Relationships
Related Entries
Notes
2018.08.27 Portrait of Sir John A. Macdonald, first Prime Minister of Canada
2021.03.01 The Fathers of Confederation
2022.03.01 John A. MacdonaldWeb Links and URLs
Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown, McCord Stewart Museum, Montreal, Library and Archives Canada, Fathers of Confederation Collection, The Canadian Encyclopedia - "The Quebec Conference, 1864" by A. McIntosh and P.A. Buckner, update R. Foot and A. McIntosh , The Canadian Encyclopedia - "Mothers of Confederation", Dictionary of Canadian Biography - Sir John A. Macdonald (collection of biographies)
