The Shakespeare Club, Montreal, 1847

Held by

McCord Stewart Museum via McCord Stewart Museum (via Wikimedia Commons)

Creator

Cornelius Krieghoff (1815-1872)

Dates

1847 (indexed as 1847)

Level

item (source: Image)

Scope & content

Painting, The Shakespeare Club, Montreal, 1847, Oil on canvas, 36 x 51 cm "The painting represents the Shakespeare Club, a dramatic and Literary society founded in Montreal on September 18, 1843. The club had rooms over Chalmer's bookstore on Great St. James Street and dined occasionally at Dolly's or at the Rialto near Donegana's Hotel on Notre Dame Street. As the painting shows a group of men seated and smoking, it is most likely the interior of the club rooms. The painting is signed and dated "C. Krieghoff, 47". Cornelius Krieghoff (1815-1872) joined the club by May 25, 1847 as his name appears on the list of ordinary members at this date. Six of the people in the painting are identifiable. In the upper right corner is Krieghoff himself, standing and smoking a long pipe. At the left of the table blowing smoke in the air is John Young (1811-1878) a prominent Montreal businessman and politician who at the time of the painting was a strong advocate of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway to build a rail connection between Montreal and Portland. To his right F. W. Torrance was a rising young lawyer and future judge. Next, standing was Edmund Allen Meredith (1817-1899), then Principal of McGill University. To his right, Sir Allan Napier MacNab (1798-1862) Speaker of the House of Assembly, which sat in Montreal at this time. In the right front foreground, lighting his pipe is John Budden of Quebec, a member of the auction firm of A. J. Maxham and Company and a man who was to become one of Krieghoff's closest companions." – canadianshakespeares.ca

Location

• McGill University · landmark · confidence 60% · landmark:geonames · found as “mcgill university”
• rue Notre-Dame · street · confidence 50% · street · found as “Notre Dame Street”
• rue Saint-Jacques · street · confidence 45% · street · former street name · found as “St. James Street”

Correct the location

Subjects

1840s genre paintings; 1840s interiors in art; 1847 in Montreal; 1847 paintings of people; 20-22, rue Saint-Paul Est; Allan Napier MacNab; Anglophone culture in Montreal; Edmund Allen Meredith; Fob chains; John Young (Canadian politician); Men in 1847; Men of Canada; Paintings of Montreal; Paintings of smokers pipes; Paintings of tavern interiors; People of Canada in the 1840s; People of Montreal in art; Portrait paintings by Cornelius Krieghoff; Rooms in Canada; Things named after William Shakespeare; Toby jugs

Access & use

Public domain Via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Shakespeare_Club,_Montreal,_1847.jpg

Harvested

2026-10-18T22:15:50Z · source datestamp n/a · commons

Digital objects at the source

• imageOpen original at source ↗The_Shakespeare_Club%2C_Montreal%2C_1847.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original