Matthew Farfan

The Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke has just unveiled its latest travelling exhibition, titled “The Peter Winkworth Collection: Early Impressions of Quebec.” On loan from Library and Archives Canada, the exhibition includes some 84 works and runs until March 18, 2007.

The Peter Winkworth Collection of Library and Archives Canada comprises over 4,000 works of art, all acquired from one single source -- Peter Winkworth (1929-2005), a lifelong and passionate collector of early Canadian art.

Entry to the exhibition hall.


The acquisition of the Winkworth collection in 2002 was one of the largest and most important acquisitions of documentary art ever made by the Government of Canada. It was also a major step in the preservation of Canada’s visual and artistic heritage.

Works in the collection are grouped according to five regions: Quebec; Ontario; the Prairies; the Northwest Territories and the North; and the Pacific Coast and the Yukon. It is from the Quebec group that works have been selected for the show now running at the Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke.

“Early Impressions of Quebec” is a must-see for anyone interested in the early history and art of Quebec and Canada. A feast for the eyes, the artworks transport us back in time to the earliest days of colonial Quebec. For the most part, the pieces selected are works on paper (watercolours, gouache, printed works, and so on), though a number of oils on canvas are included as well.

Frances Anne Hopkins. Descente des rapides. Oil on cnvas, 1879.


Artists featured in this show include both the renowned and the obscure. Among the better known in Canada are James Peachey, George Heriot, Cornelius Krieghoff, Joseph Légaré, and Frederick Simpson Coburn, while a host of others provide us with a variety of styles and techniques, and a sweeping view of the era’s lively society and the region’s spectacular landscapes.


The show includes depictions of Quebec’s towns and cities, its social and economic life, its lakes, rivers and mountains, Native Canadians, French Canadian settlers, fur traders, British soldiers, Loyalists, wildlife, and much more. Also included are some fascinating early printed items, such as broadsides, proclamations and other rare documents of great historical significance.

Circus poster, 1812.

The Musée de beaux-arts de Sherbrooke is located at 241 Dufferin in Old Sherbrooke. The museum is open to the public Tuesdays through Sundays, from noon to 5 p.m. Entry is $7.50 for adults, $6.00 for seniors, and $5.00 for students. For information, call (819) 821-2115.



Cornelius Krieghoff. Chasseurs autochtones autour d'un feu.
Oil on canvas, 1861.






(Photos: Matthew Farfan)