Views of colonial life

Call him the adventurer. George Ramsay, better known as the 9th Earl of Dalhousie, traveled across 19th century British North America and commissioned and collected works of art along the way. The story of his journey is on display in the  exhibit, Lord Dalhousie: Patron and Collector, organized by the National Gallery of Canada, at the Dalhousie Art Gallery..

Lord Dalhousie worked as the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia from 1816 -1820 and was later appointed Governor-in-chief of British North America. René Villeneuve, associate curator of Early Canadian Art at the National Gallery of Canada, created the exhibition with newly discovered works. The Lord Dalhousie exhibition runs until Sunday, March 7.

SEE ARTWORKS: Lord Dalhousie: Patron and Collector

The exhibit is divided into eight sections including portraits, paintings of nature, works that depict village life and sketches of buildings in Nova Scotia. The mix of paintings, sketches and journal entries from Lord Dalhousie portray a man who enjoyed life, discovery and travel.

Lord Dalhousie was a lover of art. He frequently brought artists with him on his travels through Canada. The result is a beautiful portrait of early Canadian life, before there even was a Canada.

Tour and talk Scott Robson, curator of the history collection at the Nova Scotia Museum, will give a talk about Lord Dalhousie: Patron and Collector on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. at Dalhousie Art Gallery. Mr. Robson will focus on artworks and artifacts pertinent to Halifax and Nova Scotia.  In an era before photography, these sketches were indispensable records and remain as such today. Admission is free.

Many of the works have written descriptions by Lord Dalhousie from his journal. China pieces from Scotland were used to host rather unsocial members of the Nova Scotia legislature.  “I indiscriminately invite all hands,” he wrote in an entry from March 8, 1821. “Yet it is unpleasant to find them side by side, without exchanging words, stiff and erect like dogs snarling at each other.”

The little details in the paintings portray everyday life at the turn of the 19th century, from the worried look on a woman’s face in a sketch drawn in Quebec City to the young boy joyously sledding in a village scene from Fredericton, N.B. A series of watercolours depict the Halifax architecture that remains today including historic St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Province House and Government House.

The design of the exhibit helps create the narrative of a politician working in a growing city. A painting overlooking the Halifax harbour from Citadel Hill reveals the beauty of the city. By placing the painting below eye level, one understands the feeling of gazing over the Halifax Harbour in the early 1800s.

The quality of the work is striking, particularly from John Elliot Woolford. His watercolour paintings in the nature section are lush, colourful and detailed. The nature section of the exhibit reveals the beauty and calmness of the wilderness.

Lord Dalhousie documented his life through art. The exhibit conveys the excitement of early Maritime life with the sights of early Halifax, the gorgeous views atop the hills of Atlantic Canada and the beautiful landscape of Ontario. “These features,” he wrote in his August 13, 1821 entry, “will be while I live, pleasures and recollections equal to any of the happiest I ever enjoy.”

LINK: Dalhousie Art Gallery