Historical Murals by George Reid
in the Auditorium of Jarvis Collegiate
in the Auditorium of Jarvis Collegiate
After World War I, Jarvis commissioned a war memorial, consisting of four parts: a bronze tablet with the names of Jarvis students killed in the war, a Chalice of Undying LIght to burn beneath the tablet, Panels Commemorating the Services of Those Who Came Back with the names of Jarvis students who returned from the war, and a series of eleven murals for the auditorium.
The artist George Reid began work in May of 1928 and finished by July of 1929. Reid was assisted by Lorna Claire, a former student at Jarvis. His theme was Canadian history, with an emphasis on the early years of European discovery, culminating in a tribute to those who fought in World War I. The murals are on a very large scale and are painted on all the walls of the auditorium. In addition to the eleven murals, Reid also painted various decorations, "of heraldic and emblematic character."
The school possesses a number of copies of a pamphlet, probably written by the artist, providing detailed descriptions of the eleven panels, entitled Descriptive Notes of Mural Decorations Designed and Painted by G.A. Reid, R.C.A., O.S.A, Assisted by Lorna Claire, A.O.C.A., in Jarvis Collegiate Auditorium. The descriptions here are copied from that pamphlet.
Jarvis alumni returning to the school frequently ask to view the murals.
The reproductions below and those you see when clicking on a thumbnail, are small and black-and-white, and they give only a rough sense of the scale and impact of the originals.
Auditorium of Jarvis Collegiate
April, 2001
Six of the George Reid murals are visible
Auditorium of Jarvis Collegiate
April, 2001
Six of the George Reid murals are visible
Ericson Discovering North America, 1000 A.D.
The discovery of Greenland in 986 by Eric the Red and that of the northern coast of North America in 1000 by his son, Lief Ericson, are generally conceded to be historical facts, and Panel No. 1 depicts Ericson landsighting the coast at the lifting of a fog bank. The vessel shown is based on actual remains of early Norwegian vessels which have been found buried in the sand on the coast and which it was the custom to use as the burial tombs of the Vikings.
The Discoverers, 987-1497
Connecting the East and West walls at the back of the gallery is a frieze panel interrupted by the projection room. This frieze covers the period of the discoveries of the new world from Eric the Red, who discovered Greenland in 986 to Hudson, who discovered Hudson Bay and James Bay in 1610. The Discoverers are shown in consecutive groupings, having indications in costume, gesture, and other appropriate characterizations.
The ... groups [in this panel], which form the first phase of the discovery of the new world, occupy the part of the frieze on the left.
Group 1, Panel -- Eric the Red is represented with his young son, Ericson, as Greenland is discovered in 986. Fourteen years later Ericson discovered the North American Coast and the record of the Norwegian Sagas show that a colony was planted there in a place they named Vineland.
Group 2, Panel -- The stories of various travellers to China and India, but particularly the chronicle of Marco Polo's travels from Venice to China in 1298, fired the imagination of the navigators, who sought passage by water to Cathay, or India, then thought to be a land of untold wealth. Marco Polo is shown in a group of Venetians as he tells, on his return, his story to his compatriots, some of whom are incredulous.
Group 3, Panel -- Prince Henry of Portugal, the great Patron of the navigators in the absorbing search, is represented with his chronicler, who records the tale of a navigator.
Groups 4 and 5, Panel -- Diaz and Da Gama follow, the former with his companions showing surprise as, after having been driven south on the Coast of Africa, they find the land on their left, and realize that they have rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Eleven years later, in 1498, Da Gama sailed to India by way of the Cape and the Indian Ocean, and, after taking Calcutta, became its Governor.
Group 6, Panel -- In the meantime Columbus, in 1492, had sailed west on the same search and had discovered the Islands of the American Continent, now named the West I ndies. Columbus is represented holding the flag of Spain and looking towards the West.
Group 7, Panel -- Cabot in 1497 had discovered the Northern mainland. He is represented with his three sons as they study a chart after they have received the commission of King Henry VII to go in search of the new lands.
The Discoverers, 1500-1610
Connecting the East and West walls at the back of the gallery is a frieze panel interrupted by the projection room. This frieze covers the period of the discoveries of the new world from Eric the Red, who discovered Greenland in 986 to Hudson, who discovered Hudson Bay and James Bay in 1610. The Discoverers are shown in consecutive groupings, having indications in costume, gesture, and other appropriate characterizations.
The right side of the frieze is the story of exploration and settlement in detail much of which, however, is still the seeking for the way to Cathay.
Group I Cortereal is seen as he maps the Coast of North America which he named Corterealis in 1500.
Group 2 Though numerous navigators and fishermen had visited the new land, active interest seems to have flagged for thirty-five years until Cartier, still hoping for the discovery of the way to India, sailed into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. On his second voyage in 1535 he reached the present site of Montreal, where he was welcomed by the Indians. He is shown, as he reads a chapter from the New Testament to the Indians, who bring their sick to be cured.
Groups 3, 4 and 5 The next groups have as their centre of interest, Frobisher, Drake, and Gilbert, the first two being closely associated in the search for the Northwest Passage to India. Frobisher in 1576 thought he had found the passage as he passed into Frobisher Bay, and supposed he saw America on one side and Asia on the other. The following year, as Drake with Frobisher conducted a marauding expedition against Spain in the West Indies and South America it was supposed by them that by sailing through the Straits of Magellan they would be able to pass by the Northwest Passage back to England. After being discouraged in this hope by ice, they continued the voyage around the world. This was the second round-the-world voyage the first having been the disastrous expedition of Magellan in 1521 when he discovered the Straits of Magellan, and lost his life in the Ladrones, only one vessel of his fleet of five arriving back in Spain with fifteen men.
Group 5 shows Gilbert, the first Governor of Newfoundland, who took possession of it for Queen Elizabeth in 1583 and established a colony and Government. He met with disaster when famine threatened, and was lost with the foundering of his ten ton flagship, as he sat with his Bible in his lap, encouraging his men.
Groups 6 and 7 The last two groups show Champlain and Hudson, who in 1609 and 1610 were exploring Lake Champlain and the Hudson River, their routes nearly meeting. In group 6, Champlain is welcomed to Quebec on his return in 1608. In group 7, Hudson is shown with his young son, in 1610, consulting his chart as he turns to look west, where he is seeking the northwest passage. He discovered Hudson Bay, but was then lost, with his son and part of his crew.
Cabot Discovers the North American Coast, 1497 A.D.
John Cabot and his three sons received a patent from King Henry VII in 1497, to find, discover, and investigate lands hitherto unknown to all Christians. Like Columbus, Cabot had been dreaming of the possibility of reaching India by sailing West and had sought for many years to get aid to make the voyage. He had visited Mecca and heard of the riches of the East and was able to tell about them; but it was not until the news came that Columbus had found lands by sailing West that the King's interested was aroused, and the patent was granted. His small ship, Matthew, had a crew of eighteen men, and, leaving Bristol on the 2nd of May, 1497, he sighted land on the 24th of June. The Panel shows Cabot with his son Sebastian (who is supposed to have accompanied him) surrounded by his men as he takes possession of the country in the name of the King, after setting up a cross and planting the flags of England and Italy beside it.
Cartier Discovering the St. Lawrence
and Erects a Cross at Gaspé, 1534 A. D.
Although thirty-seven years had elapsed since the time Cabot discovered the Northern Coast of the continent, much had been done in exploring towards the South. Magellan had passed through the Straits into the Pacific, and the fishermen of various countries had frequented the Grand Banks. While the earlier discoverers had insisted that they had discovered Asia, it was now clear that it was a new Continent, and the search had become one for a passage beyond by which to reach Cathay. Cartier, after a favourable voyage of twenty days, with two ships, found the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which he entered by the Strait of Belle Isle. After extensive exploration he reached Gaspé, where he set up a cross and took possession. It was is belief that he had found the passage to Asia. He is represented in this Panel as addressing a band of Indians who were mystified by the ection of the cross, but who became friendly on receiving various trinkets as presents.
Founding of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1668 A. D.
Radisson and Groseilliers had explored far and wide as enterprising fur-traders, and Radisson had been captured and tortured by hostile Indians. At a later date they brought to Quebec a rich cargo of furs. Not wishing to share profits with the French Governor of Canada, they went, on one of their expeditions, without a license, and, because they had broken the law, they were imprisoned and most of their furs taken for taxes and fines. As a result they offered their services to England and told of the great possibilities of fur-trading through the North into Hudson's Bay. The Panel shows the ship, Nonsuch, which Groseilliers took into James Bay, at the mouth of the Moose River. Wintering there it returned to England with a rich cargo. Two years later, the Charter of the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay, was granted by Charles I I, and Prince Rupert, with seventeen partners, began the great Northern trade. This was at once disputed by the French, and after some years of hostilities by which the trading post was taken several times by French expeditions sent overland and retaken by the English, open war was ended only by the treaty of Utrecht, with the Company retiring farther north to Fort Albany, and the trading was developed westerly until the whole country passed into the possession of Great Britain when Wolfe took Quebec.
United Empire Loyalists, 1783 A. D.
There were numerous movements into Canada of the people from the newly formed United States, who, after the War of Independence, came to be called the United Empire Loyalists. This panel represents the very important movement by way of the Richelieu River to Sorel on the St. Lawrence and up the river to Adolphustown, where the Government had surveyed several Townships to be settled by them. At Sorel, during a winter spent there, batteaux were built, these being capable of accommodating five families with their household effects. They were propelled by four rowers, aided by a sail, and were guided by a steersman at the stern. The scene is set at a wide portion of the St. Lawrence, opening into Lake Ontario, and a group of Indians on the high shore serves to indicate the extent of the flotilla, as from a high point they look down the River. About 3000 were transported in this way, each flotilla consisting of twelve batteaux. In passing up the rapids, each batteau was drawn by means of ropes by all the men of the flotilla.
Mackenzie Discovers the Pacific, 1793 A. D.
The search for the northwest passage had become less intense as the great extent of the continent became known and the Hudson's Bay Company had spread their activities over a large part of the north. Alexander Mackenzie, a young and vigorous agent and shareholder in the company, had proved his leadership in many ways. He led a number of expeditions, two of which were into the heart Of the Continent, over the Grand Portage from Montreal to Lake Athabaska. He was the first to undertake the discovery of the way to the Pacific across the Rocky Mountains. The distance to the coast was known by him, as he had Captain Cook's Latitudes and Longitudes. The Mackenzie and Peace Rivers were vaguely known, and it was in the belief that the Mackenzie led to the Pacific Ocean that he chose to explore that River first. Disappointed in finding that it led into the region of ice. called the Hyperborean Sea, he turned to the Peace River, after first making the journey by the Grand Portage and Montreal to England to prepare himself more fully with instruments for observation and up-to-date knowledge of how to use them, and returning by the same route. The panel represents Mackenzie and his nine men, two of whom were Indians, as he stands on the Bella Coola Rock in Dean Channel, near the Bella Coola River. This rock, which was identified six years ago, is about forty miles from the open sea. Mackenzie was unable to proceed further on account of lack of provisions and the hostility of the natives. From a village in a nearby inlet two canoes of hostile natives are approaching, and the order has been given to stand by, with arms ready. The Indian members of the party are loading the canoe, which had been borrowed at a village on the river, and, as Mackenzie makes his observations, Mackay, his foreman, by the camp-fire, mixes with grease, the Vermillion which is to be used for the inscription on the rock—"Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, the Twentysecond of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three."
The tale of Mackenzie's journey from Lake Athabaska to the Pacific as told in simple terms by himself, constitutes a great Canadian Epic. His powerful physique was used again and again to recover a canoe which his men had abandoned, to carry a sick I ndian up a steep mountain climb, or to accomplish some other task at which his men would falter. His gentleness in encouraging them when they became pan;c-stricken, and his firmness when they showed signs of mutiny, tell of his character. While he carefully planned all risks taken, many were faced with small chance of success. Yet he returned, and all his men. in good health, and all were willing to follow him in any enterprise.
Patriotism
A female figure symbolic of Canada stands on a raised dais, having an architecturally treated background of seat, wall, and columns. In her left hand Canada holds a scroll signifying free government, while in the right she holds a wreath, a token of merit recognized. About the figure are grouped representatives of the Family, Law, Education, Labor, Government, and Defence, each expressing, in various forms of homage, devotion to the native land. School cadets bear aloft the flags of Great Britain and Canada, which float in the breeze. In the background are Boy Scouts carrying the banners of the Provinces, and, in the distance, beyond a monumental wall and stately columns, are groups of trees and the blue water of Lake Ontario. Above is a blue sky broken by cumulus clouds. The wall and columns in this panel and in Panel No. 11, together with the distance formed by trees, water and sky, are similar and serve as balancing features of the composition of the two panels which are placed to the left and right of the auditorium stage.
This mural is so large that Reid painted it on canvas in his studio rather than in the auditorium, then glued it to the wall and "finished [it] ... to harmonize with the colour of the auditorium."
Several Jarvis cadets wearing their uniforms were used as models for figures in this mural.
Sacrifice
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