Muskoka Antiques, Giving Douglas Duncan Credit He Deserves in Canadian Art

Early Muskoka photo by the Bickmore Studio 

Bracebridge looking toward the town falls.

Historic Postcard Of Bracebridge

THE BIBLIOPHILE AND THE LOVER OF ART - A LIFE OF BOOKS, ART, WRITERS AND ARTISTS

DOUGLAS DUNCAN'S BIOGRAPHY - "A KEEPER"

     THE DUSTJACKET INTRODUCTION, TO THE CANADIAN ART BIOGRAPHY READS AS FOLLOWS: THIS IS AN UNUSUAL MEMORIAL TO AN UNSUAL MAN. DOUGLAS DUNCAN WAS A TORONTONIAN WHO, BY HIS PATRONAGE OF THE ARTS, HAS HAD AN ALMOST INCALCULABLE INFLUENCE ON THEIR DEVELOPMENT IN CANADA. A BIBLIOPHILE ALL HIS LIFE, HE BEGAN BY ESPOUSING BOOKBINDING AS HIS CHOSEN PROFESSION, AND AFTER STUDYING IN PARIS, HE RETURNED TO TORONTO TO SET UP AS A BOOK BINDER IN 1928. BUT THIS WAS ONLY ONE PART OF HIS LIFE, AND WHILE IN PARIS HIS INTEREST IN MUSIC AND PAINTING HAD GROWN AND MATURED. IN 1936 THE PICTURE LOAN SOCIETY WAS FOUNDED AND DUNCAN, AT FIRST ONE OF THE COMMITTEE, BECAME SOLY RESPONSIBLE FOR IT. IT IS IN THIS CAPACITY THAT HIS INFLUENCE WAS GREATEST; LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF CANADIAN ARTISTS OWE TO HIM, IN SOME MEASURE, A DEBT OF GRATITUDE FOR SOUND ADVICE, ENCOURAGEMENT, AND HELP GENEROUSLY GIVEN."

     THE 1974, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PUBLISHED A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY, ENTITLED "DOUGLAS DUNCAN, A MEMORIAL PORTRAIT," EDITED BY ALAN JARVIS, WHICH WAS CONTRIBUTED TO, BY HIS FRIENDS, INCLUDING WELL KNOWN AUTHOR, NORTHROP FRYE, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA, LESTER B. PEARSON, AND EVEN CANADIAN ENTERTAINER JOHNNY WAYNE, A PERSONAL FRIEND. PEARSON WROTE THE OPENING OVERVIEW OF MR. DUNCAN'S CONTRIBUTION TO CANADA. THE REMARKS WERE DELIVERED AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE DOUGLAS DUNCAN EXHIBITION AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA, IN MARCH 1971.

     "THERE ARE MANY HERE WITH A MUCH GREATER CLAIM THAN I HAVE TO SPEAK ON SUCH AN OCCASION, BECAUSE OF THEIR CLOSER ASSOCIATION WITH DOUGLAS DUNCAN, WHOM WE HONOR TONIGHT; THEIR GREATER KNOWLEDGE OF HIS LIFE AND WORK; OR BECAUSE OF THEIR OWN CONTRIBUTION TO THE ARTS FOR WHICH DOUGLAS DUNCAN DID SO MUCH HIMSELF. NOT THE LEAST OF HIS CONTRIBUTION IS THIS MAGNIFICENT GIFT OF PICTURES FROM THE DUNCAN ESTATE TO THE NATIONAL GALLERY (OTTAWA); A GIFT WHICH HAS ALSO BEEN MADE POSSIBLE BY THE GENEROSITY, THE INTEREST, AND UNTIRING WORK OF HIS SISTER, MRS. JACK BARWICK. I HAVE ALWAYS APPRECIATED THE UNIQUE QUALITIES AND THE CREATIVE WORK OF DOUGLAS DUNCAN. I HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF MEETING HIM DURING THOSE DAYS SO LONG AGO, WHEN, AS A STUDENT AT VICTORIA COLLEGE (UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO), HE WAS A MEMBER OF A SMALL COTERIE OF STIMULATING AND INTELLIGENT UNDERGRADUATES, INTERESTED IN COLLEGE ACTIVITIES THAT WENT BEYOND FOOTBALL AND PROMS (A GROUP THAT INCLUDED ONE DARK-HAIRED AN SINGULARLY ATTRACTIVE CO-ED WHOM AT THE TIME I WAS TRYING TO PERSUADE TO JOIN THE FACULTY WIVES.) INDEED, SHE SHOULD BE SPEAKING INSTEAD OF ME, AS ONE WHO HAS ALWAYS VALUED SO GREATLY HER FRIENDSHIP WITH DOUGLAS BEGUN IN THOSE YEARS.

     "DOUGLAS DUNCAN WAS A RARE PERSON. HE GAVE MEANING TO THOSE SHOP-WORN WORDS 'UNIQUE' AND 'DISTINCTION.' IT IS A DEPRESSING RECOLLECTION ON OUR TIMES AND ON TODAY'S MORES THAT THIS CONSTRUCTIVE WORK AND HIS DEDICATED SERVICE TO THE CULTURAL, NON-MATERIAL, DEVELOPMENT OF OUR NATION'S LIFE IS SO MUCH LESS KNOWN, OR LESS GENERALLY APPRECIATED, THAN THAT OF MANY LESSER PERSONS DOING SMALLER THINGS, WHICH WERE MORE NEWSWORTHY BECAUSE THEY WERE SPECTACULAR OR CONTROVERSIAL. BUT, AS SO OFTEN HAPPENS, THE IMPORTANCE OF HIS LIFE, AND HIS SERVICE TO THE ARTS TO WHICH HE DEDICATED THAT LIFE, IS BEING MORE WIDELY RECOGNIZED NOW THAT HE HAS GONE."

     I HAD BEEN LOOKING AT MY REFERENCE COPY, ONE DAY AT THE SHOP, HERE IN GRAVENHURST, SIMPLY BECAUSE I HAD TAKEN IT FROM HOME IN THE MORNING, TO MAKE SOME NOTES FOR THIS BLOG OVERVIEW. IT WAS SITTING ON THE DESK, FOR LACK OF A BETTER PLACE, THAT MOMENT, AND A WOMAN CAME BY THE COUNTER AND GRABBED IT UP; STUDYING IT FOR PURCHASE SUITABILITY I SUPPOSE. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR THIS BOOK……IT'S IN REALLY BAD CONDITION, AND IT WAS A LIBRARY DISCARD YOU KNOW…..I'LL GIVE YOU A COUPLE OF BUCKS FOR IT," SHE BLURTED BEFORE I GOT MY HEAD FULLY ABOVE THE DESK….AS I WAS PUTTING A COUPLE OF GLASS BOWLS BELOW THE SHOWCASE. "IT'S FOR SALE ISN'T IT; IT WAS ON THE COUNTER," SHE REMINDED ME, AS IF THAT WAS ALL IT TOOK TO BE AN ACT OF FUNDAMENTAL RETAIL.

    "NO MADAM, THE BOOK IS NOT FOR SALE," I SAID, AS RESPECTFULLY AS I COULD….IT'S MY PERSONAL COPY, AND I'M USING IT FOR A RESEARCH PROJECT." SHE LOOKED AT ME WITH CONSIDERABLE DISDAIN, SO I ASKED HER IF SHE HAD KNOWN "DOUGLAS DUNCAN," AND SHE ANSWERED, "I KNEW OF HIM…..BUT I WANTED THE BOOK FOR MY HUSBAND WHO COLLECTS CANADIAN ART," SHE REPLIED. "WOULD YOU SELL IT WHEN YOU FINISH READING IT?" "NO, I WILL NEVER PART WITH THIS BOOK, BECAUSE I CONSIDER MR. DUNCAN THE KIND OF ART PATRON I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE…..BUT COULDN'T AFFORD…..SO I LIVE VICARIOUSLY THROUGH THE WORDS OF THIS WONDERFUL LITTLE BIOGRAPHY." SHE LOOKED AT ME WITH EVEN GREATER DISDAIN, HUFFED AND PUFFED LIKE AN OLD STEAM LOCOMOTIVE, AND STOMPED FROM THE STORE, AS IF BY BODY LANGUAGE ALONE, THE MESSAGE WAS CLEAR……I WOULD NEVER SEE HER IN OUR SHOP AGAIN. NOW CONSIDERING SHE WOULD HAVE ONLY SEEN THAT BOOK FOR ABOUT TWO OR THREE SECONDS, ON THE FLY BY OF THE COUNTER, IT WAS JUST ONE OF THOSE SITUATIONS, THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ABOUT ANY BOOK THAT HAPPENED TO BE ON THE COUNTER AT THE SAME TIME. IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE, THAT SOMETHING ON THE DESK, WITH NO OTHER CUSTOMERS AROUND, MEANS A "NEW ARRIVAL," AND POSSIBLY SOMETHING IMPORTANT THAT HAS YET TO BE PRICED." I DON'T THINK SHE HAD HEARD OF DOUGLAS DUNCAN. BUT IT STIRRED ME UP A BIT, THAT IN HIS HONOR, I WOULD DEFEND THIS BOOK, THAT LOOKS AS IF IT HAS PASSED THROUGH A COMBINE-HARVESTER AT SOME POINT. I CAN TELL YOU ONE THING. IT HAS HAD THOUSANDS OF READERS PASS OVER ITS PAGES SINCE IT WAS PUBLISHED, ATTESTING TO ITS COMPELLING STORY. AS SOMEONE INTERESTED IN BOTH ART AND BOOKS, THIS HAS BEEN ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE REFERENCE TEXTS, THAT VALIDATES SORT-OF, WHAT I'VE SPENT MY OWN LIFE WORKING AT…….OUT OF ENJOYMENT MORESO THAN ANY QUEST FOR HUGE FINANCIAL GAIN. DUNCAN'S BIOGRAPHY HAS BEEN IN MY COLLECTION THE LONGEST, AND IT'S JUST ONE OF THOSE STORIES THAT REMINDS ME, WHEN I BECOME CONSUMED BY STATUS QUO, BOREDOM AND FRUSTRATION, THAT IT'S PART OF THE PROCESS OF COMPLETING A LIFE-LONG PROJECT. NOTHING EXTRAORDINARY. PLAIN OLD COMMONPLACE, IS WHAT IT ALL ADDS UP TO, BUT BY GOLLY, DOUGLAS AND I HAVE BEEN THROUGH A LOT OF JAMS IN THE PAST……..AS I TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT I LOVE MOST…..ART OR BOOKS, BECAUSE AT TIMES THERE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE ROOM FOR BOTH. RETREATING TO THE BOOK, THE MESSAGE IS……CARRY ON OLD CHAP…..LOVE AND CHERISH IT ALL, BECAUSE LIFE IS FLEETING. MAKE FRIENDS AND KEEP FRIENDS. I WONDERED ALOUD, WITH A LITTLE ECHO IN THE SHOP, WHETHER, IN FACT, I SHOULD HAVE RUN AFTER MY CUSTOMER TO OFFER ANOTHER APOLOGY FOR HOARDING THIS NEAT LITTLE ART HISTORY. HEY, YOU CAN'T PLEASE EVERYBODY, AND SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO SETTLE FOR PLEASING YOURSELF. SO I SAT DOWN WITH A COFFEE AND A MUFFIN, AND READ MORE ABOUT THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MR. DUNCAN. I'VE READ THIS BOOK AT LEAST FIVE TIMES ALREADY. EACH TIME I FIND SOMETHING ELSE I NEED TO KNOW BUT HAD FORGOTTEN.

PEARSON'S TOAST TO A LONG SUFFERING PATRON OF THE ARTS IN CANADA

     "HIS LIFE SPAN COVERED THE UNLIKELY COMBINATION OF KALAMAZOO, CORNWALL, PARIS, AND, OF COURSE, TORONTO, WHICH BECAME THE CENTRE OF HIS INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES, AND WHERE HE IS BEST KNOWN," WRITES PEARSON, ORIGINALLY GIVEN AS AN OPENING PRESENTATION, AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY.

     "BOOKBINDING - WITH WORK OF BEAUTY AND STYLE - WAS HIS FIRST ARTISTIC LOVE AND EXPRESSION. IT LED NATURALLY TO THE COLLECTION OF RARE AND GOOD BOOKS FROM WHICH MORE THAN ONE LIBRARY - BUT ESPECIALLY THAT, AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO - HAS BENEFITTED.

     "He will, however, be remembered best for his 'Picture Loan Society' - so unique a concept and so uniquely his own, and through which he did so much to spread the gospel of appreciation of Canadian painting, and encourage and help those who painted. No young artist who ever approached him was ignored or rejected. The operation and the influence of the Society was - as Alan Jarvis has written - 'Douglas Duncan's intangible legacy,' while his collection of paintings, now so widely distributed, was its tangible expression. All Canadians who love painting are his debtors - and especially those who themselves were enabled and encouraged by him to paint and persevere," wrote Lester Pearson. "The way the Society carried on, as well as how it operated, reflects well the kind of person Douglas Duncan was; this tall rumpled, unconventional, and to many, I suppose, disconcerting man. In a time of bowing down to corporate and organizational efficiency, which can be so depressing in many ways, he was supremely and wonderfully unorganized and unorthodox. His business methods, which are now becoming a Canadian legend, rejected 'C O D,' for 'P Y R,' - Payment for your Request. However, if you pressed too hard for a bill, you were in danger of being cut off the list of clients. Even today there must be hundreds of people wondering how much they owe Douglas Duncan - and I am reducing the debt now simply to money. In this frightening age of computers and psychiatric couches, one can gain comfort and hope from Douglas Duncan's insistence: 'Thank God, I have no system!' What this country needs - I believe Douglas Duncan would agree with me - is 'more unopened letters and uncashed cheques;' more 'third floor backs on 3 Charles Street West,' even if it means fewer skyscrapers for super banks."

     "He was modest and unassuming in everything he did - to the point of self-effacement. His satisfaction came from what he could do for art and artists, not what he could do for himself, by collecting paintings, or anything else. It is not always so, even in the cultural world," notes Pearson of his art patron friend. "Norman Endicott, in writing of Douglas Duncan, once said, 'The way you hear about the 'Mellon Collection,' you'd think Mr. Mellon himself had painted it. There's none of that nonsense about the 'Duncan Collection.' Douglas once said that he merely considered himself 'a casual collector.' Indeed he seemed to regard with suspicion any formal concept of 'collection,' and 'collector.' Alan Jarvis quotes him as saying, 'A collector is the sort of person who owns works by six members of the Group of Seven and lives in torment until he can fill the gap with a purchase of the seventh.' That kind of collector, today, would not free himself from torment even after achieving the seventh; what will a white paper on taxation eventually do to any of his pictures? Lorenzo the Magnificent would not find it too easy to be a public benefactor and a blessed patron of the arts in the federal state of Canada in the last half of the twentieth century," which is a pretty profound statement to be made by a former Prime Minister of Canada. "Douglas Duncan's casual collection of paintings, including those by which the National Gallery will no so greatly benefit - as practically every gallery in the country has benefitted, is a roll call of Canadian artistic talent.

     "The paintings of (David) Milne are, of course, a major part of the collection, but they are only a part. Douglas was a Catholic, if discriminating, in his appreciation of art, as he was generous in his encouragement and assistance of artists. Yet of Milne, he had a special attachment. I share his feeling for the work of this strange but authentic genius who put beauty above all material things. The many who have so greatly enriched our artistic life by his perception, and his generosity, has thereby enriched our whole national life. In doing so, he has, I hope, helped us to realize that there is far more to national development than a seven per cent annual increase in G.N.P.; and far more to personal development than reaching the highest income tax bracket or the lowest golf score. I am privileged tonight to pay this humble tribute to a quiet, unselfish Canadian who 'wrought better than he knew'."

TRIBUTE BY ALAN JARVIS TO HIS FRIEND DOUGLAS DUNCAN

     "On the occasion of the opening of an exhibition, at the Willistead Gallery, in Windsor, in October 1967, of a selection of works which he owned, Douglas Duncan, to the astonishment of a good many people, walked to the lectern and spoke on his own behalf. The astonishment arose because Duncan had always been self-effacing to the point of invisibility and had cocooned himself in a persona of shyness which had become legendary. Slowly surveying this handsomely presented exhibition, Douglass announced, 'This is not a collection…..it is an accretion.' As always he was using language with precision and he spoke quietly and calmly but with authority. His noun was perfectly accurate. He was not a collector as the word is normally understood. He never beat about the bushes and hedgerows seeking bargains or finds. Instead, he hived up at 3 Charles Street West, Toronto, and the artists (and collectors of the conventional mould) came to him, trudging the three flights of stairs with their portfolios or canvases under their arms. They were greeted by a quietly affable man who, more often than not, squatted on his hunkers - a position he found comfortable and which allowed his visitors to see over his head to the important things, the pictures - with a cigarette poised between elegant, attenuated fingers. They were greeted by a dispassionate D.M.D. (I shall use this trigram henceforth because it was the way he liked to sign his sporadic letters or dedicate the countless books he felt the young needed for their edification, and which he distributed like a one-man Gideon society) If or when they presented their work his judgement would be direct, considered and frank - sometimes even brutal - but almost always of impeccable taste. I use the word almost because I was privileged to share with him the choosing of works to be included in the Willistead show, and from time to time, after long contemplation, we agreed that certain works did not merit hanging alongside the obviously first rate. On a few occasions - usually out of sheer kindness - DMD had adopted young artists of promise, promise which they never fulfilled. Without either recrimination or regret, their work was shifted to the 'study collection.'

    If you like Canadian art, and the fine art of bookbinding, and the old books to go with it, please join me again tomorrow, for some additional biographical information on this stalwart patron of the arts in Canada……Douglas Duncan, who we should all know about…..but sadly, there just aren't enough of his biographies to go around. So I want to share a portion of this interesting life for my readers, who may never own, even a beat-up copy, as I do, as a cherished reference copy and ongoing source of inspiration…..to be of sensible proportion about this "collecting thing."

     Once again, it has been a pleasure, serving your reading interests. While I have often flattered myself as a humble patron of the arts, my participation has always been well beneath the standard set by the good Mr. Duncan. My contributions so far, have mostly been in the editorial capacity, of producing, out of personal interest and not financial reward, local artist biographies, here in Muskoka, for use by the National Art Gallery, and Art Gallery of Ontario archives, which have included profiles of landscape painters, Robert Emerson Everett, Bracebridge, pioneer artist Ada Florence Kinton, Huntsville, Richard Karon, Lake of Bays, and in the near future, Canadian artist and printmaker, Frank Johnston, formerly of Gravenhurst and Picton, Ontario. With the exception of the Everett biography, both Karon and Ada Kinton can be archived on this blog-site. The Johnston biography will be published on this blog-site as well.  Please join me again tomorrow, for more information about Douglas Duncan, and his contribution to the rising popularity and acclaim of Canadian art and its artists. See you again soon.