MONTREAL.- A series of Canadian cityscapes commissioned in the 1950s by Samuel Bronfman, founder of the Seagram Whiskey empire, are to be shown to the Canadian public for the first time in almost half a century. Bronfman was keen to counterbalance Canada’s reputation as a country of wilderness and ice, and in the early 1950s commissioned Canadian artists such as A.Y. Jackson, Robert Pilot, and Albert Cloutier to travel across the country making oil sketches of different cities.
These were sent back to Bronfman for his approval and from them 90 works were chosen depicting modern urban Canadian life. The collection entitled “Cities of Canada” toured North America and Europe in 1953-4 and was seen by over half a million people, after which they were displayed in Seagram’s Montreal offices. Four years ago most of the collection was donated by Seagram’s to Montreal’s McCord Museum where it will be on display until 12 April after which it will once again cross the country on a national tour.
Samuel Bronfman was born on February 27, 1889, in Soroki, Bessarabia, while his family was en route from Russia to Canada. As a young man, he worked in the family’s hotel business in Manitoba. In 1924, Samuel Bronfman built his first distillery in Montreal, and in 1928, the Montreal company merged with Joseph E. Seagram & Sons of Waterloo (Distillers Corporation-Seagrams Ltd.).
Bronfman’s keen market sense led to the worldwide success of what became The Seagram Company Ltd. For example, in 1933 when prohibition ended in the United States, his company was prepared with huge amounts of aged and carefully blended whiskies, as well as its own U.S. distribution network. Seagram’s Seven Crown American Whiskey and V.O. Canadian Whisky soon became the best-selling brands in the world.
Under Samuel Bronfman’s leadership, Seagram invested its profits in wineries and distilleries worldwide, reaching sales of over $1 billion in 1965. Bronfman’s record of public service is as impressive as his corporate success. A leader in Canadian Jewish affairs, he was president of the Canadian Jewish Congress from 1939 to 1962. He was a founding member of the Canada Council, and he dedicated support to education, medicine, art, theatre, music and sports. His distinguished service was recognized in 1967 when he was named Companion of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest award. Samuel Bronfman died in Montreal on July 10, 1971, at the age of 82.
