Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

PORTRAIT C.R. MATTHEWS

Date

1957

Materials

WOOD, CANVAS

No. Pieces

1

Height

4.2

Length

73.4

Width

63.4

Description

FRAMED OIL ON CANVAS. FEATURES A PORTRAIT OF A GREY HAIRED MAN WEARING WHITE SHIRT, BLUE TIE, BEIGE SWEATER VEST, AND GREY SUIT JACKET. BACKGROUND IS GREY. BOTTOM LEFT HAND CORNER HAS "DON FRACHE . . '57" IN BLACK. HAS A GOLD PAINTED WOOD FRAME. HAS 2 EYES AND WIRE IN BACK FOR HANGING.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

PAINTING ORIGINALLY BELONGED TO CHARLES R. MATTHEWS' SON, DAVID, WHO PASSED AWAY AND LEFT IT TO HIS HALF-BROTHER (DONOR ANNE MATTHEW'S HUSBAND) RICHARD WILLIAM MATTHEWS. DONOR STATES THAT HER HUSBAND FELT THAT THE PAINTING SHOULD BE IN THIS MUSEUM AS THE SUBJECT WAS "A TOP CITIZEN OF LETHBRIDGE". DONOR SENT PAINTING TO MUSEUM AFTER HER HUSBAND PASSED AWAY IN JANUARY 2004. SUBJECT OF PAINTING IS CHARLES R. MATTHEWS. BORN IN 1884 IN LONDON, ENGLAND C.R. MATTHEWS WAS EDUCATED AT TOLLINGTON PARK COLLEGE AND FAMOUS KING'S COLLEGE IN LONDON. HE WORKED IN LONDON AS A TELEGRAPHIST AND IN 1906 MOVED TO WORCESTERSHIRE WHERE HE TRIED HIS HAND AT MARKET GARDENING. THERE C.R. HEARD WONDERFUL TALES OF LETHBRIDGE AND DECIDED TO MOVE TO CANADA, ARRIVING IN LETHBRIDGE ON NOVEMBER 5, 1907, TO JOIN HIS BROTHER WILLIAM, WHO HAD ALREADY BEEN HERE 2 OR 3 YEARS. THE DAY AFTER HE ARRIVED IN LETHBRIDGE HE WENT TO WORK AT THE ROGERS-CUNNINGHAM LUMBER COMPANY. WHEN THE COMPANY WAS SOLD IN 1917 HE TOOK A POSITION AS ACCOUNTANT WITH THE FORD GARAGE HERE. IN THE SAME YEAR HE ALSO WORKED AT THE CRYSTAL DAIRY, AND LEFT THAT TO JOIN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD AS AN ACCOUNTANT ON JULY 1, 1917. HE WAS NAMED A DIRECTOR OF THE HERALD IN 1927, SECRETARY IN 1937, AND THEN SECRETARY AND TREASURER IN 1947. WHILE AT THE HERALD HE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN BOTH THE REMODELLING OF THE INTERIOR OF THE BUILDING AND AN EXPANSION RESULTING IN A NEW BUILDING. MATTHEWS WAS ALSO A DIRECTOR OF CJLH-TV. HE RETIRED FROM THE HERALD IN THE 1950S AND RAN FOR CITY COUNCIL, MISSING BY A NARROW MARGIN. MATTHEWS WAS ALSO KNOWN FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE THEATRE COMMUNITY OF LETHBRIDGE. ONE OF THE FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE PLAYGOERS OF LETHBRIDGE IN 1923, HE WAS IN THE CLUB'S FIRST MUSICAL. HE WAS ALSO PROMINENT IN THE CLUB'S REVIVAL IN THE YEARS AFTER WWII. HE WROTE, DIRECTED AND ACTED IN MANY PLAYS IN THE CITY, IN 1952/3 RECEIVING THE CANADIAN DRAMA AWARD (THE HIGHEST AWARD THAT CAN BE ACHEIVED IN CANADIAN AMATEUR THEATRICAL CIRCLES). HE WAS ALSO TREASURER OF THE ALBERTA DRAMA LEAGUE AND WAS ONE OF THE MORE ACTIVE MEMBERS OF ST. AUGUSTINE'S ANGLICAN CHURCH. HE MARRIED MARGUERITE MARIE VAN HECK IN LETHBRIDGE IN 1908, AND TOGETHER THEY HAD 2 CHILDREN (ONE OF WHICH IS DONOR'S HUSBAND). MARGUERITE PASSED AWAY HERE IN 1936, AND IN 1939 C.R. MARRIED MARGARET GRACE ASPLIN, AND THEY HAD ONE SON, DAVID. CHARLES R. MATTHEWS PASSED AWAY IN LETHBRIDGE IN 1965, AT THE AGE OF 81. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY ON ARTIST DON FRACHE WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM PERMANENT FILE P19738614000. DON FRACHE CAME TO THE LETHBRIDGE DISTRICT FROM GRAND FORKS, BRITISH COLUMBIA WITH HIS FMAILY IN 1919; IN 1922 THE FRACHE FAMILY FOUNDED THE FRACHE BROTHER’S GREENHOUSES, WHICH BECAME A PROMINENT BUSINESS IN THE AREA FOR MANY YEARS. FRACHE ATTENDED CATHOLIC CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL AND LETHBRIDGE COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE IN LETHBRIDGE BEFORE HE WENT ON TO STUDY COMMERCIAL AND FINE ARTS AT THE CHOUINARD ART INSTITUTE IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. HE THEN WORKED IN NEW YORK AND TORONTO AS A FREELANCE ARTIST, WORKING FOR BUSINESSES SUCH AS BOW MAC ENGRAVERS AND PRODUCING WORK FOR THE CANADIAN HOME JOURNAL AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS. HE RETURNED TO SOUTHERN ALBERTA IN 1949. BRIEFLY IN THE EARLY 1950S HE RAN FRACHE BROTHER’S FLOWER SHOP (322 6 ST SOUTH IN LETHBRIDGE), AN OFFSHOOT OF THE FAMILY’S GREENHOUSE BUSINESS. HE LEFT TO BECOME A FULL-TIME ARTIST. FRACHE MAINTAINED ARTIST STUDIOS IN LETHBRIDGE (1951-1968) AND IN COALDALE (1969-1982). IN 1944 DON MARRIED LOUISE MCGEE AND WAS PREDECEASED BY HER IN 1968; HE MARRIED HIS SECOND WIFE CECILLE IN 1980. FRACHE CONTINUED TO LIVE IN COALDALE UNTIL HIS DEATH IN JUNE 1994. FRACHE’S OEUVRE COVERED A WIDE RANGE OF SUBJECT MATTER, ALTHOUGH HIS PRIMARY LOVE WAS LANDSCAPE AND WESTERN HISTORY. HE ALSO PAINTED A SIZEABLE NUMBER OF PORTRAITS. HE WAS PART OF AN EARLY GROUP OF ARTISTS WHO TOOK SERIOUS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TRULY WESTERN BASED/ALBERTA ART PRACTICE. FRACHE’S TALENT AS A PAINTER ALLOWED HIM TO DEPICT CONTEMPORARY ALBERTA AND ALBERTANS AS WELL AS RECREATING EARLY SCENES OF SETTLEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT FOR THOSE COLLECTORS HUNGRY FOR IMAGES OF WESTERN CANADA. HIS WATERCOLOUTS AND OILS OFFER IMAGES OF THE DIVERSITY OF RANCHLAND, FARMLAND, MOUNTAINS, FOREST, AND PRAIRIE THAT MAKE UP THE WESTERN CANADIAN LANDSCAPE. HIS PALETTE DISPLAYS THE RICH EARTHY COLOURS AND WIDE RANGE OF TONAL VALUES OF THOSE ENVIRONMENTS. FRACHE WAS COMMISSIONED TO PAINT MANY MURALS IN ALBERTA. HIS ‘PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE’, COMPLETED IN 1956, WAS ORIGINALLY HOUSED AT MCCALL FIELD – THE EARLY AIRPORT IN CALGARY. THIS MURAL WAS SEVERELY DAMAGED IN ITS REMOVAL DURING A RENOVATION OF THE AIRPORT FACILITY. A REPLICA, PAINTED BY FRACHE IN THE LATE 1970S/EARLY 1980S, NOW HANGS IN THE CALGARY AIRPORT AT DEPARTURE GATE 25A. HIS SECOND MURAL WAS COMMISSIONED FOR THE AQUACOURT GOVERNMENT POOL AT RADIUM HOT SPRINGS, AND HIS ‘KOOTENAI BROWN’ MURAL IS IN THE HERITAGE CENTRE IN WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK.

UPDATE 8 FEBRUARY 2024: INTERVIEW CONDUCTED WITH ANNE CAMPBELL'S GRANDDAUGHTER LOUISE CAMPBELL AND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW JESSIE CAMPBELL ON 26 JULY 2023. THE FOCUS OF THE INTERVIEW WAS ANNE'S ORDER OF CANADA APPOINTMENT; HOWEVER, COMMENTS WERE ALSO INCLUS

Catalogue Number

P20040007000

Acquisition Date

2004-06

Collection

Museum

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