Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

MURAL, MARQUIS HOTEL

Date

1959

Materials

CANVAS, OIL PIGMENTS

No. Pieces

1

Length

664.0

Width

210.0

Description

MURAL MONTAGE OIL ON CANVAS DEPICTS SCENES TYPICAL OF LETHBRIDGE AND SOUTHERN ALBERTA. SEVEN SCENES AND AN OUTLINE MAP OF ALBERTA LOCATING LETHBRIDGE. SCENES INCLUDE: 1) POST OFFICE AND CLOCK TOWER WITH AUTOMOBILES. 2) TOP PORTION OF OUTLINE MAP OF ALBERTA ILLUSTRATES AN OIL DRILLING DERRICK WITH A BACKDROP OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA ROCKIES. 3) FOREGROUND SCENE WITH STALKS OF GRAIN, DAIRY CATTLE, BACKGROUND OF BUILDINGS INCLUDING GRAIN ELEVATOR. 4) TRAIN CROSSING RAILWAY TRESTLE, PROBABLY HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE AT LETHBRIDGE. TRESTLE PASSES OVER A COUNTRY ROAD IN FOREGROUND. 5) IRRIGATION SCENE. MAN WITH SHOVEL STANDING NEXT TO IRRIGATION PUMP, DITCH AND INTAKE PIPE IN BACKGROUND FIELD WITH SPRINKLERS. 6) SUGAR BEETS PILED AT HARVEST AWAITING PROCESSING. 7) SUGAR BEET PLANT, POSSIBLY PICTURE BUTTE PLANT. PAINTING HAS A NUMBER OF KNIFE CUTS, THIN SPOTS AND WRINKLES IN CANVAS. PAINT HAS FLAKED OFF IN A NUMBER OF AREAS NOTABLY CLOCK TOWER AND IRRIGATION SCENE. EDGES OF CANVAS TORN IN A NUMBER OF AREAS, LENGTH OF ABOUT 5 OR 6 CM. BELIEVE BOTTOM EDGE OF CANVAS HAS BEEN CUT TO REDUCE OVER ALL SIZE OF MURAL.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

MURAL BY DONALD ALWIN FRACHE WAS COMMISSIONED BY LETHBRIDGE RESTAURANTEUR SVEN ERICKSEN. ORIGINALLY HUNG IN THE MARQUIS HOTEL DINING ROOM. PAINTING WAS DONE IN A LARGE ROOM IN THE YMCA BEFORE BEING HUNG IN THE MARQUIS; FROM: "LETHBRIDGE A CENTENNIAL HISTORY" BY A. DEN OTTER AND A. JOHNSTON 1985. 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.

Catalogue Number

P19860102000

Acquisition Date

1986-08

Collection

Museum

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