PAINTING

Description: .1 OIL PAINTING ON STRETCHED CANVAS. PAINTING IS UNTITLED. DEPICTS HEAD AND SHOULDERS FULL FACED PORTRAIT OF MAN WITH MOUSTACHE IN JACKET AND CELLULOID HIGH COLLAR. PAINTING IS MR. E.J. HILL. ARTIST (LOWER LEFT CORNER) IS: "J.S. CARTER 1887". PAINT ON FACE AREA IS STARTING TO FORM HAIRLINE CRACKS. UNFRAMED. PAINT CHIPPED ON FACE AND HAIR AREAS (SPRING 2006) .2 IDENTICAL IN SIZE TO .1. ALSO OIL PAINTING ON STRETCHED CANVAS. PAINTING IS UNTITLED. DEPICTS HEAD AND SHOULDERS FULL FACE PORTRAIT OF WOMAN IN HIGH-NECKED DRESS AND PENDANT NECKLACE. PAINTING IS OF MRS. E.J. HILL. ARTIST (LOWER LEFT CORNER) IS "J.S. CARTER 1887". PAINT IN NECK AREA IS STARTING TO FORM HAIRLINE CRACKS. UNFRAMED.

History: MR. E.J. HILL IS THE GRANDFATHER OF E.L. HILL, DONOR. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS. THE FOLLOWING HISTORY ON THE HILL FAMILY WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM THE ALBERTA HERITAGE SURVEY PROGRAM WEBSITE AND A LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE FROM NOVEMBER 23, 2008 ON THE HISTORIC HILL HOME. EDGAR JAMES HILL CAME TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1885 TO ESTABLISH A GROCERY STORE. HIS WIFE, IDA MAY BURKE HILL, AND YOUNG SON, EDGAR BURK, FOLLOWED IN 1889. BY 1892, HILL SR. FOUNDED THE E.J. HILL MERCANTILE, HOUSED IN A THREE-STOREY BUILDING ON THIRD AVENUE SOUTH, ACROSS FROM GALT GARDENS. THE STORE SOLD MEN AND LADIES WEAR, DRY GOODS, AND FURNITURE, AND EDGAR JR. WORKED ON THE DELIVERY WAGON AND AS A CLERK. ONCE HE COMPLETED HIS SCHOOLING, FATHER AND SON BECAME PARTNERS IN THE FAMILY BUSINESS. IN 1910 EDGAR JR. STARTED CONSTRUCTION ON HIS QUEEN ANNE STYLE HOME AT 702 11ST STREET SOUTH, THE FLOORPLAN OF WHICH WAS A REVERSE COPY OF THE ORIGINAL YWCA BUILDING. IN 1926, EDGAR HILL SR. BECAME ILL AND HIS SON DEVELOPED SCIATICA, PROMPTING THE SALE OF THE FAMILY BUSINESS. BOTH E.J. HILL AND IDA MAY, THE SUBJECTS OF THESE PORTRAITS, PASSED AWAY IN THE HILL HOUSE, WHICH STILL STANDS AND HAS BEEN REGISTERED AS HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT WITH THE PROVINCE. E.B. HILL DIED IN 1970. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPIES OF THE ALBERTA HERITAGE SURVEY PAGE ON THE HILL FAMILY AND THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE ON THE HOME.