Additional Images

Provenance:

J.O.M. Fisher Esq., Birkenhead, UK;
Christie's, London, 17 Apr 1964, lot 33;
Christie's, London, The Winkworth Collection: A Treasure House of Canadiana in London, 1 Apr 2015, lot 274;
Collection of Sir Christopher and Lady Ondaatje

Literature:

F.H. Phillips, "Lost Pictures of Fredericton," The Atlantic Advocate, Fredericton (Sep 1951).
J. Russell Harper, Early Painters and Engravers in Canada (Toronto / Buffalo / London: University of Toronto Press, 1970), 73.
P.A. Hachey, The New Brunswick Landscape Print, 1760-1880 (Saint John, NB, 1980), 42, no.38.

Note:

Incredibly charming in both composition and rendering, View of the Barracks offers a glimpse inside the Fredericton Military Compound, which was established in 1785 by the British Government to serve as the hub for their military presence in Central New Brunswick. Only four of those buildings remain standing today: the Soldiers' Stone Barracks (1826), the Guard House (1828), Militia Arms Store (1832) and Officers' Quarters (1840 and 1853). The Officers’ Quarters, apparently depicted here, were originally built in wood in 1786. Destroyed by fire in 1815, it was rebuilt a year later. A second fire would damage the new building in 1837, but thanks to well-built firewalls, it did not consume the entire structure. The burnt section of the building would be rebuilt in stone beginning in 1839—after this painting was made. Today, the building is a National Historic Site.

Cooper’s painting appears to borrow from S. Russell's lithograph Officers' Barracks at Fredericton. Winter 1834 printed by Day & Haghe after a drawing by W.P. Kay from a Sketch By Captn Campbell. Captain Campbell has been identified as Sir John Campbell (1807-1855), who served as the aide-de-camp for his father, Sir Archibald, who served as the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick from 1831 -37. Sir John enjoyed sketching in his spare time, and has been credited as the artist responsible for an 1834 lithograph, New Brunswick Fashionables!!! published by Francis Beverley, Fredericton (Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, J. Leonard O'Brien fonds: MC299-7). Both images by Campbell are reproduced in P.A. Hachey, The New Brunswick Landscape Print, 1760-1880, Saint John, 1980, pp.41-2, nos 37-8.

Before entering the present collection, this painting was sold as part of the Winkworth Collection in 2015 at Christie’s in London. Peter Winkworth (1929-2005) was an avid collector of early Canadian art. After his death, the Friends of the Library and Archives Canada described Winkworth’s collection as “a treasure of paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, maps and other documents of incomparable beauty and breadth, depicting landscapes in every part of Canada and scenes of almost every aspect of life in Canada over four centuries,” and the corresponding auction was a momentous opportunity for collectors of historical Canadian art.

Further reading