signed lower left; titled and dated on the gallery label
Provenance: The Upstairs Gallery, Winnipeg MB (label verso)
The nighttime streets of Montreal, lit by glowing streetlights, neon signs and the cars passing through, were Philip Surrey’s domain. Though originally Calgary-born, from 1937 until his death in 1990, Surrey lived and based most of his subject matter in Quebec’s largest city. In the morning and evenings outside of his work at the Montreal Gazette, he spent time walking the aging, urban streets. Here, he would observe life in the lonely hours after dark, translating it to moody and mysterious scenes in paint, rife with a lonely quality that place Surrey’s work in the camp of other night-dwelling artists like Hopper and Wyeth.
Rue Sanguinet is in the Ville Marie borough of Montreal, and historically was host to all walks of life; in the early 20th century, it marked the eastern boundary of the city’s Red-Light District. Surrey’s viewpoint can be found on foot by entering Rue Sanguinet from Sherbrooke Street East, looking downhill. While there are no visible figures in the composition, there are many signs of life: the shiny red taillights of the vehicles reflect on the wet street as they pass by; lit windows peppered across the facades of old buildings; down the street, a green glow emanates from something happening on a side street. “He sees the threadbare streets,” Kenneth Saltmarche wrote of Surrey and his paintings in 1972, “the habitues of pubs and clubs … the wet pavements, the traffic, pedestrians … garish sideboards, streetlights; and combines these various elements into images of haunting beauty.”
Reference: Saltmarche, Kenneth. “Colour from Montreal”. The Windsor Star, Sat. Nov. 18, 1972, p. 49
