Abstract

The history of Quebec art is intimately linked with the history of the province. As a defining feature with iconographical importance, this study explores the Saint Lawrence River as a dominant theme in landscape painting contingent with the construction of the identity of the province. The discourse reflects the relationship between a river and time, through the historical, the cultural and the mythical. The particular time frame of this discussion, from the last decades of the nineteenth century until the end of World War I, encompasses comprehensive changes in Quebec society. Through imagery, the chronology of the thesis illustrates the river's instrumental position as Quebec transformed from a region struggling with cultural identity under colonial rule, to part of an emerging nation under the legitimacy of Confederation within a more urbanized society. These years also bookmark a period when Quebec painting underwent significant changes in both form and content, from the prevailing style of the European picturesque to an engagement with a modernist aesthetic. The visual arts of Quebec contain an extensive number of representations of its most significant river and reflect a prevailing theme from the early topographers to the modern era. This thesis investigates questions surrounding the Saint Lawrence River as an historical, social and political site concerned with visual imagery, as well as cultural material and travel literature.