Thoughts on The 68 Stations of the Montreal Metro Series

 

Now I can say that I painted all 68 Stations of the Montreal Metro System. There are hundreds of paintings and some sketches all done on location through the summer, winter, fall and spring seasons. It was an epic journey on bike, mostly on weekends and early mornings that took me to all parts of the city of Montreal, its surrounding Burroughs, and the nearby cities of Longueuil and Laval. Ironically I did most of the project by bicycle, only once do I remember actually taking the metro or bus to any of the stations. The original motivation was to emulate Hiroshige's famous print series 'The fifty three stations of the Tokaido' which depicted stops along the old road between Tokyo and Kyoto. My project was fueled by the pandemic and a need to get out of the apartment. For most of the time there were very few people at the stations but it picked up this year. I wore masks most of the time as a precaution. 

What now for the series, is it done? For now perhaps. There are a few stations that were under construction making it impossible to see the main structure. A few of the construction paintings were quite good and I would leave them in the series as a statement. But I may return to a few stations where I feel that more artwork could be done. I may also recompose the works onto a standard 8 x 10" format and see about making a book or prints on demand. It becomes a business venture at that point. But then again, so was Hiroshige's original series. He would have been paid a commission to make the drawings and the publisher would turn his drawings into wood-block prints for sale on the Tokaido road. His series was essentially a collection of postcards meant to generate profit. My series was a homage to the Montreal metro system, love it or hate it, ugly or beautiful. I leave it to the viewers now.

Another consideration is that Montreal has apparently approved an extension to the blue line eastward, the proposed station are:

Pie-IX (future), Blue Line

Viau (future), Blue Line

Lacordaire (future), Blue Line

Langelier (future), Blue Line 

Anjou (future), Blue Line

I will take a break from metro stations and think about my next move. Maybe the metro station in Paris, how many stops are there?  (over 300!)

 

68 Stations  9 x 12" watercolour paper, watercolour, December 2021 (No. 2961b)