Willard M. Mitchell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Willard Morse Mitchell (1881-1955) was an artist and architect from Amherst, Nova Scotia best known for his miniature watercolour paintings. They were mostly nature scenes. About 1930 he removed to Montreal where he seems to have decided to focus on the sale of his art as souvenir pieces, mainly depicting scenes from rural Quebec. He made his own hand-carved frames and printed paper backings for his pieces that told the story behind the scene depicted; thus he made several versions of the same picture. Mitchell would copy his most popular scenes using carbon paper on top of watercolour paper, making each scene appear as an original. It is said that he made upwards of 100 each of his most appreciated pictures. Known titles include Indian Church, Tadoussac, PQ, Old Time Bookstore (St. Catherines Street, Montreal), An Old Fashioned Caleche and The Little Red Sleigh. These competent works are actively sought out by collectors.

His furniture designs were also notable. One of his pieces (ca. 1920) was purchased for the permanent collection of the New Brunswick Museum in 1994.[1]