Frederick Cleveland Morgan


Frederick Cleveland Morgan D.C.L. LL. D was a Canadian department store heir, art collector, museum manager, and philanthropist.

Career

F. Cleveland Morgan was the great nephew of Henry Morgan, founder of Morgan's Department stores, which were sold to the Hudson's Bay Company in the early sixties. At age 18, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge. He received an M.A. degree in zoology from McGill University in 1904 and then entered the family business Henry Morgan and Company till 1952 when he retired. There, as Vice-President, he was responsible for display, special events and the art and antique departments. Persistent eye problems led to his dedicating his life to building the decorative arts collection that defines the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
He was made the first curator of Decorative Arts at the Art Association of Montreal, now the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and held the position from 1916 until his death in 1962. Under his direction, the collection amassed more than 70,000 works. Among his acquisitions were the first Inuit artworks acquired by the Museum; he made these acquisitions in 1953.
Denys Sutton of the Apollo magazine believed Morgan was one of the most perceptive connoisseurs of his day in North America. Morgan's "outstanding judgement of quality and discernment" is reflected in the objects he gave, talked family and friends into purchasing and donating or purchased for the collection. His gifts constituted nearly his entire personal collection but there were many more that came to the collection through his astute knowledge of the art field and influence. These gifts are estimated at about a thousand.
Another area of interest for him was the breeding of Siberian irises in which he was a pioneer. He was founding member of the American Iris Society. Some of his magnificent cultivars still enhance gardens around the globe.
In 1912, he built a country home in Senneville, Quebec, and called it Le Sabot. It was designed by David Shennan and today is considered an important monument of the Arts and Crafts movement in Canada and designated as a Historic Site of Canada. He also is responsible for the establishment of the Morgan Arboretum, given to McGill University in 1985. Frederick Cleveland Morgan died in Senneville on October 3, 1962. He is buried in the Cimetière Mont-Royal in Outremont, Quebec.

Honours