Spring Live Auction: Select Masterworks of Canadian & International Art (May 27, 2026)
Lydia Abbott highlights this rare collection of artworks from The Canadian Club Collection
Cowley Abbott is privileged to be entrusted with the collection of ten historical Canadian artworks from Beam Canada Inc., formerly in the collection of The Canadian Club Brand Centre, a building with a rich history in the development of Windsor and Canadian Club whisky.
The Canadian Club Brand Centre in Windsor, Ontario
American farmer and entrepreneur Hiram Walker began making his own whisky and selling it out of the back of a grocery store in Detroit in the 1850s. He noticed that it was being purchased and blended with other products and then sold at a higher profit. Wanting more control in the quality and production of his product, Walker purchased 468 acres of land across the river in what is now known as Walkerville, Ontario—a town that laid the foundation for the modern city of Windsor. He built a distillery, and in 1858, Walker officially established Canadian Club Whisky. It took nearly eight years to perfect the recipe that remains unchanged to this day.
A portrait of Hiram Walker inside The Canadian Club Brand Centre in Windsor, Ontario
Walker’s business ventures included many industries that supported the distillery—a ferry and rail lines, barrel-making and grain farming. He also built schools, supplied fire and police services, and had homes built for his employees. Walker created the town, controlled every aspect of it and introduced amenities Windsor did not have, such as running water and streetlights. A bronze statue of Hiram Walker was unveiled in Walkerville in 2022 to commemorate his immeasurable influence on the city of Windsor.
The art room in the Canadian Club Brand Centre in Windsor, Ontario
The Canadian Club Brand Centre in Walkerville opened in 1894 as Hiram Walker’s office and the headquarters of Canadian Club Whisky. The imposing red brick and terra cotta building is considered one of North America’s finest examples of Italian Renaissance architecture. It was modelled after the Palazzo Pandolfini in Florence, a design that inspired Hiram while on a trip to Italy. The inside is fitted with marble fireplaces, elaborate woodwork and ornate brass fixtures, and includes an indoor swimming pool, a basement speakeasy, and a wood-panelled boardroom showcasing paintings by the Group of Seven.
Tom Thomson’s Marsh, Lake Scugog and Lawren Harris’s Maple Bushes both displayed prominently in the art room of The Canadian Club Brand Centre
Featured prominently in the art room was Marsh, Lake Scugog, a 1911 oil painting by Tom Thomson depicting a favourite fishing destination on the outskirts of Toronto. The room displayed one painting by each of the original Group of Seven members depicting classic scenes of Canada’s varied landscape. Evening Light, The Kootenays by Frederick H. Varley and Waterton Lake, Alberta by A.Y. Jackson reflect western Canada. Manitoba is represented by Frank Hans Johnston’s impressionist oil sketch Rocky Shore, Lake of the Woods. Depictions of the Ontario wilderness include Maple Bushes, one of Lawren Harris’s favoured subjects, as well as Franklin Carmichael’s Still Morning, painted in La Cloche, and Arthur Lismer’s Shoreline, Georgian Bay. Atlantic Canada is evoked through the colourful sailboats in Petite Rivière, N.S. by J.E.H. MacDonald.
Tom Thomson Marsh, Lake Scugog, circa 1911
A unique artwork in the Canadian Club collection is a commissioned painting by Canadian artist Henry Sandham, Golf—Canadian Club (The Club’s The Thing), completed in 1898, just one year before Hiram Walker’s death. In the festive summer party scene, we see a Canadian Club labelled wooden crate stowed beneath the serving table. A 1916 oil painting by American artist Philip Russell Goodwin, Camping—Canadian Club, was also commissioned for the Canadian Club offices. The idyllic sunset of two canoeing men arriving at shore features the iconic Canadian Club wooden crate on the rocky edge.
Philip Russell Goodwin Camping-Canadian Club, 1916
The Canadian Club Brand Centre formerly offered tours of the building, teaching visitors about the Walkers, the origins of the Canadian Club brand and the history of the building, including its art collection. A whisky tasting often concluded the tour. Cowley Abbott is honoured to be offering this art collection linked to a significant part of Windsor’s and Canada’s history.
Lawren Harris Maple Bushes, circa 1920
Please click here for additional information on the Collection of Beam Canada (Canadian Club).