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Victor Albert Long
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Artist.
Born at Fort Erie, Ontario on 24 May 1866, one of four children of Richard Long and Ann Fox, the family moved to Port Halhousie when he was one year old and he spent his childhood there. Around 1880, he ran away from home and worked on construction of the Welland Canal. After taking a short course in painting in New York, he decided to make this his life's work.
He studied painting at Munich, Germany and travelled the world, engaged in painting. He returned to Canada in 1887 and opened a Winnipeg studio at 383 Main Street where he specialized in portraits of anyone, regardless of status. He also approached the city and province offering to paint large portraits of public figures such as Mayors, Premiers, and Speakers at a deeply discounted price in exchange for them being prominently displayed. Long soon found that he was able to live on his income as an artist, one of the first in the city to do so.
Hundreds of Long’s portraits hang in legislatures, city halls, universities, and other places across the West. His most accessible works in Winnipeg include portraits of a number of the city’s early Mayors in a gallery surrounding the city council chambers as well as Andrew Carnegie’s portrait and landscapes of Fort Garry and Fort Douglas at the Millennium Library.
On 17 January 1902, he married Alexandra Victoria Anderson (1871-1955, widow of ? Hughes) at Brandon and they had two children: Winifred May Hughes Long (1894-?) and John Alexander Victor “Jack” Long (1904-1991). In 1910, the family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia but each summer Long would take a train back to Winnipeg, collecting new commissions at stops along the route. He would ship the completed works from his Vancouver studio. In his later years, he separated from his wife and lived in a tenement under reduced circumstances.
He died at Vancouver, British Columbia on 18 December 1938. His correspondence relating to Manitoba political portraits (1915-1927) is in the Archives of Manitoba.
His portraits in Manitoba included:
Subject
Year
Location
Prince Albert
c1900
Parklane Theatre, Crystal City
Alfred Joseph Andrews (1865-1950)
1902
John Arbuthnot (1861-1931)
1902
James Henry Ashdown (1844-1924)
1907
James Bryson Baird (1859-1939)
1917
Curtis James Bird (1838-1876)
1915
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)
1905
Henry Joseph Hynes Clarke (1833-1889)
1907
Elias George Conklin (1845-1901)
1901
Francis Evans “Frank” Cornish (1831-1878)
1901
Thomas Mayne Daly (1852-1911)
1902
Unknown
Frederick Harvey Davidson (1865-1935)
1917
Robert Atkinson Davis (1841-1903)
1907
Joseph Dubuc (1840-1914)
1915
King Edward VII
1887
William Sanford Evans (1869-1950)
1909
Frank Oliver Fowler (1861-1945)
1923
Winnipeg City Hall
Thomas Gilroy (1848-1905)
1902
Winnipeg City Hall
Marc Amable Girard (1822-1892)
1905
David Glass (1829-1906)
1916
Charles Frederick Gray (1879-1954)
1919
Thomas Greenway (1838-1908)
1908
Charles Edward Hamilton (1844-1919)
1902
David Howard Harrison (1843-1905)
1908
William Hespeler (1830-1921)
1916
Esther Huston (1865-1938, wife of Edward Brown)
?
YWCA Building
Colin Inkster (1843-1934)
1916
Samuel Jacob Jackson (1848-1942)
1916
Richard Willis Jameson (1851-1899)
1901
James Johnson (1855-1929)
1915
Lyman Melvin Jones (1843-1917)
1902
William Nassau Kennedy (1839-1885)
1901
Albert Clements Killam (1849-1908)
1901
John Mark King (1829-1899)
1907
John Leslie (1852-1915)
1887
Phoebe Leslie (1860-1945)
1887
Alexander Logan (1841-1894)
1901
Alexander Macdonald (1843-1928)
1902
Hugh John Macdonald (1850-1929)
1909
Queen Mary
c1900
William Forsythe McCreary (1855-1905)
1902
James McKay (1828-1879)
1916
Alexander McMicken (1837-1916)
1902
Gilbert McMicken (1813-1891)
1915
Alexander Morris (1826-1889)
1909
Alexander “Sandy” Murray (1839-1913)
1916
John Norquay (1841-1889)
1905
Tobias Crawford Norris (1861-1936)
1922
John Harrison O’Donnell (1838-1912)
1915
James Dallas O’Meara (1849-1901)
1903
Unknown
Edward Parnell (1859-1922)
1922
Alfred Pearson (1850-1921)
1901
John Palmerston Robertson (1841-1919)
1919
Rodmond Palen Roblin (1853-1937)
1909
Joseph Royal (1837-1902)
1916
Thomas Ryan (1849-1937)
1902
Thomas Scott (1841-1915)
1902
Thomas Sharpe (1866-1929)
1904
John Wright Sifton (1833-1912)
1915
Thomas William Taylor (1852-1924)
1902
Queen Victoria
1887
c1900
Parklane Theatre, Crystal City
Lewis Wallbridge (1816-1887)
?
Richard Waugh (1830-1908)
1908
Elizabeth Dafoe Library, University of Manitoba
Richard Deans Waugh (1868-1938)
1912
Henry Shaver Wesbrook (1842-1913)
1902
Horace Wilson (1848-c1903)
1902
William James Winram (1838-1891)
1915
Finlay McNaughton Young (1852-1916)
1916
Birth registrations [Winifred May Hughes, John Alexander Long], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1901 and 1911 Canada censuses, Automated Genealogy.
Marriage registration [Albert Victor Long, Alexandra Victoria Hughes], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Portrait of the Mayor,” Winnipeg Tribune, 16 January 1904, page 5.
Who’s Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Western Canada, Volume 1, edited by C. W. Parker, Vancouver: Canadian Press Association, 1911.
Death registrations [Alexandra Victoria Long, John Alexander Victor Long], British Columbia Vital Statistics.
“Vancouver artist found dead in room,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 December 1938, page 3.
“Victor Long, artist,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 December 1938, page 11.
“Victor A. Long: A Winnipeg artist” by Nan Shipley, Winnipeg Free Press, 28 February 1970, page 51.
“Artist's painting tells of sympathy,” Winnipeg Tribune, 28 March 1970.
Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.
A portrait of artist Victor Long, West End Dumplings blog.
Artists in Canada: Long, Victor Arthur, Portrait Gallery of Canada.
We thank Rachelle Ross, Lisa Desilets, Glen Toews, and the City of Winnipeg Archives for providing information used here.
This page was prepared by Christian Cassidy and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 18 December 2024
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