Fonds

The Pen and Pencil Club was founded March 5, 1890, by the artists and writers R.W. Boodle, William Brymner, J. Try-Davies, Robert Harris, William Hope and John E. Logan. Its mandate was to promote the arts and literature in Montreal, while serving as a symbol of the strong ties uniting artists and authors. The meetings of this club, whose members included leading artistic and literary figures, produced a wealth of creative work.

With the exception of the year 1892, when eleven members joined the organization, this very exclusive club never admitted more than three new members each year and never had more than thirty active members at a time. Members included artists Henri Beau, Maurice Cullen, Edmond Dyonnet, Joseph-Charles Franchère, Clarence Gagnon, Louis-Philippe Hébert, Charles Huot, Alexander Young Jackson, Henri Julien, James W. Morrice and Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté; authors Stephen Leacock and Andrew Macphail; poets William H. Drummond, Charles Gill and John McCrae; composer Guillaume Couture; and architects Ernest Cormier, William Sutherland Maxwell and Percy Nobbs.

The Pen and Pencil Club's activities were reserved solely for members, though guests from outside Montreal were allowed. In addition, membership was for men only.

Beginning in 1893, the club organized an annual festival, while meetings were held on a regular basis. Most meetings were in members' homes, with many of them taking place in the studio of painter Edmond Dyonnet, who was a key contributor to the club, its general orientation and its achievements. Participants had to bring an artistic or literary work on the club's chosen topic to these meetings, which took the form of creative workshops. Meetings were also a forum for discussing and critiquing the works presented. In addition, the club funded the publication of some of its members' literary works.

The club's early years were characterized by a flurry of creativity that produced a number of original compositions. However, its activities began to wane shortly before the Great War.

Falling membership and a loss in creative momentum led to the club's gradual decline. The Pen and Pencil Club disbanded in 1966.