Self-portrait in a Green Fedora

From its beginnings in 1939, the Contemporary Arts Society included among its members artists from Montreal’s Jewish community, including Jack Beder, Alexander Bercovitch, Sam Borenstein, Eric Goldeberg, Louis Muhlstock and Regina Seiden, many of whom were regular exhibitors with the Society. In his case, Moe Reinblatt would take part in Art of Our Day in Canada, an exhibition the Society held at the Art Association of Montreal (now the MMFA) in late 1940, the only time it would present works by a wider group of Canadian artists who were not members. That show would also include art from the Jewish community’s Herman Heimlich, Harry Mayerovitch and Fanny Wiselberg.