Maskoutain Jewel

Painting inspired by a photograph by the photographer François Larivière.

Painting on exhibit in Paris from November 23 to 25, 2025...

The public market at 1555 rue des Cascades Ouest, in Saint-Hyacinthe, is a jewel of Maskoutain architecture.

It stands in the heart of downtown Saint-Hyacinthe and has opened its doors every day since 1830, when Seigneur Jean Dessaulles (1766-1835), married to Rosalie Papineau (sister of the leader of the 1837 Patriotes, Louis-Joseph Papineau), ceded a plot of land to serve as the market square.

The oldest market in Quebec, it is the only one to have kept its food-trade vocation.

It is a true gourmet destination, offering high-quality food retail that showcases regional products.

Inside are seven (7) merchants: cheese shop, fruit stand, sausage maker, delicatessen, fishmonger, bakery and pastry shop, offering fresh, quality products in a unique and warm atmosphere.

Outside, the public market at 1555 welcomes many seasonal producers.

On the second floor is a contemporary art exhibition centre: EXPRESSION.

On September 3, 1876, a major fire destroyed the market and a large part of the town of Saint-Hyacinthe.

It was rebuilt in 1877 on the foundations of the old market.

In 1879, the last Seigneur of Saint-Hyacinthe, Robert A. Jones, in tribute to his parents, gave the village a double drinking fountain (with inscriptions in English on both sides), which is still in place, installed in front of the market facing rue Saint-Denis.

A proverb finds its application here.

Never look a gift horse in the mouth, as they say.

This fountain served to quench the thirst of humans on one side and animals on the other.

On December 19, 2011, the municipal council of the city of Saint-Hyacinthe adopted a bylaw designating the public market at 1555 rue des Cascades a historic monument.

Its value as an urban landscape, its value in use, its architectural value and its historical interest are undeniable.

At the heart of urban life in Saint-Hyacinthe, this public market is surrounded by fine boutiques for women and men, restaurants and friendly terraces that make it a lively centre of commerce and sociability.

It was a magnificent photograph by Mr. François Larivière that inspired me to paint this canvas.

François Larivière is a professional photographer whose work can be followed every week in the regional weekly Le Courrier de Saint-Hyacinthe.

He is a globe-trotting photographer who travels the world in search of shots that capture the precise instant when emotion and light merge to give birth to remarkable compositions.

On May 25, 2025, he won two medals, one silver and one bronze, at the Umencia Art Photo international photography competition, for his photographs entitled Géranium, showing that flower in bloom, and Spring Reflection, showing the sky reflected in the glass façade of the new T.-A.-St-Germain municipal library.

The newspaper Le Courrier de Saint-Hyacinthe, owned by DBC Communications inc., was founded in 1853 and is the oldest French-language newspaper in North America.

It is masterfully run by Mr. Benoit Chartier, third generation of the Chartier family, owners of the paper since the mid-1930s.