Nanking Café. Clark St., Montreal is painted by Frederick B. Taylor looking west along de la Gauchetière at Clark Ave in Montreal, with the facade of Montreal’s iconic Chinese restaurant, Nanking Café, in the foreground, and the 23-storey Art Deco Aldred Building towering in the distance. Nanking Cafe must be among the most recognizable landmarks of Montreal’s Chinatown, and one synonymous with the lore and mystery of what once was a dynamic, mysterious, and cohesive community (as an aside, one of the former managers of Nanking Café, Bill Wong, went on to develop a number of successful Chinese restaurants beyond the border of Chinatown, essentially popularizing Chinese food, Chinese buffets, and the concept of Chinese take out).The exoticism of a dragon-adorned vertical neon sign capped by a protruding round clock was sure to attract attention and customers and is still remembered today by former residents and occasional habitués of the area. 

With oriental decorative motifs, vermilion red and ochre yellow walls, accented green trim, and a view looking along a narrow downtown street, Taylor painted this from the perspective of both the artists and that of the trained architect.

The painting recreates a sense of the vitality of the area. Chinatown was a community, but also an area known for dining and nightlife (including a number of gambling dens), ans an integral part of Montreal’s multi-cultural history until the 1970s. Urban renewal and suburbanization, including Complex Guy-Favreau and the Convention Centre, eviscerated the area.