ABSTRACT
Lewis met the small group of benefactors who sustained him during his grim years in Toronto through John Reid, soon after he arrived in North America. On November 30, 1939, before moving from Buffalo to New York City, Lewis returned to Toronto to attend a dinner-party at the York Club that was arranged by Terence MacDermott, the headmaster of Upper Canada College, and Douglas Duncan, a patron of the arts and founder of the Picture Loan Society. Lewis’ satiric portrait, whether accurate or distorted, offended many Canadians at the University of Toronto. In Toronto, Lewis intensified provincial indifference to the arts by tactless provocations which eradicated the initial good will and extinguished his slight chances of success. Lewis moved from a partial eclipse in New York to a total eclipse in Toronto, where he had no reputation and was almost reduced to nonexistence.
