John Little’s Atwater Market Reappears on Law & Order
When John Little returned to Montreal after his time in New York, he and his new wife, Lorraine McMahon, moved into an apartment on Tupper Street in 1952. The location — a modest flat just steps from Atwater Street and the Montreal Forum — became central to his life and work.
From this setting, Little began to document the neighbourhood streets that surrounded him. Atwater Street, bustling with small businesses, grocers, laundries, and the rhythm of everyday life, offered the kind of subject matter that spoke directly to his vision as a painter. It was here, in these early 1950s years, that he found his footing as an artist of the city, capturing with precision the architecture and atmosphere of urban life.
Among the paintings from his early 1950s period is a painting of Atwater Market, created shortly after John Little and his wife Lorraine settled nearby on Tupper Street. The move marked a new chapter in his life and career: newly married, close to the Montreal Forum, and immersed in downtown Montreal.
For decades, the work was known from a black-and-white photograph in the Watson Art Galleries ledger, now held in the National Gallery of Canada archives. Watson Art Galleries represented Little at the beginning of his career. The ledger confirms it was sold by Watson in April 1951, but no subsequent record of its whereabouts surfaced.
That changed unexpectedly when the painting reappeared — not in a gallery or auction, but on Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent (Season 2, Episode 9), bringing the work back into view and in colour for the first time since the 1950s.
Screenshot from Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Season 2, Episode 9 with John Little’s Atwater Market at the fictional home of Didi and Stanley Thorpe
In many ways, Atwater Market symbolizes the turning point in Little’s career. It was here, in this surrounding neighbourhood, that he transformed from a young illustrator and student into a painter whose life’s work would chronicle the evolving face of Canada’s urban centres.
