Museum in Former Home of Lady Beaverbrook Brings Unique Experience to Arts & Culture Scene

Vincent Prager, founder of the Oppenheimer-Prager Museum at Dayspring, sat down with Charlotte County TV's Vicki Hogarth to share insight on the local museum and previous home of Lady Beaverbrook.

The Oppenheimer-Prager Museum is a combination of over 300 works of art painted by Prager’s mother and grandfather who were known for their impressionist art styles. Additionally, the museum consists of vintage collector’s items and staple pieces associated with the property’s history such as jewelry, interesting correspondence, children’s toys, and classic cars including Lady Beaverbrook’s Land Rover from 1950s England, “it’s a series of everything, there’s something for everybody.”

Prager’s grandfather, Joseph Oppenheimer, was a German impressionist artist who co-founded the Berlin Secession - the German Impressionist Exhibition that took place from 1899-1902. Although Oppenheimer loved painting landscapes and floral designs, he was most known for his integration of impressionist techniques in his portraits where only the face resembled classic portraits. Oppenheimer's work was so highly praised that even important figures, such as the Einsteins, sought out his work.

Prager’s mother, Eva Prager, would follow in her father’s footsteps and pursued an arts degree in Paris where she studied under Marc Chagall, an artist who was known for varying radical modernist styles. Despite gaining a lot of inspiration from her father when it came to the muse of her works, Prager incorporated lighter colour palettes, pastels, and in general, far more colour.

As one of Canada’s most prominent philanthropists, Lady Beaverbrook has become a household name in St.Andrews, and for Prager, this sentiment rings a little more true. With the Oppenheimer-Prager Museum being the former home of Lady Beaverbrook, the current museum carries a lot of her personal history and sentiments.

The Oppenheimer-Prager museum is located at 44 Acadia Road in St.Andrews, New Brunswick, on the Dayspring property. This museum that’s dedicated to the lives of Oppenheimer, Prager, and the other influential residents is self-financed and a true treasure of St. Andrews history. The museum is open from Wednesday to Sunday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm until the end of September.