Description of Historic Place

Rubin’s Ltd. Mural consists of a ceramic tile mural that spans the upper floors of the north façade and continues along a portion of the west façade of 720-730 Main Street in Moncton.

Heritage Value

Rubin’s Ltd. Mural is designated a Local Historic Place for being Moncton’s only public installation of renowned Quebec artist, Jordi Bonet.

Rubin’s Ltd Mural, entitled “Explosion”, remains one of the largest pieces of ceramic work of this type in eastern Canada. Jordi Bonet, who was a native of Barcelona, Spain, spent the final 25 years of his life in Quebec, before succumbing to leukemia in 1979 at the age of 47. His ceramic, cement, bronze and aluminium murals that proliferated the globe caught the attention of contemporaries such as Salvador Dali. Although much of his work was in sacred and liturgical art, the mural in Moncton is an example of one of Bonet’s secular commissions. This mural, commissioned by the Rubin brothers in 1962 for the façade of their newly renovated department store, Rubin’s Ltd., has remained an essential element of the streetscape of Main Street since its unveiling.

Source: Moncton Museum, historic places files – “720-730 Main St. - Rubin’s Ltd. Mural”

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Rubin’s Ltd. Mural include:
- rectangular ceramic tile mural on the north (24.6m x 8.25m) and west (3m x 8.25m) façades of 720-730 Main St.;
- original Jordi Bonet abstract design arranged in orange ceramic tile.