Debbie Underwood Paints the Version of Montreal We Want to Believe in

You don’t need to be from Montreal to feel something when you see one of Debbie Underwood’s paintings. You just need to have been here once, late enough at night or young enough in spirit to believe that a bagel at 3 a.m. can be profound, that a corner deli can be sacred, or that the city's more than a crumbling heap.

Underwood paints that Montreal. The one without the orange cones, where Ben’s Deli is still standing, Saint-Viateur Bagel is postcard perfect. Her work is like a timeless summer day where the brickwork is warm, a winter morning of spiral staircases slick with ice, and off-frame people look like they just stepped out to grab a smoke or feed the meter.