National Gallery of Canada - Definition and Overview

The National Gallery of Canada with sculpture in foreground

The National Gallery of Canada is one of Canada's premier art galleries. It is located in the capital city, Ottawa.

The Gallery is located in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive next door to the old Canadian War Museum building. The acclaimed structure was designed by Moshe Safdie and opened in 1988.

The Gallery has a large and varied collection. Its focus is on Canadian art but it holds works by many noted artists. It has a strong contemporary art collection with some of Andy Warhol's most famous works. In 1990 the Gallery bought Barnett Newman's Voice of Fire for $1.8 million, causing a storm of controversy as the painting was no more than three strips of paint. Since that time its value has appreciated sharply, however.

The Canadian collection holds works by Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven as well as Emily Carr and Alex Colville.

The Gallery is also often home to travelling shows from around the world. It also puts on exhibits of its own that travel across Canada and often beyond.

The Gallery's collection has been built up through acquisitions, especially of Canadian art. Much of the collection was donated, most notable are Lord Beaverbrook's substantial donation and that of the Southam family.

View of Sussex Drive with the National Gallery at left

History

The Gallery was first formed in 1880 by Canada's Governor General with it having its first home in 1882 on Parliament Hill in the same building as the Supreme Court. In 1911 the Gallery moved to the Victoria Memorial Museum, now the home of the Museum of Nature. In 1913 the first National Gallery Act was passed outlining its mandate and resources. In 1962 the Gallery moved to a rather nondescript office building on Cartier Square (today the British Embassy). It moved into its current building in 1988. In the 1990s the Gallery's photography collection was moved to the new Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography next to the Chateau Laurier, which remained affiliated with the Gallery.

Noted works

• The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West
• Jack Pine by Tom Thomson
• Pope Urban VIII by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
• Entombment of Christ by Peter Paul Rubens
• Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds by John Constable
• Hay Harvest at Éragny by Camille Pissarro
• Forest by Paul Cézanne
• Brillo by Andy Warhol
• Hope I by Gustav Klimt
• The Small Table by Pablo Picasso
• Memories of My Youth by Marc Chagall
• Nude on a Yellow Sofa by Henri Matisse

The largest work in the Gallery is the entire interior of the Rideau Street Chapel, the ornate chapel of a demolished girls' school.

External link

http://national.gallery.ca/