The
National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
,
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.
The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on
Sussex DriveSussex Drive is a major street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's major ceremonial and institutional routes....
with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on
Parliament HillParliament Hill , colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Its Gothic revival suite of buildingsthe parliament buildings serves as the home of the Parliament of Canada and contains a number of architectural...
. The acclaimed structure was designed by
Moshe SafdieMoshe Safdie, CC, FAIA is an architect, urban designer, educator, theorist, and author. Born in the city of Haifa, then Palestine and now Israel, he moved with his family to Montreal, Canada, when he was 15 years old.-Career:...
and opened in 1988. The Gallery's former director
Jean Sutherland BoggsJean Sutherland Boggs, is a Canadian academic, art historian, and civil servant.Born in Negritos, Peru, an alumna of Alma College Boggs would later receive a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Trinity College in 1942...
was chosen especially by Prime Minister
Pierre TrudeauJoseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
to oversee construction of the national gallery and museums.
Marc MayerMarc Mayer is a Canadian arts manager and curator, who was named the director of the National Gallery of Canada on December 8, 2008....
was named the museum's director, succeeding Pierre Théberge, on 19 January 2009.
History
The Gallery was first formed in 1880 by Canada's
Governor GeneralThe Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, and, in 1882, moved into its first home on
Parliament HillParliament Hill , colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Its Gothic revival suite of buildingsthe parliament buildings serves as the home of the Parliament of Canada and contains a number of architectural...
in the same building as the
Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
. In 1911, the Gallery moved to the Victoria Memorial Museum, now the home of the
Canadian Museum of NatureThe Canadian Museum of Nature is a natural history museum in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its collections, which were started by the Geological Survey of Canada in 1856, include all aspects of the intersection of human society and nature, from gardening to gene-splicing...
. In 1913, the first National Gallery Act was passed outlining the Gallery's mandate and resources. In 1962, the Gallery moved to the Lorne Building site, a rather nondescript office building on
Elgin StreetElgin Street is a street in the Golden Triangle of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Originally named Biddy's Lane, it was later named after Lord Elgin....
. Adjacent to the
British High CommissionThe British High Commission in Ottawa is the main diplomatic mission of the United Kingdom in Canada. It is located at 80 Elgin Street in downtown Ottawa, across the street from the National Arts Centre and not far from Parliament Hill.- History :...
, the building now serves as office space for various governments departments, especially the
Department of National DefenceThe Department of National Defence , frequently referred to by its acronym DND, is the department within the government of Canada with responsibility for all matters concerning the defence of Canada...
. It moved into its current building on Sussex Drive in 1988, beside
Nepean PointNepean Point is a hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, overlooking the Ottawa River, Parliament, the Museum of Civilization, and other features of downtown Ottawa and Gatineau. It is located between the National Gallery of Canada and Alexandra Bridge....
.
In 1985, the newly created
Canadian Museum of Contemporary PhotographyThe Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography is an gallery of Canada's best art and documentary photography. Founded in 1985 and affiliated to the National Gallery of Canada, it is housed at the National Gallery of Canada, located at 380 Sussex Drive, Ottawa.The roots of the collection reach...
(CMCP), formerly the Stills Photography Division of the
National Film Board of CanadaThe National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
, was affiliated to the National Gallery. The CMCP's mandate, collection and staff moved to its new location in 1992, at 1 Rideau Canal, next to the
Château LaurierThe Fairmont Château Laurier is a landmark hotel in Downtown Ottawa, Ontario located near the intersection of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive designed in the Châteauesque style.-History:...
. In 1998, the CMCP's administration was amalgamated to that of the National Gallery's.
In 2000, the
Royal Architectural Institute of CanadaThe Royal Architectural Institute of Canada , founded in 1907, is a Canadian association representing over 3,600 architects, and faculty and graduates of Canadian Schools of Architecture.RAIC is the voice for architecture and its practice in Canada...
chose the National Gallery as one of the top 500 buildings produced in Canada during the last millennium.
Collection
The Gallery has a large and varied collection of paintings, drawings, sculpture and photographs. Although its focus is on Canadian art, it holds works by many noted American and European artists. It has a strong
contemporary artContemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
collection with some of
Andy WarholAndrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
's most famous works. In 1990 the Gallery bought
Barnett NewmanBarnett Newman was an American artist. He is seen as one of the major figures in abstract expressionism and one of the foremost of the color field painters.-Early life:...
's
Voice of FireVoice of Fire is an acrylic on canvas abstract painting made by American painter Barnett Newman in 1967.The purchase of Voice of Fire by the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa for its permanent collection in 1989 at a cost of $1.8 million caused a storm of controversy. Some residents mocked the...
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. In 2005, the Gallery acquired a painting by Italian Renaissance painter
Francesco SalviatiFrancesco de' Rossi was an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence, also active in Rome. He is known by many names, prominently the adopted name Francesco Salviati or as Il Salviati, but also Francesco Rossi and Cecchino del Salviati.-Biography:Salviati was born and died in Florence...
for $4.5 million.
Also in 2005, a sculpture of a giant spider,
Louise BourgeoisLouise Joséphine Bourgeois , was a renowned French-American artist and sculptor, best known for her contributions to both modern and contemporary art, and for her spider structures, titled Maman, which resulted in her being nicknamed the Spiderwoman...
's
Maman, was installed in front of the Gallery.
The Canadian collection holds works by
Tom ThomsonThomas John Thomson , also known as Tom Thomson, was an influential Canadian artist of the early 20th century. He directly influenced a group of Canadian painters that would come to be known as the Group of Seven, and though he died before they formally formed, he is sometimes incorrectly credited...
and the
Group of SevenThe Group of Seven, sometimes known as the Algonquin school, were a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920-1933, originally consisting of Franklin Carmichael , Lawren Harris , A. Y. Jackson , Franz Johnston , Arthur Lismer , J. E. H. MacDonald , and Frederick Varley...
as well as
Emily CarrEmily Carr was a Canadian artist and writer heavily inspired by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the first painters in Canada to adopt a post-impressionist painting style, Carr did not receive widespread recognition for her work until later in her life...
and
Alex ColvilleDavid Alexander Colville, is a Canadian painter.Colville's family moved from Toronto to Amherst, Nova Scotia in 1929. He attended Mount Allison University from 1938-1942, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Colville married Rhoda Wright that year and enlisted in the Canadian Army under the...
.
The Gallery organizes its own exhibits which travel across Canada and beyond, and hosts shows from around the world, often co-sponsored with other national art galleries and museums.
The Gallery's collection has been built up through purchase and donations. Much of the collection was donated, most notable are the British paintings donated by former Governor General
Vincent MasseyCharles Vincent Massey was a Canadian lawyer and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 18th since Canadian Confederation....
and that of the Southam family.
Noted works
The museum features Canadian, Native and Inuit art, American and European prints and drawings, moderns and contemporary art and photographs.
The largest work in the Gallery is the entire interior of the
Rideau Street ChapelThe Rideau Street Chapel was part of the Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on Rideau Street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was demolished in May of 1972, but its interior was salvaged, due to a public appeal to preserve the architectural beauty it displays. This interior is now on permanent...
, which formed part of the Convent of Our Lady Sacred Heart, The interior decorations of the
Rideau Street ChapelThe Rideau Street Chapel was part of the Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on Rideau Street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was demolished in May of 1972, but its interior was salvaged, due to a public appeal to preserve the architectural beauty it displays. This interior is now on permanent...
were designed by Georges Couillon in 1887. After the convent was demolished in 1972, the chapel was dismantled, stored and reconstructed within the gallery as a work of art in 1988.
The museum also features Cardiff's
Forty-Part Motet.
- A Woman at her Toilet by Rembrandt Van Rijn
- Brillo by Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
- Composition No. 12 with Blue by Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis "Piet" Mondriaan, after 1906 Mondrian , was a Dutch painter.He was an important contributor to the De Stijl art movement and group, which was founded by Theo van Doesburg. He evolved a non-representational form which he termed Neo-Plasticism...
- Dazzle-ships in Drydock at Liverpool by Edward Wadsworth
Edward Alexander Wadsworth was an English artist, most famous for his close association with Vorticism. He painted, often in tempera, coastal views, abstracts, portraits and still-life...
- Entombment of Christ by Peter Paul Rubens
- Eve, the Serpent and Death
Eve, the Serpent and Death is a painting by the German Renaissance artist Hans Baldung, housed in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. The date of the picture is debated, with proposals ranging from the early 1510s to between 1525 and 1530...
by Hans BaldungHans Baldung, known as Hans Baldung Grien/Grün was a German Renaissance artist in painting and printmaking in woodcut. He was considered the most gifted student of Albrecht Dürer.-Life:...
- Forest
Forest is a painting by French painter Paul Cézanne. An oil on canvas, it represents a wooded area close to Aix-en-Provence. It is currently in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada. - References :*...
by Paul CézannePaul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
- Forty-Part Motet by Janet Cardiff
Janet Cardiff is a Canadian installation artist. Born in Brussels, Ontario in 1957 Cardiff studied at Queen's University where she graduated in 1980. She also studied at the University of Alberta and graduated in 1983. She works in collaboration with her partner George Bures Miller. Cardiff and...
- Gala and The Angelus of Millet Before the Imminent Arrival of the Conical Anamorphoses by Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
- Hay Harvest at Éragny
Hay Harvest at Éragny is a 1901 painting by French Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro depicting the hay harvest in the French commune of Éragny-sur-Epte.It is currently in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada....
by Camille PissarroCamille Pissarro was a French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas . His importance resides in his contributions to both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, as he was the only artist to exhibit in both forms...
- Hope I by Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects...
- Iris by Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
- Jack Pine
The Jack Pine is a well-known oil painting by Canadian artist Tom Thomson. A representation of the most broadly distributed pine species in Canada, it is considered an iconic image of the country's landscape, and is one of the country's most widely recognized and reproduced artworks.The painting...
by Tom ThomsonThomas John Thomson , also known as Tom Thomson, was an influential Canadian artist of the early 20th century. He directly influenced a group of Canadian painters that would come to be known as the Group of Seven, and though he died before they formally formed, he is sometimes incorrectly credited...
- The North American Iceberg by Carl Beam
Carl Beam R.C.A. , born Carl Edward Migwans, made Canadian art history as the first artist of Native Ancestry , to have his work purchased by the National Gallery of Canada as Contemporary Art...
- Maman
Maman is a sculpture by the artist Louise Bourgeois. The sculpture, which resembles a spider, is over 30ft high and over 33ft wide, with a sac containing 26 marble eggs. Its abdomen and thorax are made up of ribbed bronze. The title is the familiar French word for Mother.Maman is amongst the...
by Louise BourgeoisLouise Joséphine Bourgeois , was a renowned French-American artist and sculptor, best known for her contributions to both modern and contemporary art, and for her spider structures, titled Maman, which resulted in her being nicknamed the Spiderwoman...
- Meadow and Farm of Jas de Bouffan by Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
- Memories of My Youth by Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
- No. 29 by Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and...
- Nude on a Yellow Sofa by Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
- Jean-Pierre Hoschedé et Michel Monet au bord de l'Epte by Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
- One Hundred Foot Line by Roxy Paine
Roxy Paine is an American artist. He was educated at both the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico and the Pratt Institute in New York....
- Perspective: Madame Récamier by David by René Magritte
René François Ghislain Magritte[p] was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images...
, parodying the Portrait of Madame RécamierPortrait of Madame Récamier is an 1800 portrait of Juliette Récamier by Jacques Louis David showing her reclining on an empire style sofa in an empire line dressed as a modern vestal virgin...
- Bust of Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...
by Gian Lorenzo BerniniGian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
- Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds by John Constable
John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...
- Thomas Taylor by Thomas Lawrence
- Still-life: Flowers by Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
- Study for Portrait No. 1 by Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon , was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery. Bacon's painterly but abstract figures typically appear isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
- 10 variations on Mao Tse-tung
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
by Andy WarholAndrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
- The Death of General Wolfe
The Death of General Wolfe is a well-known 1770 painting by Anglo-American artist Benjamin West depicting the death of British General James Wolfe during the 1759 Battle of Quebec of the Seven Years' War. It is an oil on canvas of the Enlightenment period...
by Benjamin WestBenjamin West, RA was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence...
- The Age of Bronze
The Age of Bronze is a bronze statue by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. The figure is of a life-size nude male. When first exhibited at the 1877 Salon in Paris, Rodin was falsely accused of having made the statue by casting a living model, a charge that was vigorously denied. This charge...
by Auguste RodinFrançois-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
- The Mechanic by Fernand Léger
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
- The Port of Antwerp by Georges Braque
Georges Braque[p] was a major 20th century French painter and sculptor who, along with Pablo Picasso, developed the art style known as Cubism.-Early Life:...
- The Small Table by Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
- The Tribute Money by Rembrandt Van Rijn
- Venus by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder , was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving...
- Voice of Fire
Voice of Fire is an acrylic on canvas abstract painting made by American painter Barnett Newman in 1967.The purchase of Voice of Fire by the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa for its permanent collection in 1989 at a cost of $1.8 million caused a storm of controversy. Some residents mocked the...
by Barnett NewmanBarnett Newman was an American artist. He is seen as one of the major figures in abstract expressionism and one of the foremost of the color field painters.-Early life:...
Affiliations
The Museum is affiliated with:
CMAThe Canadian Museums Association is a national organization for the promotion of museums in Canada.The Canadian Museums Association is the national organization for the advancement of the Canadian museum sector, representing Canadian museum professionals both within Canada and internationally. The...
,
Ontario Association of Art GalleriesThe Ontario Association of Art Galleries was established in 1968 to encourage development of public art galleries, art museums, community galleries and related visual arts organizations in Ontario, Canada. It was incorporated in Ontario in 1970, and registered as a charitable organization...
,
CHINThe Canadian Heritage Information Network is a Canadian government-supported organization that provides a networked interface to Canada's heritage, largely through the World Wide Web. It aims to give access to Canada's heritage for both Canadians and a worldwide audience, by supporting the...
, and
Virtual Museum of CanadaThe Virtual Museum of Canada is Canada's national virtual museum. With a directory of over 3,000 Canadian heritage institutions and a database of over 600 virtual exhibits, the VMC brings together Canada's museums regardless of size or geographical location.The VMC includes virtual exhibits,...
.
External links