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Canadian Treasures
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What is the Canadian culture? For Literature instantly one thinks of Lucy Maud Montgomery's classic Anne of Green Gables series. Using the nation's resources the Maple Tree comes to mind. For artists, naturally, it's the phenomenal Group of Seven. Technology has to be the Avro Arrow. This doesn't even begin to cover the multitude of events and objects reflecting Canadian culture. |
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Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum, one of the finest art and cultural institutions in the nation, has undertaken a monumental task. Beginning with their own collection they reached out to over 50 different Canadian institutional and private collections to amass this pivotal exhibition. |
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Title: Doukhobor Knotted Pile Rug, 1923
West Kootenay region, B.C.
Medium: Wool
Dimensions: 2.45 m x 2.45 m
Gift of Fedosia Verigin and J.W. Androsoff
Permanent Collection: Glenbow Museum, C-996.
Image Courtesy: The Royal Ontario Museum
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William Thorsell, the ROM’s Director and CEO, said, “The ROM is pleased to bring together these highlights from the leading collections in the country--everything from important Canadian historic artifacts to internationally recognized works of fine art. Canada Collects’ variety and range of objects aptly demonstrate the diversity of Canada and its avid collectors, both individual and institutional.” |
Title: Lubicon, 1988
Artist: Alex Janvier (Canadian b. 1935)
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions: 165.2 x 267 cm
Purchased with funds from the Estate of Jean Victoria Sinclair
Permanent Collection: The Art Gallery of Alberta
Image Courtesy: The Royal Ontario Museum
From an early 1709 Hudson’s Bay Company map of the Hudson’s Bay and Straits, to the 1982 Proclamation of the Canadian Constitution Act, the exhibit touches on many aspects of the country’s political and social history. Other important Canadian items include Lucy Maud Montgomery’s original manuscript for Anne of Green Gables (1905), Walter S. Allward’s powerful maquette, Justice, for the Vimy Ridge Memorial (1936), the first Canadian maple leaf flag (1965) and Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s birchbark canoe (c. 1968).
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Canada Collects also illustrates how important works of fine and decorative arts from around the world have enriched private and public collections in this country. |
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Artists represented in Canada Collects include both Canadian and International talent such as Lawren Harris, Joe Fafard, Francis Bacon, Constantin Brancusi, René Magritte, George Segal and James Tissot. |
Kenneth Lister, Assistant Curator in the ROM’s World Cultures Department and the lead curator of Canada Collects, stated, “It may seem that a gold brooch created by Northwest Coast artist Bill Reid has little relation to the landing gear of the Avro Arrow. It may appear that The Kiss by Constantin Brancusi and a Métis wedding dress make curious companions. However, these juxtapositions form one of the compelling features of this exhibition, where objects chosen by individual collectors blend together in a composition that maps Canadian passions."
Title: Pierre Trudeau’s Canoe, circa 1968
Medium: Birchbark
Dimensions: 76 cm wide x 5 m long
Permanent Collection: On loan from the Canadian Canoe Museum,
courtesy of the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Estate
Image Courtesy: The Royal Ontario Museum
Canada Collects includes textiles, ceramics, religious items, decorative sculptures, and furniture. Approximately 70 vital objects on loan from some 50 different collections are featured in this eclectic exhibition, from contemporary paintings to original historical manuscripts, illustrating the depth and strength of collections across Canada.
Canada Collects: Treasures from Across the Nation
Royal Ontario Museum:
October 7, 2007 - January 6, 2008