The National Gallery of Canada
Collecting National and International Art in Canada's Capital
Governor-General Campbell opened the National Gallery of Canada in 1880 to display Canadian visual art along with exhibits of art work from across the globe.
Perhaps it was due to his wife Louise’s interest and skill in the arts, or his concern for enhancing culture in the new country of Canada. Whatever may have been his reason, Governor-General John Campbell, also known as the Marquis of Lorne, opened the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa on March 6, 1880 to display fine pieces of Canadian art. The Gallery, located at the Clarendon Hotel, exhibited paintings by artists of the Royal Canadian Academy, notes the National Gallery site. Aged 33, the young Governor General not only inaugurated the Gallery, he even chose some of the pieces to be on display.
The Gallery underwent changes, moving several times - from its original Clarendon Hotel home it was transferred to a two-room space with the Supreme Court of Canada on Parliament Hill in 1882. It was shuffled to rooms above the Fisheries Exhibit, and then on to sharing space with the Department of Mines and Resources. The first full-time arts curator was hired in 1910. Under the 1913 National Gallery of Canada Act, the Gallery was incorporated and a Board of Trustees lead by Sir Edmund Walker was taken on to guide its future. Early art collections included pieces by Tom Thomson and European artists Leighton and Melbye.
Moved out of its space, Gallery closed in 1916
Fire elsewhere in the Parliament Buildings ousted the Gallery from its space, forcing the arts centre to close its doors but not to close activities. While some paintings were placed in storage, others were sent on travelling exhibits to Toronto and Montreal beginning in 1919, allowing more Canadians to view the creations of the famous Group of Seven and many other prominent artists.
By 1959, a new building was under construction, titled the Lorne Building after the Gallery’s founder, the Marquis of Lorne; the exhibits opened for public display in 1960. A few years later, the Gallery acquisition budget was enlarged to $1.5 million, permitting purchases of national and international artworks.
Outgrowing the Lorne Building, a new Gallery space was commissioned. Designed by Moshe Safdie and Parkin Partnership, a strikingly beautiful glass and metal building was constructed on Sussex Drive, a stone’s throw from the Parliament Buildings and downtown Ottawa. Opened in 1988, the magnificent building included modern devices such as “electronically controlled blinds and diffusing lenses to protect the art from too much sunlight” and a system of “skylights and mirrored shafts” to make use of daylight, according to OttawaKiosk.
Photography and Inuit Art find a home in the new Gallery
As an extension of the National Gallery of Canada, photographic works found a place in the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography. (The Gallery began collection 19th and 20th century photographs in 1967.) Inuit art, which had long been classed as folk art and therefore not desired in art spaces, finally found a place of honour in the permanent Gallery collection. The fine art pieces made by Arctic artists include sculptures of bone and stone, fabric art, prints and drawings.
The National Gallery of Canada plays host to several major travelling exhibitions annually. The Gallery’s own collection consists of over 37,000 artworks, of which 1,200 to 1,500 pieces are on display each year, according to Travel and Transitions. And the artwork does not only start inside the entrance – there is a huge sculpture of a spider outside, large enough to dwarf pedestrians. Entitled Maman, the arachnid of stainless steel, bronze and marble was created in 2003 by French artist Louise Bourgeois.
The National Gallery of Canada is located at 380 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario.
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