ART GALLERY
The first black and white exhibition was held in 1881, and included the work of Durer, Bartolozzi, S.W. Reynolds, Charles Turner and J.M. Turner. At this exhibition a paper was read by Mr. McLennan on “Engraving” which was illustrated by woodcuts and specimens of engraving on metal, and in the same year a collection was held of the works of Canadian artists.
Since that time all kinds of exhibitions have been held in the galleries of the Art Association, each one growing more popular as the public taste in art has increased. So much so that the association, finding the quarters on Phillip’s Square too small to meet the increased attendances, determined to sell the building which had been the home of art for so many years and, with the proceeds together with the result of a special campaign which netted over two hundred and sixty thousand dollars, to build an art gallery worthy of the great City of Montreal. Such is the present beautiful Art Gallery Building on Sherbrooke Street, opened by H.R.H., the Duke of Connaught on December 9, 1912. Its architects were Edward and William S. Maxwell of this city.
The late Mr. James Ross, besides contributing $125,000 during his life time, bequeathed $100,000 to the association and the late Mr. Learmont and his sister bequeathed between them their splendid collection of paintings and china. The president of the Art Association is Mr. H.V. Meredith, president of the Bank of Montreal, and the membership is around two thousand; the curator and secretary being Mr. J.B. Abbott, son of the late Sir John Abbott, prime minister of Canada.
The permanent collection of the new art gallery consists of 626 pieces, including oil paintings, watercolours, etchings, statuary, casts and bronzes, with the Learmont collection, the donation of rare china and pottery consisting of 170 pieces, and a number of pictures filling one of the rooms, among which are works by Turner, Swan, Gainsborough and Reynolds. Among the other artists represented in the gallery, are Bougeaureau, Constant, Corot, Diaz of Peña, Goya, Henner, Monticelli, Millet, Pasini, Raeburn, Soest, Tholen, Treyon, Van Goyen, Van de Velde, Van Dyck, Whistler and Wilkie. There are also copies after Sarto, Titian and Salvator Rosa; bronzes by Clesinger, Guillemin, Rodin and Tout Mackenzie, and statuary by Benzoni, Bosio, Hébert and Romanelli. The library of the association has, through the generosity of its members, become one of the most complete collections of reference books on art in Canada.
It has been said that Montreal has some of the finest private collections of masters on this continent and that if all were on exhibition under one roof, the artistic wealth of the community would be found to be very considerable.
Among the notable collections of private citizens, the possession of the following, among others, may be ascribed to the possession of: The late Lord Strathcona: works by Turner, Henner, Jules Bréton, etc.; Sir William Van Horne: Monticelli, Rousseau, Daubigny, Corot, Delacroix, Rubens, Turner, Cuyp, Ruysdal, Raeburn, as well as examples by the advanced modern painters of the French post impressionist school; Lady Drummond: Reynolds, Franz Hals, Rosetti, Turner, Ruysdal, Troyon, Daubigny, Duprès, Peter de Hooge, etc.; R. B. Angus: Gainsborough, Romney, Rembrandt, Dagnan-Bouveret, Swan, Reynolds, Monticelli, Ruysdal, Hoppner, Aumier; the late James Ross: Rembrandt, Corot, Troyon, Millet, Fortuny, Teniers, Turner, Cuyp, Joseph Israels, Romney, Franz Hals; E.B. Greenshields: Turner, Ryder, etc., and a number of the modern Dutch school including Joseph Israels, Jacob, William and Maris; Mauve, Weissenbruch, etc.
All the owners mentioned above, as well as many others with smaller collections, have been very generous subscribers to the art gallery, both in pictures and money.