View List of 2010 Acquisitions

2009/2010 ACQUISITIONS

From July 2009 to June 2010, the Vancouver Art Gallery acquired 178 artworks through purchase and donation, bringing the total collection to 10,004 works. Among the highlights is a major new commission of a unique transformation panel by Robert Davidson, funded through a significant grant from Arts Partners in Creative Development.

Contemporary art in the collection continues to grow with exciting additions of painting, sculpture and photography by BC-based artists Andrew Dadson, Luanne Martineau and Reece Terris, all of which were supported by the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisitions Assistance program and members of the Gallery’s Acquisitions Committee. In addition, the acquisition of a black and white photograph by Scott McFarland was generously funded through the Audain Foundation for the Visual Arts. Another significant contemporary addition was the gift from Thomas H. Bjarnason of seven video works by Los Angeles-based artist Euan Macdonald.

The Jean MacMillan Southam Major Art Purchase Fund, established in 2008, made possible the acquisition of At Work, an important recent photo-based work and video by Ian Wallace, as well as a major two-channel video installation Rise and Fall by Fiona Tan, which was commissioned by the Gallery for her solo exhibition.

The Gallery’s holdings of historical art expanded through the generosity of the Estate of Ken Walley with the gift of After Work by Thomas Faed, as well as through anonymous donations of works by A.J.Casson, Robert Field, Francis Hans Johnston, Jean Paul Lemieux and Alexander François Loemans. In 2009, the Anne Eliza Winn Trust was established with funds dedicated to the purchase of works by the original members of the Group of Seven, through which canvases by Arthur Young Jackson, Arthur Lismer and Frederick Horsman Varley were acquired.

Through a generous bequest from the Estate of Eric Sonner, the Gallery received works by Eduardo Chillida, Adolph Gottlieb, Fernand Léger, Toni Onley, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Jack Shadbolt and Gordon Smith. From Simon Fraser University Art Gallery, the Gallery received a gift of eleven prints (lithographs and silkscreens) and twenty-three works on paper selected by Ian Thom from the residual Estate of Doris Shadbolt, specifically to complement the Gallery’s significant holdings of Jack Shadbolt’s work.

The Gallery continues to build on its noted strengths in historical and contemporary photography with the addition of the iconic works Clearing Winter Storm by Ansel Adams and City of London by Robert Frank, gifts from Claudia Beck and Andrew Gruft. Works from Stephen Shore’s series Uncommon Places were gifted by Alison and Alan Schwartz.

The Vancouver Art Gallery is grateful to artists who have made outstanding donations of their own work to the collection, including Karin Bubas, Gathie Falk, Kevin Madill, Ian Wallace, Lawrence Weiner and Roy Arden. The collection continues to benefit from the remarkable generosity of collectors such as Michael Audain and Yoshiko Karasawa, Claudia Beck and Andrew Gruft, Fernande Saint Martin, Guy Molinari, John Primus, Mark Prior and Luc Bernard, and Alison and Alan Schwartz. The Gallery extends sincere thanks to all donors of art, whose continued support is vital to the growth of the permanent collection.