After almost 40 years of guiding the art collections of the University of Victoria, Martin Segger retired in 2011. At about that time, the University's Maltwood Museum closed.
Now its Legacy Gallery has opened downtown and Mary Jo Hughes, former chief curator of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, has been hired as director of the University Art Collections.
Those simple facts don't begin to tell the story of the collections she has been hired to manage.
Fortunately, to celebrate UVic's 50th anniversary, Segger and Caroline Reidel, curator of collections, have recorded the details of the collection, its many components and its evolution.
This useful book supplements a "greatest hits" exhibit now on at the Legacy Art Gallery.
The University Art Collection, which now consists of more than 27,000 artifacts, began with the purchase of Bruno Bobak's Okanagan Landscape in 1951 for Victoria College, before the University of Victoria existed.
The college continued to collect paintings by sa国际传媒 artists, adding W.P.
Weston's dramatic Battle Scarred, pastels of Kitwanga by Judith Morgan and oils by Lawren Harris and Emily Carr.
When the university was created in 1961, the theme of the "garden campus" at Gordon Head was the sense of place.
This idea was exemplified by commissioned totem poles from Henry Hunt and his son Tony Hunt, fa脙搂ade panels for the library by George Norris, a mosaic by Margaret Peterson, a sgraffito mural by Herbert Siebner, a sculpture by Elza Mayhew and a mobile by Bill West.
In 1964, the estate of sculptor Katherine Maltwood suddenly provided 1,200 art objects, a property (her home at Royal Oak) to house them, and an endowment to establish the Maltwood Museum.
Her collection of decorative and fine arts, oriental rugs and porcelain, Western Canadian art and her own sculptures laid the groundwork of the current collection.
Segger was hired as the live-in curator in 1973 and oversaw the move to more secure quarters in the University Centre in 1977.
The University Collections continually broadened, intended as a resource of study materials rather than a permanent display.
In 1971, the papers of architect Samuel Maclure were accepted, followed later by renderings by Richard Bayne and designs of John di Castri. A toy theatre collection and 92 ceramic mushrooms, preColumbian statuary and historical musical instruments are available for research.
In the area of decorative arts, more than 500 examples of British porcelain were donated by Gary White and John Veillette, with choice additions from S.W. Jackman.
The roots of sa国际传媒 pottery were gathered by A.H. and E. Fitzgerald, supplemented by judicious purchases from Judith Patt.
Many artists are represented by exemplary collections of their own work, presented to UVic.
Among them are 315 items from Myfanwy Pavelic, 175 by Herbert Siebner, and focused groups from Don Harvey, Robert de Castro, Fenwick Lansdowne, Henry Hunt, Eric Metcalfe, Jack Wise and many more.
The papers of the Limners group of artists, and work from Prior Editions (lithography) and Coast Artists Collective can best be researched in Victoria.
The wide-ranging collections of Bruce and Dorothy Brown are noted, including art and artifacts of many sorts. The current show includes a monochromatic painting of a waterfall by J.M.W. Turner.
Study collections of photography by Nina Raginsky and Ulli Steltzer, films from Karl Spreitz and almost 3,000 First Nations screen prints from the workshop of Vincent Rickard will provide research materials for future students.
Robert Aller's own artwork and examples by the native children he taught have already been the subject of study. Professor Pat Martin Bates donated more than 500 prints created by her students over the years.
Local businessman and visionary Michael Williams left, at his death, a definitive collection of more than 1,000 pieces of contemporary art by local artists and much else, including his house, an endowment, a professorship and a series of downtown buildings, one of which houses the Legacy Art Gallery.
This downtown gallery was his particular wish, and it was his desire that it not be named after him.
This brief survey gives evidence of what a challenge it was for Segger to select just 50 artworks to represent the 50 years of the University Art Collections.
This "greatest hits" show will certainly inspire Victorians to get to know the University Art Collections better, and to foster further giving.
The Collections at 50: Building the University of Victoria Art Collections, at the Legacy Art Gallery, 630 Yates St., 2507216313, uvac.uvic.ca, until Nov. 24.
