A new exhibition at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria looks at collecting policies there from 1951 to 1981. It鈥檚 an eclectic mix of artworks that might slip under your radar, but a visit with curator Michelle Jacques enlightened me about its importance.
Jacques has been the chief curator in charge of the gallery鈥檚 collections for the past five years, and she is a wonderful asset to Victoria. Coming to us after many years at Toronto鈥檚 Art Gallery of Ontario, Jacques brings expertise and a thoughtful consideration to Victoria鈥檚 rather random collections, which are the chief asset of this gallery.
The AGGV is perhaps just a few months away from its biggest renovation project ever, at which time the gallery will be closed for at least a couple of years, and the collections will be stored off-site. This seemed to Jacques an appropriate time to consider the policies that brought us here, and as her guide she chose an 鈥渙ff the cuff鈥� memoir written by Colin Graham, founding director, in 1981.
鈥淎s we look to the future,鈥� Jacques told me, 鈥渨e鈥檝e been thinking a lot about how our activity relates to the early activity of the institution. Our trajectory hasn鈥檛 really changed that much, though in the 21st century it might look slightly different.
鈥淭hinking about what the original collecting philosophy was, we can analyze how far off or how close we are now and how we want to move forward. Basically, what I discovered is we鈥檙e kind of on the same track.鈥�
Some quotes from Graham are posted high on the walls. He wrote that he did not want a 鈥渃ompletely Eurocentric collection,鈥� and set his focus on local artists, regional art and Canadian art in general. Early collecting areas also included Inuit art and donations from South America and the South Pacific, among others.
鈥淎sian art has become the great strength,鈥� Jacques observed, 鈥渂ut we didn鈥檛 have great success in some other areas. So what are we going to do with them now?鈥�
Victoria has a small number of early and excellent Inuit stone carvings. Do we gather more, or perhaps send them off to a museum that specializes in the field, such as the Winnipeg Art Gallery? They were first collected as ethnographic specimens, but now should stand on their merits as individual artworks and join the other elements of the collection. To make the point, Jacques has placed a monolithic wooden sculpture by Bob de Castro in proximity to a powerful serpentine stone woman carved by Joanassie Nowkawalk.
For many years, the gallery had a policy to leave the field of First Nations art to the Royal sa国际传媒 Museum (and later, the University of Victoria). But some early aboriginal prints and paintings were accessioned 鈥� two examples by Tony Hunt are on display. Now that contemporary native art is a growth area, should the gallery specifically develop this field through collecting and study in the future?
The same might be said of photography. Graham decided not to collect photographs (which are a huge part of Vancouver Art Gallery鈥檚 collection), and in the 1990s the gallery鈥檚 collection of prints by pictorialist photographer Harold Mortimer-Lamb was ceded to the Provincial Archives. A few with special relevance to the gallery鈥檚 collections, including portraits of Sophie Pemberton and Emily Carr, were retained. With no specific curatorial expertise in this field, what should the gallery do about collecting photographs?
Graham made a collection of European prints, acquired cheaply from the Ferdinand Roten Gallery, a 鈥渞oad show鈥� operation that came to Victoria annually. Jacques exhibits four 鈥渞estrikes,鈥� etchings made from the original plates, but after the artist鈥檚 death.
鈥淚n this day and age, when we have access to different ways of looking at repros, do we need restrikes?鈥� she wondered. They are likely candidates for 鈥渄eaccessioning.鈥� Is that a reality?
鈥淲e do deaccession,鈥� she admitted. Director Jon Tupper recently culled the gallery鈥檚 extensive holdings of Walter J. Phillips woodcuts, and disposed of duplicates and some in poor condition. With the proceeds, he bought Karlukwees, a winter scene that is probably Phillips鈥� most famous print.
鈥淚 like to think we are going about it very responsibly,鈥� Jacques said. Another Phillips print hangs beside an early collograph etching by Pat Martin Bates, who is 鈥渁 completely under-recognized genius in printmaking,鈥� as Jacques was quick to note.
In her thoughtful way, Jacques celebrates Graham鈥檚 success at attracting donations from artists 鈥� gifts of A.Y. Jackson and Arthur Lismer are on show 鈥� and from collectors. Maud Brown was the wife of Eric Brown, an early director of the National Gallery of sa国际传媒, and Graham persuaded her to donate generously.
Graham鈥檚 unpublished memoir 鈥� available for reading in the gallery 鈥� also shows his interest in cutting-edge modernist work, not in keeping with local tastes at the time. He bought what he could with money provided by the Women鈥檚 Committee Cultural Fund and the sa国际传媒 Council. These days, the women鈥檚 committee is called the associates, and their contributions are used to support exhibitions. Jacques told me that the gallery had just received the last contribution toward purchases from the sa国际传媒 Council, which will no longer provide funds for acquisitions.
Jacques鈥� professional and considered stewardship of the AGGV鈥檚 collection gives me confidence.
鈥淲e are taking a moment to review our past with a critical eye,鈥� she has written, 鈥渟o that we may step most successfully into the future.鈥�
听
Moving Forward by Looking Back: The First 30 Years of Collecting Art at the AGGV, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1040 Moss St., aggv.ca, 250-384-4171, until Sept. 4.
