The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily con ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

, Manitoba, Canada. Its permanent collection includes over 24,000 works from Canadian, Indigenous Canadian, and international artists. The museum also holds the world's largest collection of

Inuit art Inuit art, also known as Eskimo art, refers to artwork produced by Inuit, that is, the people of the Arctic previously known as Eskimos, a term that is now often considered offensive. Historically, their preferred medium was walrus ivory, but s ...

. In addition to exhibits for its collection, the museum has organized and hosted a number of travelling arts exhibitions. Its building complex consists of a main building that includes of indoor space and the adjacent Qaumajuq building. The present institution was formally incorporated in 1963, although it traces its origins to the Winnipeg Museum of Fine Arts, an art museum opened to the public in 1912 by the Winnipeg Development and Industrial Bureau. The bureau opened the Winnipeg School of Arts in the following year, and operated the art museum and art school until 1923, when the two entities were incorporated as the Winnipeg Gallery and School of Arts. In 1926, the Winnipeg Art Gallery Association was formed to assist the institution in operating its museum component. The Winnipeg Gallery and School of Art was dissolved in 1950, although its collection was loaned indefinitely to the Winnipeg Art Gallery Association, who continued to exhibit it. In 1963, the Winnipeg Art Gallery Association was formally incorporated as the Winnipeg Art Gallery by the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gen ...

. The museum moved to its present location in September 1971, with the opening of a purpose-built building designed by

Gustavo da Roza Gustavo Uriel da Roza II, (born 24 February 1933) is a Canadian architect best known for his work on the Winnipeg Art Gallery. In 1988, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. ...

. In 2021, the museum opened a Michael Maltzan-designed Qaumajuq building in order to house the museum's

collection.

History

Background

The city's first serious art gallery was first opened in the former Manitoba Hotel (built by the Northern Pacific Railway), located at Main and Water Ave. An area of the hotel was set aside for an art studio. The art gallery was organized by Cora Moore, who upon return from a trip to Toronto, organized a Winnipeg branch of the

Women's Art Association of Canada The Women's Art Association of Canada (WAAC) is an organization founded in 1887 to promote and support women artists and craftswomen in Canada, including artists in the visual media, performance artists and writers. At one time it had almost 1,000 ...

and subsequently an artists group for men. The first art exhibit took place in February 1895. The art gallery featured art from artists from Manitoba, as well as Toronto, Montreal, New York, London, and Paris. The art gallery was shut down after the Manitoba Hotel burned down in 1899. Efforts to create another art museum began in 1902, after the Manitoba Society of Artists was formed, and its members began to lobby for the creation of a provincial civic and arts institution. In addition to the Manitoba Society of Artists, the Winnipeg-branch of the Western Art Association adopted a mandate that promoted the creation of an art museum to art from Manitoba, and the rest of Canada in 1908.

Gallery and school of art

After the first phase of the Board of Trade building was completed in April 1912, the Winnipeg Development and Industrial Bureau unveiled plans for its second phase expansion of the building, which featured a space designated for an art museum. The art museum, named the Winnipeg Museum of Fine Arts, was formally opened by the

Mayor of Winnipeg The mayor of Winnipeg is a member of Winnipeg City Council, but does not represent a ward. The position of mayor was created in 1873 following the incorporation of Winnipeg. Since 1998, the term of office has been for four years. The 44th and cu ...

Richard Deans Waugh, the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba Douglas Cameron, and the president of the Winnipeg Development and Industrial Bureau on 16 December 1912. The first exhibition held at the museum featured 275 works from the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

. Building upon the success of the art museum, the bureau opened the Winnipeg School of Arts in the same building on 21 June 1913. The art school, and museum operated as separate departments of the same institution, initially controlled by the bureau. The institution became independent of the bureau in April 1923, when it was formally incorporated as the Winnipeg Gallery and School of Art by the

However, by the mid 1920s, the institution faced financial difficulties, and was forced to suspend most museum operations in 1926, with its remaining expenses for the museum being paid towards insurance, campaigns to increase membership, and sundry repairs. The museum's permanent collection was held by the School of Art in trust while the museum was closed. In August 1926, the Winnipeg Art Gallery Association was formed to assist the museum in its operations. The gallery resumed normal operations on 22 April 1932, when it was reopened at the Civic Auditorium's (the present Manitoba Archives Building) western wing. The School of Art remained in the Board of Trade building until its demolition in 1935, and was relocated twice, in 1936, and 1938. In June 1950, the Winnipeg Gallery and the School of Art was formally dissolved, with the School of Art being incorporated into the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.

Winnipeg Art Gallery (1963–present)

On 6 May 1963, the Winnipeg Art Gallery Association was formally incorporated as the Winnipeg Art Gallery by the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. In 1965, discussions were raised to move the art gallery from the Civic Auditorium, although the institution opposed a proposed move to the

Manitoba Centennial Centre Manitoba Centennial Centre is an arts and cultural district that covers a 34-acre area in the east Exchange District of the Point Douglas area in Winnipeg, Manitoba, linking several of Manitoba's important arts and cultural facilities. It includ ...

, along with the

Centennial Concert Hall Centennial Concert Hall is a 2305-seat performing arts centre located at 555 Main Street in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, as part of the Manitoba Centennial Centre. The concert hall opened on March 25, 1968. It is the performing home of t ...

, and the

Manitoba Museum The Manitoba Museum, previously the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, is a human and natural history museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as well as the province's largest, not-for-profit centre for heritage and science education. Located close to City ...

. The Winnipeg Art Gallery criticized the proposal stating that, "the politicians of the city have set various arts groups on each other, and the result has been many objections. We of the Arts Gallery are sitting tight — but we are not sitting still." In 1967, the museum acquired a triangular plot of land across from the Civic Auditorium, and launched a competition for architects to submit designs for a new building. The proposed design required the demolition of several buildings on the proposed site, including an unused service station, and the Cinema Centre building. Work on a new museum building began in 1969. Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1971

The gallery moved to its present location in 1971, into a building designed by Canadian architect

Gustavo Da Roza Gustavo Uriel da Roza II, (born 24 February 1933) is a Canadian architect best known for his work on the Winnipeg Art Gallery. In 1988, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. ...

. Along with expanding the exhibition spaces, the new building also allowed for the museum's storage conservation unit to be housed in the same building, as opposed to an off-site location. Construction for the building cost approximately C$4.5 million, with the funding coming from the federal and provincial governments, private donations, as well as a public campaign to raise funds. The building was officially opened to the public on 25 September 1971 by Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. In October 1995, the museum expanded its property by acquiring the former Medical Mall building adjacent to its own building, and used it to house the museum's art studio programs. In 2012, the museum, and the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...

entered into a three-year agreement to exhibit works from the National Gallery's collection at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. In November 2015, the

Government of Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'', w ...

reached a five-year loan agreement with the

Government of Manitoba The powers and structure of the provincial Government of Manitoba (french: Gouvernement du Manitoba) are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867. In modern Canadian use, the term "government" referred broadly to the cabinet of the day (formally ...

, to exhibit the Government of Nunavut's collection of 8,000 works at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. The Government of Nunavut collection formed in 1999, and was originally housed in the

Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre (PWNHC) (''Centre du patrimoine septentrional Prince-de-Galles'' in French) is the Government of the Northwest Territories' museum and archives. Located in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, the ...

Yellowknife Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the ...

. The Government of Nunavut originally planned to house the collection in a climate controlled facility in

Iqaluit Iqaluit ( ; , ; ) is the capital of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian territory of Nunavut, its largest community, and its only city. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the Frobisher Bay, large bay on the c ...

, although those plans were later abandoned. Pavillion Canada Day

In June 2016, the museum opened a retail space, known as WAG@The Forks, in an effort to promote and sell

at The Forks. The retail space was the result of a partnership formed between the Government of Nunavut, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery. In September 2016, the museum, and the Assiniboine Park Conservancy opened WAG@ThePark at the Assiniboine Park pavilion. WAG@ThePark was opened as a partnership between the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Assiniboine Park Conservancy, which saw the museum curate exhibitions in the building. Most of the works from the exhibitions at WAG@ThePark is from the Conservancy's collection, although some Inuit works from the museum's permanent collection were also exhibited at the pavilion. In 2018, a lost painting by

Alfred Munnings Sir Alfred James Munnings, (8 October 1878 – 17 July 1959) was known as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken critic of Modernism. Engaged by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund, he earned several presti ...

was located in the permanent collections of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. The painting depicts Brigadier General R.W. Paterson's horse, Peggy, during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and was lost shortly after a Royal Academy of Arts exhibition in 1919, which featured that piece, and 43 other works from Munnings. The lost painting was identified in the Winnipeg Art Gallery's permanent collection after a public appeal to locate the work was issued by the British

National Army Museum The National Army Museum is the British Army's central museum. It is located in the Chelsea district of central London, adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the " Chelsea Pensioners". The museum is a non-departmental public bo ...

; in their efforts to recreate the 1919 exhibition. According to the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the painting entered its collection in 1984, donated to them by Paterson's children. The former Medical Mall building was demolished in 2017 in order to accommodate the construction of a new building to house the museum's collection of Inuit art, known as Qaumajuq, which broke ground in May 2018. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new building was held in May 2018, and featured the lighting of a

qulliq The qulliq (seal-oil, blubber or soapstone lamp, iu, ᖁᓪᓕᖅ, ''kudlik'' ; ik, naniq), is the traditional oil lamp used by Arctic peoples, including the Inuit, the Chukchi and the Yupik peoples. This characteristic type of oil lam ...

, an Inuit drum dance, and throat singing. Cost for the construction of Qaumajuq is estimated to be C$65 million, with C$35 million obtained from the federal, provincial, and municipal government, and the remaining funds covered by public and private donors. The centre would be the first museum building in the world dedicated to Inuit art upon its opening. Qaumajuq was opened to the public on 25 March 2021.

Grounds

The main property the Winnipeg Art Gallery presently occupies was acquired in 1967. The museum's main building was opened on the property on 25 September 1971. In 1995, the property was expanded after the museum acquired the former Medical Mall south of the main building. In 2017, the former Medical Mall was demolished to make way for Qaumajuq, a building centred around Inuit art. The main building and Qaumajuq will be connected by a

skyway A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of enclo ...

between the two buildings.

Main building

Rooftop garden, Winnipeg Art Gallery (19932869845)

The main building for the Winnipeg Art Gallery was opened in September 1971, and was designed by Gustavo da Roza in a late- modernist style. During the design and construction process, da Roza partnered with Number Ten Architects, who provided architectural drafting and project management. The building's exterior was designed as an iceberg-shaped "triangular mass," with an austere low silhouette, and almost no windows throughout its exterior. The building's exterior walls are sloped to reflect sunlight, and uses "aggressive" geometric angles. A wedge that protrudes from the "main mass" forms the entrance to the main building. Most of the building was built from poured-in-place, reinforced concrete and clad in

Tyndall stone Tyndall Stone is a registered trademark name by Gillis Quarries Ltd. Tyndall Stone is a dolomitic limestone that is quarried from the Selkirk Member of the Ordovician Red River Formation in the vicinity of Garson and Tyndall, Manitoba, Cana ...

. According to da Roza, the use of Tyndall stone for the load bearing wall was selected to help affirm the "character of henorthern prairie environment." Tyndall stone is also used extensively for the walls and floor of the interior, and the lounges in the building's second floor. The interior of the gallery was designed to help maintain and preserve works exhibited in the building, and includes mechanical systems that maintain the atmosphere of the building at an appropriate temperature and humidity for the works. As a result of the building's angular shape, nearly every room in the building has a different shape from the other rooms in the building. The interior of the building features of exhibition space. Most of the building's viewing galleries are located on the third floor, which also features a skylight set from the building's rooftop garden; whereas the mezzanine level is dedicated to smaller exhibition spaces, the museum's library, and offices. The ground level, known as Ferdinand Eckhardt Hall, is a large space sheathed in saw-cut Tyndall stone, and houses the museum's gift shop and art rental store, conservation lab, the main lobby, and a 320-seat auditorium complete this level. The museum's restaurant facilities and access to the rooftop garden are located on the building's fourth floor, while its storage for its collections are located in the building's basement. The total indoor area of the building is .

Qaumajuq

The museum property is also home to Qaumajuq, a four-storey building, situated to the south of the main building at Memorial Boulevard and St. Mary Avenue. Michael Maltzan, the principal architect for Michael Maltzan Architecture, was contracted to design the building in 2012.

PCL Construction The PCL family of companies is a group of independent general contracting construction companies in Canada, the United States, Australia and the Caribbean. PCL has headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with the United States head office in D ...

was contracted to construct the building. Construction for the building began in late May 2018, after the former building that occupied the site, the Medical Mall, was demolished in 2017. The building opened in March 2021. The design of Qaumajuq was intended to both complement the existing main building, as well as reflect where most of the works intended to be housed in the building originated from. The building's exterior is clad in glass and off-white stone, although concrete and steel were also used as building materials. The building will features 22 recessed skylights approximately above the floor. The skylights are designed to emit light on its exterior side, glowing "like a lantern". A curved designed is used throughout the interior, as a reflection of Northern Canada's "openness". The building's atrium features a serpentine steel frame of the building's three-storey visible storage for works for items in the Inuit collection not on exhibit. The visible storage is adjacent to the building's entrance on the corner of St. Mary's Avenue and Memorial Boulevard, with a lecture room, café, and reading room adjacent to the building's atrium. The building's second level includes a 90-seat theatre, a library, and a learning commons on the second floor. Most of the museum's exhibition space is located on the building's third floor, which has approximately of exhibition space. Five indoor, and two outdoor art studios are situated on the buildings uppermost level. The upper roof level of the building is also designed to provide space for exhibitions, public performances.

Permanent collection

As of March 2015, the Winnipeg Art Gallery's permanent collection includes over 24,000 works from Canadian, and international artists. Approximately 70 percent of the permanent collection was gifted to the museum by private donors. ''Summer Afternoon, the Prairie'' by Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald was the first work purchased by the museum for its permanent collection. The collection is organized into several collection areas, Canadian art, decorative arts, Inuit art, international art, photography, and works on paper. The photography collection was made a specialized area of its permanent collection during the 1980s. Its photography collection includes 1,400 works, most of which originated from Canadian artists in the latter half of the 20th century. The museum's works on paper collection contains approximately 6,000 items in its collection, encompassing historical to contemporary works by international artists, and Canadian artists, whose works make up the majority of the works on prints collection.

Canadian art

Maurice Cullen - Untitled (Windmill near river)

The museum's Canadian collection includes works from Canadian artists dating back to the 1820s to the present day. The museum's permanent collection includes 200 works by Canadian artists from 1820 to 1910. Work by Canadian artists prior to the 20th century in the museum's collection include those created by Maurice Cullen, Mary Riter Hamilton, John A. Hammond, Robert Harris,

Otto Reinhold Jacobi Otto Reinhold Jacobi (27 February 1812 8 February 1901) was a German-Canadian artist. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Life and work Born in 1830 Königsberg, Jacobi studied in Berlin at the Royal Academy of Arts. He ...

Paul Kane Paul Kane (September 3, 1810 – February 20, 1871) was an Irish-born Canadian painter, famous for his paintings of First Nations peoples in the Canadian West and other Native Americans in the Columbia District. A largely self-educated artis ...

, Cornelius Krieghoff,

James Wilson Morrice James Wilson Morrice (August 10, 1865 – January 23, 1924) was one of the first Canadian landscape painters to be known internationally. He studied at the Académie Julian in Paris, France, where he lived for most of his career. James Morrice S ...

Lucius Richard O'Brien Lucius Richard O'Brien (or L. R. O'Brien as he was known) (15 August 1832 – 13 December 1899) was an influential 19th-century Canadian oil and watercolour landscape artist. Life and career Lucius O'Brien was born in Shanty Bay, Upper ...

William Raphael William Raphael (August 22, 1833 – March 15, 1914), born Israel Rafalsky (), was a Prussian-born Canadian painter, best known for his lively genre scenes of the Montreal harbour and market life. He was the first Jewish professional artist to ...

George Agnew Reid George Agnew Reid (also known as G. A. Reid) (July 25, 1860 – August 23, 1947) was a Canadian artist, painter, influential educator and administrator. He is best known as a genre painter, but his work encompassed the mural, and genre, ...

, Peter Rindisbacher, Frederick Arthur Verner, and Homer Watson. The collection also features a sizable collection of Canadian modern art (works produced from 1910 to 1979) including works by artists of the Winnipeg Gallery and School of Art,

Painters Eleven Painters Eleven (also known as Painters 11 or P11) was a group of abstract artists active in Canada between 1953 and 1960. They are associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement. History Since the 1920s, artists in English Canada had been h ...

, and the Regina Five. The museum's Canadian modern art collection also includes a number of works from the

Group of Seven The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". It is officiall ...

, including over 1,000 works from Group of Seven member Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald. Other works in the collection by modern Canadian artists include Bertram Brooker,

Emily Carr Emily Carr (or M. Emily Carr as she sometimes signed her work) (December 13, 1871 – March 2, 1945) was a Canadian artist and writer who was inspired by the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the painters in Canada to ado ...

Charles Comfort Charles Fraser Comfort, LL. D. (July 22, 1900 – July 5, 1994) was a Scotland-born Canadian painter, sculptor, teacher, writer and administrator. Career and biography Early life Born near Edinburgh, Scotland, Comfort moved to Winnipeg in 1 ...

Ivan Eyre Ivan Kenneth Eyre (15 April 1935 – 5 November 2022) was a Canadian artist best known for his prairie landscapes and compositionally abstract, figurative paintings. In addition, Eyre was a Professor Emeritus of painting and drawing at the Uni ...

Prudence Heward Prudence Heward (July 5, 1896 – March 19, 1947)Ferrari, Prudence. "Prudence Heward: Painting at Home." (2001). In ''Framing Our Past: Canadian Women's History in the Twentieth Century,'' S.A. Cook, L.R. McLean, and K. O'Rourke, eds. Montreal: Mc ...

William Kurelek William Kurelek, (March 3, 1927 – November 3, 1977) was a Canadian artist and writer. His work was influenced by his childhood on the prairies, his Ukrainian-Canadian roots, his struggles with mental illness, and his conversion to Roman Catho ...

, David Milne, Walter J. Phillips,

Tony Tascona Antonio Tascona (16 March 1926 – 28 May 2006) was a Canadian artist of Italian heritage, best known for his abstract ''constructions'' featuring metallic panels made of aluminum, steel, resin, and industrial paints and lacquers. Tascona's emplo ...

and William H. Lobchuk and other printmakers of the Grand Western Canadian Screen Shop. The museum's also has a collection

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

from Canadian artists, most of which is made up equally of prints and paintings, although it also includes collages, drawings, installations, sculptures, and videos. The museum's collection of contemporary Canadian art includes works by

Eleanor Bond Eleanor Bond (born 25 March 1948) is a Canadian multimedia artist and art educator who is best known for reworking the Canadian landscape tradition using a new ecological awareness. Early life Eleanor Bond was born in Winnipeg to pharmacist H ...

, Aganetha Dyck,

Cliff Eyland Cliff Eyland (November 7, 1954 – May 16, 2020) was a Canadian painter, writer and curator. Career Born in Halifax and raised in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Eyland studied art at Holland College, Mount Allison University, and the Nova Scotia Col ...

, Wanda Koop, Janet Werner, and the Royal Art Lodge.

Decorative art

As of March 2015, the museum's decorative art collection includes more than 4,000 works of ceramic, glass, metal, and textiles from the 17th century to the present. The decorative arts collection began in the 1950s, when the museum was bequeathed a collection of decorative works from Melanie Bolton-Hill. The collection includes 1,500 ceramics from British artisans in the 18th and 19th centuries; nearly 1,000 Art Nouveau and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

-styled glass objects from the late 19th century to the early 20th century; and 500 works of silver from British and Canadian silversmiths.

International art

The museum's international art collection is made up of paintings from American and European artists from the 19th and 20th centuries. The museum's international collection includes the Gort Collection, which features 19

panel painting A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel of wood, either a single piece or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, panel painting was the normal method, when not paint ...

s, and 5 tapestries from

Northern Renaissance The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps. From the last years of the 15th century, its Renaissance spread around Europe. Called the Northern Renaissance because it occurred north of the Italian Renais ...

artists in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Gort Collection was bequeathed to the museum in 1973, although prior to that, it was already on long-term loan to the institution since 1954. The museum's international art collection also includes works by

Alexander Archipenko Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (also referred to as Olexandr, Oleksandr, or Aleksandr; uk, Олександр Порфирович Архипенко, Romanized: Olexandr Porfyrovych Arkhypenko; February 25, 1964) was a Ukrainian and American ...

Eugène Boudin Eugène Louis Boudin (; 12 July 18248 August 1898) was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors. Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores. His pastels, summary ...

, Marc Chagall, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot,

Raoul Dufy Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted ...

Henri Fantin-Latour Henri Fantin-Latour (14 January 1836 – 25 August 1904) was a French painter and lithographer best known for his flower paintings and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers. Biography He was born Ignace Henri Jean Théodore Fantin-La ...

Dan Flavin Dan Flavin (April 1, 1933 – November 29, 1996) was an American Minimalism, minimalist artist famous for creating sculpture, sculptural objects and installations from commercially available Fluorescent lamp, fluorescent light fixtures. Earl ...

Sol LeWitt Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including conceptual art and minimalism. LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" (a term he pref ...

, and Henry Moore.

Inuit art

The Winnipeg Art Gallery's permanent collection also includes the world's largest collection of Inuit art, numbering over 13,000 works in March 2019. Inuit carvings make up nearly two-thirds of the museum's Inuit collection, which includes 7,500 antler, bone, ivory, and stone carvings, dozens of hand-sewn wall hangings. Other works in the collection includes 3,000 prints and drawings from Inuit artists. The first works for the museum's Inuit collection was acquired in thet 1950s, although the museum's first substantial acquisition of Inuit works came in 1960, when George Swinton donated 130 sculptures to the museum. The collection was further bolstered in 1971, when the Jerry Twomey Collection, featuring 4,000 Inuit works, was donated to the museum. In 1989, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (later renamed

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention * Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band * Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehor ...

) donated 1,400 prints and drawings from Inuit artists to the museum. Since 1972, the museum has appointed a full-time curator to oversee its collection of Inuit art. Most of the works from the museum's Inuit collection was stored in the basement storage space of its main building, although the museum planned to move these pieces to Qaumajuq's visible storage vault and exhibit. Qaumajuq was opened to the public in 2021. Quamajuq's inaugural exhibit was named

INUA In Inuit mythology, an inua (ᐃᓄᐊ; plural inuat ᐃᓄᐊᑦ) is a spirit or soul that exists in all people, animals, lakes, mountains, and plants. This is not an individual soul, but rather "the vital force representing a chain or continuum ...

, meaning "life force" or "spirit" in some Arctic dialects. INUA is also an acronym for "Inuit Nunangat Ungammuaktut Atautikkut" (Inuit Moving Forward Together). The lead curator of the all-Inuit curatorial team designing the exhibit was Heather Igloliorte. Each of the four curators represented an area of the north. Igloliorte comes from

Nunatsiavut Nunatsiavut (; iu, italics=no, ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕗᑦ) is an autonomous area claimed by the Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The settlement area includes territory in Labrador extending to the Quebec border. In 2002, the Labrador Inui ...

, Krista Ulujuk Zawadski from Nunavut, Asinnajaq from Nunavik, and Kablusiak is

Inuvialuit The Inuvialuit (sing. Inuvialuk; ''the real people'') or Western Canadian Inuit are Inuit who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. They, like all other Inuit, are descendants of the Thule who migrated eastward from Alaska. Their homelan ...

. A focus in creating the exhibit was to honour ancestors and families and to connect people living today to "that trajectory of who our ancestors are and who we will become ancestors for".

Library and archives

The museum also operates a library and archives, maintained by its curatorial department. Known as the Clara Lander Library, its holdings include books, and records that assists in the museum's educational mandate; whereas its archives contains administrative, curatorial, and educational documents relating to the museum. Access to the Clara Lander Library is free of charge, although a written request must be submitted to the museum in order to access its materials.

Selected works

File:Wolfgang Katzheimer d.Ä. - Verspottung Christi (Winnipeg Art Gallery).jpg, Wolfgang Katzheimer, ''The Mocking of Christ'', c. 1500. File:Lucas Cranach d.Ä. - Johann der Beständige, Kurfürst von Sachsen (Winnipeg Art Gallery).jpg,

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder (german: Lucas Cranach der Ältere ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is kno ...

, ''Portrait of John I of Saxony'', 1533. File:Pieter Jansz. van Asch - Pastoral (ca.1640).jpg, Pieter Jansz van Asch, ''Pastoral'', c. 1640 File:Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot - Grands arbres dominant la berge d'une rivière (1855).jpg, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, ''Grands arbres dominant la berge d'une rivière'', 1855. File:Homer Ransford Watson - Near the Close of a Stormy Day (1884).jpg, Homer Watson, ''Near the Close of a Stormy Day'', 1884. File:Sir John Everett Millais - Afternoon Tea (or The Gossips) 1889.jpg,

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

, ''Afternoon Tea (The Gossips)'', 1889. File:Maurice Cullen - Wharf Beaupré - L. Canada.jpg, Maurice Cullen, ''Wharf Beaupré - L. Canada'', 1898. File:William Brymner - Portrait of a Young Girl (1904).jpg, William Brymner, ''Portrait of a Young Girl'', 1904.

Notes

References

External links

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Winnipeg Art Gallery YouTube channel
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