Celebrating 40 Years: From the Permanent Collection

The Art Gallery’s Permanent Collection contains nearly 600 works which have been acquired by purchase or donation. In-house exhibitions regularly focus on aspects of this rich and varied collection, which is also available to scholars and study purposes. The collection is maintained and organized by the Gallery’s registrar/preparatory, and is held in trust for the enjoyment and education of all members of the community.

(1) 40 Years: 40 Gifts

Generous gifts and bequests from Dalhousie Alumni, and from members of the general public, including the artists themselves, account for over 60% of the works in the Permanent Collection. Curator Susan Gibson Garvey has selected 40 works which indicate the range and variety of these gifts – from Piranesi to Pratt, from Group of Seven landscapes to modernist abstraction – in paintings, prints and drawings.

(2) Face to Face

The Dalhousie Art Gallery is also the keeper of the University’s art collection, which includes many commissioned portraits of former deans, chancellors and presidents. However, for this exhibition, registrar/preparatory Michele Gallant has made a selection of “unofficial portraits’ from the Gallery’s collection: works by Robert Annand, Marion Bond and Miller Brittain, among others, which portray an informal and intimate view of their subjects.

(3) Inuit Sculpture

Within the Permanent Collection, various well-focused sub-collections have grown. Among these, a small but exquisite collection of Inuit sculpture has been built up through the generosity of Alumni and other donors. These elegant carvings in greenstone, soapstone and whalebone embody both physical and spiritual aspects of Arctic existence.