Art Gallery of Hamilton
Encyclopedia
Art Gallery of Hamilton, is located in the heart of downtown Hamilton, Ontario
on King Street West and is one of Canada’s oldest galleries with a collection of over 9,000 works of art.
Today, the William Blair Bruce memorial donation is displayed in a dramatic salon-style hanging in what is the Art Gallery of Hamilton’s third home.
From 1914 until 1953, the Gallery’s first home was the second floor of the Hamilton Public Library building located on Main Street West
near James Street
.
In 1947, the Gallery was a founding member of the Southern Ontario Gallery Group, now the Ontario Association of Art Galleries
.
In December 1953, a new purpose-built gallery was opened at Forsyth Avenue and Main Street in west Hamilton. A little over a decade later, McMaster University
unveiled plans to expropriate the lands on which the Gallery was built, halting plans to expand the Gallery in this location.
In 1977, the Gallery opened in its present location in the heart of the city as part of a downtown redevelopment project.
In 2005, a renovated Gallery reopened, with new gold-coloured steel cladding protecting the building, a glass-enclosed front entrance on King Street, a new multi-purpose pavilion, and larger and renovated exhibition spaces.
The AGH primary collection is based on Canadian historical, Canadian contemporary and European historical art. Each year, the Gallery organizes, hosts and/or circulates approximately 25-30 exhibitions throughout the world.
The Art Gallery of Hamilton’s collection of modern Canadian art is one of the strongest in the country, due, in no small part to the vision and efforts of Thomas Reid (T.R.) MacDonald (1908–1978), the Gallery’s first full-time director and curator.
MacDonald soon inaugurated the Annual Winter Exhibition at the Gallery; this yearly exhibition was held from 1948-1973. These juried exhibitions provided artists with an important exhibition venue and also brought works to Hamilton that might be acquired by the Gallery.
Usually about one hundred works were featured in each exhibition, with the purchase prize (generally donated by a local patron or business) entering the AGH permanent collection. In this way, such important works as A.J. Casson’s First Snow, Lilias Torrance Newton’s Keith MacIver, and the iconic Horse and Train by Alex Colville
.
Selected as the purchase prize in 1954, Horse and Train was panned by The Hamilton Spectator
art critic Mary Mason, who wrote: “There are undoubtedly some very fine paintings out at the Art Gallery of Hamilton in this year’s Winter Show, but the winner of the purchase prize is not, alas, one of them.”
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
on King Street West and is one of Canada’s oldest galleries with a collection of over 9,000 works of art.
History
Artist William Blair Bruce, born and raised in Hamilton and successful internationally, died suddenly in 1906. In 1914, his family, including his widow, sculptor Caroline Benedicts-Bruce bequeathed 29 of his paintings to the city of Hamilton, with the understanding that a properly equipped art gallery be established to house and present the collection.Today, the William Blair Bruce memorial donation is displayed in a dramatic salon-style hanging in what is the Art Gallery of Hamilton’s third home.
From 1914 until 1953, the Gallery’s first home was the second floor of the Hamilton Public Library building located on Main Street West
Main Street (Hamilton, Ontario)
Main Street, is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It starts east of Wilson Street in Ancaster at White Chapel Cemetery as a two-way street and switches over to a one-way street at Paradise Road South, in Westdale, where it continues up to the Delta where it once again...
near James Street
James Street (Hamilton, Ontario)
James Street is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It starts off at the base of the Niagara Escarpment from James Mountain Road, a mountain-access road in the city, originally was a one-way street going south throughout but now has sections of it that are two-way...
.
In 1947, the Gallery was a founding member of the Southern Ontario Gallery Group, now the Ontario Association of Art Galleries
Ontario Association of Art Galleries
The Ontario Association of Art Galleries was established in 1968 to encourage development of public art galleries, art museums, community galleries and related visual arts organizations in Ontario, Canada. It was incorporated in Ontario in 1970, and registered as a charitable organization...
.
In December 1953, a new purpose-built gallery was opened at Forsyth Avenue and Main Street in west Hamilton. A little over a decade later, McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
unveiled plans to expropriate the lands on which the Gallery was built, halting plans to expand the Gallery in this location.
In 1977, the Gallery opened in its present location in the heart of the city as part of a downtown redevelopment project.
In 2005, a renovated Gallery reopened, with new gold-coloured steel cladding protecting the building, a glass-enclosed front entrance on King Street, a new multi-purpose pavilion, and larger and renovated exhibition spaces.
Collection highlights
The Art Gallery of Hamilton’s collection of modern Canadian art is one of the strongest in the country, due, in no small part to the vision and efforts of Thomas Reid (T.R.) MacDonald (1908–1978), the Gallery’s first full-time director and curator.
MacDonald soon inaugurated the Annual Winter Exhibition at the Gallery; this yearly exhibition was held from 1948-1973. These juried exhibitions provided artists with an important exhibition venue and also brought works to Hamilton that might be acquired by the Gallery.
Usually about one hundred works were featured in each exhibition, with the purchase prize (generally donated by a local patron or business) entering the AGH permanent collection. In this way, such important works as A.J. Casson’s First Snow, Lilias Torrance Newton’s Keith MacIver, and the iconic Horse and Train by Alex Colville
Alex Colville
David Alexander Colville, is a Canadian painter.Colville's family moved from Toronto to Amherst, Nova Scotia in 1929. He attended Mount Allison University from 1938-1942, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Colville married Rhoda Wright that year and enlisted in the Canadian Army under the...
.
Selected as the purchase prize in 1954, Horse and Train was panned by The Hamilton Spectator
The Hamilton Spectator
The Hamilton Spectator, founded in 1846, is a newspaper published every day but Sunday in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The paper has a daily circulation of 105,000 and a daily readership of nearly 260,000.-History:...
art critic Mary Mason, who wrote: “There are undoubtedly some very fine paintings out at the Art Gallery of Hamilton in this year’s Winter Show, but the winner of the purchase prize is not, alas, one of them.”