National Gallery Salutes Outgoing Director
Marc Mayer, former director of the National Gallery of Canada (photo courtesy National Gallery of Canada)
Marc Mayer, the outgoing director of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, has been honoured for his leadership over the last decade with a gala event that raised $3 million for the gallery.
Thomas d'Aquino, the chair of the National Gallery of Canada Foundation, praised Mayer's vision and passion.
"Shepherding the fortunes of Canada’s leading visual arts museum, a global centre of excellence respected around the world, is no small task," said d'Aquino. "Deciding on acquisitions, working closely with curators and donors, building bridges to other institutions and stakeholders, and being the voice of the gallery in Canada and abroad, carry with them significant challenges. Marc has responded admirably to these challenges, all the while vigorously defending the Gallery’s professionalism and independence.”
Françoise Lyon, the chair of the gallery's board of trustees, said Mayer's efforts to build an extraordinary national collection of art have been "most distinguished."
The foundation, which organized the evening event, has raised more than $65 million in financial contributions, as well as art donations valued at over $70 million since it was founded in 1997.
Karen Colby-Stothart, the foundation's chief executive officer, said Mayer presided over thousands of additions to the national collection, including Roxy Paine’s One Hundred Foot Line (2010) and Geoffrey Farmer’s Leaves of Grass (2012).
"Cornerstones of Marc’s legacy will be the historic re-imagining of the Canadian and Indigenous galleries to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation and the enhancement of the newly-restored Canada Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which provides global exposure for Canadian artists," she said.
D’Aquino noted the receipt in 2015 of A.K. Prakash's $20-million collection of 50 works by Canadian artist J.W. Morrice; a $10-million gift by Scotiabank in 2015, supported by the Archive of Modern Conflict, that led to the creation of the Canadian Photography Institute of the National Gallery of Canada; and a $12-million gift of Canadian and international contemporary art by Bob Rennie in 2017.
The latest $3 million in gifts will enhance the gallery’s ability to share works from the national collection across the country and take Canadian art and scholarship beyond national borders.
The gifts comprise:
• $1.3 million donated by John Lacey and his late wife Naomi Lacey in support of the Naomi and John Lacey Art Incubator Prize, which will recognize exceptional talent at artist-run centres and small galleries across the country.
• $1 million donated by Carol Weinbaum and Nigel Schuster through the Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation in support of the Canadian Artists in Venice Endowment, which supports Canadian artists at the Venice Biennale.
• $440,000 to support the Canada and Impressionism 1880-1930 exhibition, which will travel to Germany, Switzerland and France before coming to the gallery in 2020.
• $260,000 to help rebuild the gallery’s national outreach programs via loans and exhibition partnerships in Canadian cities.
The foundation announced two gifts of art in Mayer’s honour. The Last of the Hurons (Zacharie Vincent) (1838) by Antoine Plamondon, a gift by Fred and Beverly Schaeffer, of Toronto; and Parade, Party or Protest by Geoffrey Farmer (2003), a gift by Gilles and Julia Ouellette, of Toronto.
Source: National Gallery of Canada
