Photos of the National Gallery

Tags

art., Canada., Christina Pflug, Clyfford Still, Max Klinger, MBAC, NGC, Ottawa, painting

The National Gallery of Canada created in 1880 by the Governor General of Canada, H.E. the Marquis of Lorne. It is our Canadian National Museum of Art which holds several exhibitions of works every year by international artists and also features new works presented at the Biennale. We also have our permanent collection, only a fraction of it is shown at any given time. The new National Gallery building opened in May 1988 on Sussex Drive, previously the museum was located on Elgin Street in the now demolished Lorne building. It had been located in various government buildings in Ottawa in the years prior, usually one of two rooms were set aside for collections to be shown to the public. The NGC is among the top 10 Art museums of the world, it has the largest Canadian and Inuit Art Collection in the World. It also boast European, Contemporary and Modern collections of every period covering 1000 years of art history.

The new building is a design of Canadian Architect Moshe Safdi, it is meant to be a spectacular national museum with striking architecture with surrounding sculpture garden on Nepean Point high above the Ottawa River. It was opened in 1988 by the Governor General of Canada, H.E. Madame Jeanne Sauvé. In the last year the galleries have been re-painted with bold colours, gone is the off white which was prominent everywhere and tended to give a washed out effect to any work of art being shown. The latest gallery to be repainted is the Renaissance Gallery on the second floor, the teal colour of the walls makes the painting jump from the wall and each one attracts the eye of the viewer. The NGC has 35,000 works of Art and 1,200 are on display at any given time.

Here are some photos of the NGC.

Second floor European Art, 1900 period

Garden Courtyard, the flowers are changed four times a year to reflect the Seasons.

Friedrich Nietzsche by Max Klinger

From the second floor above the Great Hall looking down the passage towards the administration area and the galleries on the North side.

Christina Pflug, Kitchen door with Esther (1965), I presented this painting today to the public. It has many dark psychological meaning to it and most people do not like to look at it.

Clyfford Still, 1949G

The Renaissance Galleries are re-opening on Saturday, I love the new wall colour, it makes the art stand out. There in the background is the Venus by Lucas Cranach the Elder.

Waiting to be re-hanged today.

Passageway from the Entrance flooded with Southern light.