Sources: Highlights from the Beaverbrook Collection
When the Beaverbrook Art Gallery opened in 1959, it showcased a remarkable gift to the people of New Brunswick: a collection of British and Canadian works that is still unmatched in Atlantic Canada, and, indeed, which has few peers across the country. What鈥檚 more, the building within which the collection was housed, and a $1,000,000 endowment fund to sustain both, was part of the generous gift from Fleet Street press baron and native New Brunswicker Maxwell Aitken, the first Lord Beaverbrook.
From Lord Beaverbrook鈥檚 initial gift of over 400 paintings and drawings the collection has grown to encompass more than 6000 objects, a collection that enhances rather than supplants that initial gift. The permanent collection鈥檚 core of International 鈥渕asterworks,鈥� paintings by Lucian Freud, JMW Turner, Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, Stanley Spencer, John Constable, John Singer Sargent, and Salvador Dal铆, among others, is unique in Canada, and has remained on view for most of the gallery鈥檚 60-plus year history.
But the Beaverbrook is not a monument or a memorial. Lord Beaverbrook, of course, has many of those, but his intention for the gallery that bears his name was altogether different. 鈥淭he gallery will not satisfy my aim if it is thought of as the last home of a collection of pictures and works of art,鈥� he said in 1960. 鈥淚t should rather be a place at which new talents are kindled and guided. A beginning, and not an end.鈥�
Beaverbrook knew that art is a conversation, and with his founding of a gallery in Fredericton he kindled innumerable conversations between artists and artworks that have reverberated throughout Canadian art history. Sources: Highlights from the Beaverbrook Collection brings together a selection of works gifted by Lord Beaverbrook as well as later additions to the collection, in particular historical European works donated by and in memory of Murray A. and Marguerite Vaughan, that have served as source material and inspirations for artists in New Brunswick for generations.
With contemporary works sprinkled throughout our International wing to spark conversations, Sources: Highlights from the Beaverbrook Collection will introduce new audiences to the riches of the gallery鈥檚 beginning and serve as a reintroduction to those who believe themselves already familiar with the collection. As Lord Beaverbrook knew so well, there is always more to say and be said, and the gallery remains committed to providing a platform for kindling and guiding those conversations through bringing art and communities together.
Recommended for you
When the Beaverbrook Art Gallery opened in 1959, it showcased a remarkable gift to the people of New Brunswick: a collection of British and Canadian works that is still unmatched in Atlantic Canada, and, indeed, which has few peers across the country. What鈥檚 more, the building within which the collection was housed, and a $1,000,000 endowment fund to sustain both, was part of the generous gift from Fleet Street press baron and native New Brunswicker Maxwell Aitken, the first Lord Beaverbrook.
From Lord Beaverbrook鈥檚 initial gift of over 400 paintings and drawings the collection has grown to encompass more than 6000 objects, a collection that enhances rather than supplants that initial gift. The permanent collection鈥檚 core of International 鈥渕asterworks,鈥� paintings by Lucian Freud, JMW Turner, Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, Stanley Spencer, John Constable, John Singer Sargent, and Salvador Dal铆, among others, is unique in Canada, and has remained on view for most of the gallery鈥檚 60-plus year history.
But the Beaverbrook is not a monument or a memorial. Lord Beaverbrook, of course, has many of those, but his intention for the gallery that bears his name was altogether different. 鈥淭he gallery will not satisfy my aim if it is thought of as the last home of a collection of pictures and works of art,鈥� he said in 1960. 鈥淚t should rather be a place at which new talents are kindled and guided. A beginning, and not an end.鈥�
Beaverbrook knew that art is a conversation, and with his founding of a gallery in Fredericton he kindled innumerable conversations between artists and artworks that have reverberated throughout Canadian art history. Sources: Highlights from the Beaverbrook Collection brings together a selection of works gifted by Lord Beaverbrook as well as later additions to the collection, in particular historical European works donated by and in memory of Murray A. and Marguerite Vaughan, that have served as source material and inspirations for artists in New Brunswick for generations.
With contemporary works sprinkled throughout our International wing to spark conversations, Sources: Highlights from the Beaverbrook Collection will introduce new audiences to the riches of the gallery鈥檚 beginning and serve as a reintroduction to those who believe themselves already familiar with the collection. As Lord Beaverbrook knew so well, there is always more to say and be said, and the gallery remains committed to providing a platform for kindling and guiding those conversations through bringing art and communities together.
What's on nearby
