Art Gallery of Hamilton facts for kids
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Art Gallery of Hamilton from King Street West
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| Established | 31 January 1914 |
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| Location | 123 King Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
| Type | Art museum |
| Architect | Trevor Garwood-Jones Bruce Kuwabara (renovations) |
The Art Gallery of Hamilton (AGH) is a cool art museum in Hamilton, Canada. It's located on King Street West in downtown Hamilton. The museum building is huge, about 7,000 square metres (75,000 sq ft)! It was designed by Trevor P. Garwood-Jones. The AGH is the biggest and oldest art museum in southwestern Ontario.
The museum first opened in January 1914. Back then, it was called the Municipal Gallery of Hamilton. It was in a Hamilton Public Library building. In 1953, the museum moved to a new building in Westdale. Then, in 1977, it moved to its current spot on King Street West. The building was updated between 2003 and 2005. Bruce Kuwabara helped with the new design.
The Art Gallery of Hamilton has a huge collection of over 10,000 artworks. These pieces are by artists from Canada and all over the world. Besides showing its own collection, the museum also hosts many special travelling exhibitions.
Contents
History of the Art Gallery of Hamilton
The Art Gallery of Hamilton started because of a generous gift. The wife of artist William Blair Bruce gave many artworks to the City of Hamilton. She wanted a proper place to keep them. So, on January 31, 1914, the city officially created the Municipal Gallery of Hamilton.
Early Days and First Location
The museum first opened on June 28, 1914. It was on the second floor of a Hamilton Public Library branch. This library was on Main Street, near James Street. Its first show featured 33 artworks by William Blair Bruce.
Growing the Collection and New Buildings
In 1947, the museum got a much bigger budget. They also hired their first curator-director, Thomas Reid MacDonald. He wanted to add more art to the collection. He also wanted a new or improved building. A group of volunteers, called the Women’s Volunteer Committee, helped a lot. They raised money for new art and for a new building.
On December 12, 1953, the museum opened a new building. It was a one-story Art Deco style building in Westdale. It was right next to McMaster University.
Moving Downtown
By the 1960s, the museum needed more space. But expanding in Westdale was hard because of the university's plans. So, the museum decided to move downtown. This was part of a big city project called the "Civic Square Project." This project also included the Hamilton Convention Centre and Hamilton Place.
Trevor Garwood-Jones was chosen to design the new museum building. It opened in October 1977. Later, from 2003 to 2005, the museum building got a big C$18 million makeover.
A Painting's Journey
In 2003, the museum learned something surprising about a painting it owned. The painting, called Portrait of a Lady by Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck, might have been stolen. It was thought to be art taken by the Nazis during World War II. After a long investigation, the museum confirmed this in November 2014. They returned the painting to its original owners. The museum had bought the painting in 1987, not knowing it was stolen.
AGH Annex
From 2013 to 2018, the museum had another small location. It was called the AGH Annex and was on James Street North. This space was used for museum programs, like showing films. After it closed, the museum's films moved to the Lincoln Alexander Centre.
Architecture of the Art Gallery of Hamilton
The Art Gallery of Hamilton is located on King Street West in downtown Hamilton. The city owns the land, and the museum uses it through a lease. The building is about 7,000 square metres (75,000 sq ft) and was designed by Trevor Garwood-Jones. It opened in 1977.
Original Design and Features
The building's first design was typical of brutalist architecture. This style often uses exposed concrete and looks like strong, boxy shapes. In 1979, Trevor Garwood-Jones won an award for his design from the Ontario Association of Architects.
Originally, the main entrance was supposed to be on the second floor. It would connect to elevated walkways around Commonwealth Square. This walkway plan was never finished. Because of this, the museum's entrance ended up being a bit hidden from the main street.
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Modern Renovations
In 2003, the museum started a two-year renovation project. It was finished in 2005. KPMB Architects led the renovations, with Bruce Kuwabara as the main designer.
During the renovation, the building got a new look. Insulated gold-steel panels were added to cover the outside. Most of these materials came from a company called Dofasco. The renovations also added a new pavilion and the Irving Zucker Sculpture Garden. This garden is south of the museum, in the area where the elevated walkways were once planned.
Permanent Collection
As of October 2018, the Art Gallery of Hamilton has over 10,000 artworks in its permanent collection. About 12 percent of these works were created by female artists. The collection is divided into three main areas: Canadian art, contemporary art, and international art.
Canadian Art Collection
The Canadian collection includes art from all Canadian artists. This also includes art by Indigenous Canadian artists. However, contemporary Canadian artists are part of the contemporary art collection. In 2016, the museum received a gift of 75 Inuit sculptures. These were made by Inuit patients at the Hamilton Mountain Sanatorium as part of their therapy.
Contemporary and International Art
The contemporary collection features art by modern artists from any country. The international collection includes art from non-Canadian artists. It focuses on European artists from the Baroque period to Post-Impressionism. This includes art from French, British, and Italian schools. Many works in the international collection were given by Joey and Toby Tanenbaum. They donated 200 European works in 2002 and their entire African art collection in 2010.
How the Collection Grew
The museum's collection started with the artworks given by William Blair Bruce's family in 1914. For a while, from 1929 to 1947, the collection didn't grow much. This was due to poor storage and few people donating art. In 1947, the museum's budget increased a lot. This allowed them to hire a curator and staff to care for the art.
Thomas Reid MacDonald, the first curator-director, worked hard to improve the collection. The Women's Volunteer Committee also helped by raising money for new art. MacDonald organized an annual winter exhibition from 1948 to 1973. This show gave artists a place to display their work. It also brought art to Hamilton that the museum could buy. Each exhibition usually featured about one hundred artworks. The museum would buy one piece for its permanent collection. This is how many important works were acquired. These include First Snow by A.J. Casson, Keith MacIver by Lilias Torrance Newton, and the famous Horse and Train by Alex Colville.
Horse and Train by Alex Colville
Horse and Train by Alex Colville was chosen from a winter exhibition. At first, an art critic from The Hamilton Spectator didn't like it. She wrote that the winner was "not, alas, one of them." But this painting became one of the most popular works in the museum's collection. It has been featured on many items in pop culture. After Colville passed away, the painting was shown with two of his study drawings. These drawings show how he used geometry to plan the artwork. A letter from Colville thanking the museum for buying the painting was also displayed.
Selected Works from the Collection
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Antoine Plamondon, Portrait of Elzéar Bédard, 1842
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Gustave Doré, The Triumph Of Christianity Over Paganism, 1868
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James Tissot, Croquet, 1878
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William Blair Bruce, The Phantom Hunter, 1888
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Émile Friant, Capital Punishment, 1908
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Tom Thomson, The Birch Grove, Autumn, Winter 1915-16
Library
The museum also has a special reference library called the Muriel Bostwick Library. This library holds documents that support the museum's art collection. It also has old catalogues and documents from past exhibitions.
See Also
- Culture of Hamilton, Ontario
- List of art museums
- List of attractions in Hamilton, Ontario
- List of museums in Ontario
