McMichael Canadian Art Collection

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection (MCAC) is an art museum in Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located on a property in Kleinburg, an unincorporated village in Vaughan. The property includes the museum's main building, a sculpture garden, walking trails, and a cemetery for six members of the Group of Seven.

The collection dates back to 1955, when Robert and Signe McMichael began to collect works from artists associated to the Group of Seven, exhibiting their works at their home in Kleinburg. In 1965, the McMichaels formally reached an agreement to donate their collection and their Kleinburg property to the Government of Ontario in order to establish an art museum. The institution was opened to the public as the McMichael Conservation Collection of Art in 1966. The museum was formally incorporated into the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in 1972. Although the museum was originally established with an institutional focus on the Group of Seven, the museum's mandate was later expanded to include contemporary Canadian art, and art from indigenous Canadians.

The museum's permanent collection includes over 6,500 works by Canadian artists. In addition to its permanent collections, the institution is also the custodian for the archives of works on paper by Inuit artists based in Kinngait. The museum organizes and hosts a number of travelling art exhibitions, typically focused on Canadian art.

History

In 1951 Robert and Signe McMichael purchased a plot of land in Kleinburg, Ontario. A home was subsequently built in 1954, with the McMichaels moving into the property. The McMichaels began acquiring works by artists of the Group of Seven for their personal collection, with the first being a painting by Tom Thomson, acquired for C$250 in 1955. In 1962, the McMichaels acquired Tom Thomson's studio situated outside the Studio Building in Toronto, and relocated it to their property to begin restorations on it. By 1965, the McMichaels' personal collection contained 194 paintings either purchased or donated to them.

thumb|The [[Tom Thomson Studio was relocated onto the property in 1962.]]

The McMichaels began exhibiting their works on their Kleinburg property during the weekends, although growing number of visitors led the McMichaels to consider establishing a public a "shrine" dedicated to the Group of Seven. The property was formally opened to the public on 8 July 1966 as the McMichael Conservation Collection of Art. The 2011 amendment to the governing act of the museum also removed the art advisory committee, and restrictions to the museum's exhibition mandate. The landscape itself was partially crafted by the McMichaels, and later the Government of Ontario, to help complement the museum's collection; with the McMichaels planting over 500 cedar trees in the area to help recreate the landscapes typically painted by the Group of Seven.

Buildings located on the grounds include the museum's main building, the Meeting House, Pine Cottage, and Tom Thomson's studio. Pine Cottage houses the institution's art studio. In addition to the structures, the grounds also contains a number of walking trails, a sculpture garden, and the McMichael cemetery. Six members of the Group of Seven are interred at the McMichael cemetery, including A. J. Casson, Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, and Frederick Varley.

Main building

The museum's main building was designed by Ontario-based architect Leo Venchiarutti, and was completed in 1954. The main building is approximately . The main building was initially named Tapawingo, allegedly meaning place of joy in either Haida or Ojibwe language.

Permanent collection

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is one of the only art museums whose permanent collection contains works exclusively by Canadian artists. The permanent collection originates from the personal collection started by Robert and Signe McMichael in 1955; who later donated it to the province of Ontario in 1965. The museum's permanent collection is organized into four collection areas, contemporary art, First Nations art, the Group of Seven, and Inuit art. In addition to artists associated with the Group of Seven, the museum's permanent collection also contains works from Cornelius Krieghoff, David Milne, and Robert Pilot. In November 2014, the museum was bequeathed 50 paintings from artists based in Quebec. French Canadian artists whose works are in the McMichael's permanent collection include Paul-Émile Borduas, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, Marc-Aurèle Fortin, Clarence Gagnon, Rita Letendre, Jean Paul Lemieux, and Jean-Paul Riopelle. although a number of works in the contemporary collection area were acquired by the institution prior to 2011.

The archives includes a number of specialized collections. The Arthur Lismer Collection was bequeathed to the museum by Lismer, and contains a number of documents and works from the 1890s to the late 1960s.

The archives also houses over 100,000 drawings, prints, and sculptures from the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative Ltd., an artist collective based in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. The collective's works were moved to the McMichael's archive on a long-term loan in 1992, after a fire destroyed the collective's studio building

Selected works

File:Herding Sheep 1910.jpg|Homer Watson, Herding Sheep, 1910

File:Thomson, In Algonquin Park.jpg|Tom Thomson, In Algonquin Park, Winter 1914–15

File:Franklin Carmichael - A Muskoka Road.jpg|Franklin Carmichael, A Muskoka Road, 1915

File:A. Y. Jackson - Cathedral at Ypres, Belgium.jpg|A. Y. Jackson. Cathedral at Ypres, Belgium, 1917

File:Frank Johnston Sunset in the Bush.jpg|Frank Johnston. Sunset in the Bush, 1918

File:J. E. H. MacDonald, Forest Wilderness 1921.jpg|J. E. H. MacDonald, Forest Wilderness, 1921

File:David Milne Painting Place Brown and Black.jpg|David Milne, Painting Place: Brown and Black,

File:Emily Carr Shoreline 1936.jpg|Emily Carr, Shoreline, 1936

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Notes

References

External links

Donation of McMichael Collection, 1965, Archives of Ontario YouTube Channel.