The Founders' Fund Collection

The Founders' Fund Collection is a unique and revealing body of work. The majority of artworks were acquired in 1931 during a trip to Britain by H.A. Stone and Charles H. Scott. Stone was a Vancouver businessman and the first president of the Gallery and Scott was a Vancouver artist and director of the School of Decorative and Applied Arts. After gaining advice from directors of galleries in Canada and Britain they declared their intent to form a collection that would "aim at a history of British and Canadian painting." On their 1931 trip the earliest work they acquired was a 1794 painting by George Morland, a British painter renowned for his images of animals. In the years that followed, several mid-eighteenth century works by Thomas Gainsborough, William Hogarth and George Romney were added to the collection through the Founders' Funds. These purchases reflect the strong influence and advice Stone and Scott received from Charles Holmes. Holmes was a former Director of the National Gallery in London, and later acted as an agent for the Gallery in their purchases. Holmes identified three major periods of British art: English portraiture of the late eighteenth century; the landscape tradition of the 19th century, including works by J.M.W. Turner, John Sell Cotman and John Crome; and the Pre-Raphaelite movement of the mid-19th century, represented by the work of Edward Burne-Jones.

A few works by modern artists were also acquired at this time but they largely represented the more conservative side of contemporary practice; this is especially true when compared to what was happening in France or Germany at this time. Nonetheless, a variety of "modern" works were purchased from Duncan Grant, Jacob Epstein, Roger Fry and Graham Sutherland in the first few years.

As a whole, the Founders' Fund Collection stands as a testament to the Gallery's founders, citizens who sought to affirm the fundamental role of culture in a growing frontier community

Sources:
Unattributed, Souvenir Catalogue: Vancouver Art Gallery, (Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1931)

Patrik Andersson, Objects of Contention: The VAG and its Founders' Collection, 1995, unpublished essay on deposit in the Vancouver Art Gallery Library.

Image: George Romney, Portrait of Major Peirson, 1771, VAG 34.2.1

The Group of Seven

In fall of 1931 when the Founders' Fund Collection was first exhibited, it was noted in the exhibition catalogue, that, while the Gallery's goal to acquire a "collection of British works, has, with one or two notable exceptions, been adhered to; the second part—the collection of Canadian works—remains to be made...."

Despite Charles H. Scott's fundamental role as an advisor to the Gallery in 1931 there were very few works in the collection that could be said to represent contemporary Canadian art. A.Y. Jackson's Road to St. Fidele, 1929-30, was acquired by the Gallery in 1932, and this marks the first acquisition of a work by a member of the Group of Seven. This choice comes as no surprise, as Jackson was a persistent and articulate promoter of his work. In the years that followed works were added to the collection by Franklin Carmichael, Frederick Varley, J.E.H. Macdonald, Arthur Lismer, and later, Lawren Harris.

This is not to say that the works of other contemporary Canadian artists were entirely ignored or avoided. Works by Emily Carr, Elizabeth Wyn Wood, Henrietta Mabel May were acquired by the Gallery in its very early years, and throughout the 1940s and 1950s notable contemporary works were acquired from a variety of sources.

Despite the Gallery's slow embrace of contemporary Canadian art, their early stated recognition of its relevance to a complete collection must be recognized as part of a larger debate on Canadian art and its fundamental place in contemporary culture and public institutions. Influential cultural leaders such as Vincent Massey articulately supported Canadian culture and its links to the British tradition, and artists such as Emily Carr, Lawren Harris, Arthur Lismer and Fredrick Varley spoke eloquently and publicly about the need for an art that would represent the "spirit of the times in Canada."

Sources:
Andersson, Patrik, Objects of Contention: The VAG and its Founders' Collection, undated text, on deposit in the Vancouver Art Gallery Library.

Unattributed text, Souvenir Catalogue: Vancouver Art Gallery, (Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1931)

Image: Lawren Harris, Mount Thule, Bylot Island, 1930 VAG 49.6

A Donor's Gift

From its inception to the present day, the Vancouver Art Gallery has relied on the generosity of donors to support the growth of the collection. These donations come in many forms; as a gift from an individual collector or a corporate collection, a bequest from an estate, from funds raised by a collective or through public subscription, as the gift of a foundation or a gift from an artist.

Donations significantly enhance the collection, providing the Gallery with a wide range of artworks that would otherwise be inaccessible. For example, in recent years, the donation of international photographic works by Alan and Allison Schwartz, Claudia Beck and Andrew Gruft, and Harry and Ann Malcolmson, has vastly enriched the Gallery's holdings in this field, providing us with a wealth of works and the opportunity to provide our visitors with access to the history of photography from its inception to the present day. Given the key role that photography plays among contemporary artists in this community and around the world, these donations mark a turning point in the growth of the Gallery's collection.

Over the past seventy-five years there have been similar landmark gifts that have influenced the scope of the Gallery's collection, expanding its parameters and providing it with a depth and richness that has had a lasting impact. The gift of 165 paintings, drawings and watercolours from the Emily Carr Trust in 1942 established the Gallery as the primary repository of her work. Another significant instance occurred in the 1980s when collectors in this community, such as J. Ron Longstaffe, Ira and Lori Young, and Ron Cliff, actively acquired major works by Pop artists from Britain and the United States. Many of these works were subsequently donated to the collection and accelerated the Gallery's entry into the field of contemporary international art.


Image: Roelandt Savery, Untitled, 1615, VAG 83.75