Beaverbrook Art Gallery
| Beaverbrook Art Gallery | |
|---|---|
 Beaverbrook Art Gallery on 14 December, 2005. | |
| Established | 1959 |
| Location |
703 Queen St Fredericton New Brunswick E3B 1C4 |
| Coordinates | 45°57′35″N 66°38′08″E / 45.9598°N 66.6356°E |
| Type | Art museum |
| Director | Terry Graff |
| Public transit access | Bus: 16 Marysville, 11 Prospect |
| Website | |
The Beaverbrook Art Gallery is an art gallery on the southwest bank of the Saint John River at the edge of the central business district of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. It is the provincial art gallery of New Brunswick, and maintains a collection of considerable quality despite its size.
The gallery was established and built in 1959 by British-Canadian press baron Lord Beaverbrook as a gift to his native province where he spent his childhood. Beaverbrook directed his charitable foundations (the Canadian Beaverbrook Foundation and the UK Beaverbrook Foundation) to fill the gallery with the best paintings and artwork from his private collection, including famous works by world-renowned artists such as Gainsborough, Turner, Krieghoff, Dalí, Constable and Reynolds. These paintings are part of the gallery's Beaverbrook charter collection and include Dalí's Santiago el Grande and Turner's The Fountain of Indolence. In total there are more than 3000 items in the gallery's permanent collection.
In addition to Krieghoff, the gallery also hosts an extensive collection of 19th- and 20th-century Canadian artists such as the Group of Seven, Carr, Milne and Riopelle. The gallery's current collecting priority is 20th-century New Brunswick artists.
Exhibitions
Current Exhibitions
- Freeman Patterson: Embracing Creation (September 29, 2013 to January 12, 2014)
- Young Ancestors (September 29, 2013 to January 12, 2014)
- StudioWatch Emerging Artist: Dominik Robichaud (September 29, 2013 to January 12, 2014)
- Victorian Landscape Paintings (January 22, 2013 to January 12, 2014)
Past Exhibitions
- Where Go the Boats (June 13 to September 8, 2013)
- John Ward: Meditation - Transition (June 13 to September 8, 2013)
Ownership dispute
A dispute arose in 2003 between the gallery and the heirs of Lord Beaverbrook over custody of the Beaverbrook charter collection. The heirs wish to sell some of the most valuable works in the collection through international art auctioneers Sotheby's to raise money for the Canadian and UK Beaverbrook Foundations. The Beaverbrook Art Gallery maintains that it received permanent custody of the charter collection, citing the wishes of Lord Beaverbrook himself at the time of the gallery's creation.
Dispute with the UK Beaverbrook Foundation
The dispute proceeded to arbitration, and a ruling was dispensed on March 26, 2007. Of the 133 disputed paintings, 85 were ruled as being gifts from the original Lord Beaverbrook, while 48 paintings were to be returned to the custody of the UK Beaverbrook Foundation, currently headed by Sir Maxwell Aitken III, grandson of the original Lord Beaverbrook. This dispute has been settled. Upon receiving the 48 works of art, the UK Beaverbrook Foundation sold most of them at Christie's in London in an effort to raise money for the foundation.
Dispute with the Canadian Beaverbrook Foundation
There is a dispute over 78 other paintings in a second legal case against the gallery. It has yet to be heard in New Brunswick. The Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation is chaired by Max Aitken.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Beaverbrook Art Gallery. |
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Coordinates: 45°57′35″N 66°38′08″W / 45.9598°N 66.6356°W