Fifty Years of Collecting Photographs at the National Gallery of Canada
Ann Thomas and John McElhone
A sumptuous celebration of one of the world’s most striking photograph collections from 1967 up to 2017.
This publication celebrates fifty years of collecting photographs at the National Gallery of Canada. In 1967 when the collection was established the photography market was in its infancy and the collection reflects the availability of in depth collections of work by some of the forefathers of the medium such as Charles Nègre, William Henry Fox Talbot, Gustave Le Gray and Roger Fenton among others. Within a few short years of starting to build the collection the science of photographic preservation and conservation was making remarkable strides and influencing the acquisition and exhibition of photographs in museums.
This publication celebrates the collecting of photographs, the historical and art historical context of their making and the deepening of our understanding of their physical nature.
164 artists, such as: Benoit Aquin; Diane Arbus; Eugène Atget; Nicolas Baier; Edouard Baldus; Brassaï; Julia Margaret Cameron; Henri Cartier-Bresson; Lynne Cohen; Benjamin John Dancer; Walker Evans; Robert Frank; Lee Friedlander; Isabelle Hayeur; Arnaud Maggs; Robert Mapplethorpe; John Max; Lisette Model; Eadweard Muybridge; Charles Nègre; William McFarlane Notman; Marc Ruwedel; Jospeph Sudek; William Henry Fox Talbot; vernacular and news photographs by unknown photographers will also be included.
Ann Thomas, Senior Curator of Photographs, National Gallery of Canada
John McElhone, Chief Photographs, National Gallery of Canada
Marc Mayer, CEO and Director, National Gallery of Canada
James W. Borcoman, founding Curator of the photographs Collection at the NGC.