A Family Journey: The Private Collections of the Sobey Family presents an historical overview of Canadian art from the perspective of collectors who built significant legacies in Atlantic Canada. Drawn from the Donald and Beth Sobey art collection and with works loaned by Empire Company Limited, the Sobey Art Foundation, and other Sobey family members, the exhibition tells the story of Canadian art through the lens of one family’s multi-generational collecting and philanthropic legacy.
Featuring works by Cornelius Krieghoff, J. W. Morrice, Tom Thomson, Emily Carr, the Group of Seven, members of the Canadian Group of Painters, the Beaver Hall Group, William Kurelek, Jean Paul Lemieux, Paul Émile Borduas, and Jean-Paul Riopelle, among others, Collecting for Canada will present some of the best examples from the Sobey collections. Collecting for Canada also features a focus section of remarkable paintings by Cree artist Kent Monkman in conversation with “Grandfather Awketin,” one of the oldest birchbark canoes in the world, made 180 years ago by Wolastoqiyik artisans in Sitansisk (St. Mary’s) just across the Wolastoq (St. John River) from the Beaverbrook. A Family Journey: The Private Collections of the Sobey Family is a unique opportunity to experience the breadth and scope of Canadian art history from a new angle, and to celebrate one Atlantic Canadian family’s commitment to sharing their legacy.
Curated by Ray Cronin and organized by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.
