IMPRESSIVE COLLECTION
Gallery a treat for art lovers
FREDERICTON Jon Shrubsole made the pilgrimage all the way from Dayton, Ohio.
On the edge of the Saint John River, Fredericton’s Beaverbrook Art Gallery has a backstory — and a collection of works — ordinarily unlikely to be found in a sleepy provincial capital.
“There are many famous artists — the Group of Seven, really great world class artists,” Shrubsole says as he walks through the gallery for the first time.
“I knew they had added the new wing about a year ago and re-hung everything, and I wanted to see it.”
The gallery — which turns 60 next year — is home to more than 5,300 works by artists including Salvador Dali, Lucian Freud, J.M.W. Turner and Thomas Gainsborough.
“It has an international reputation and is one of the finest art galleries in Canada of its kind,” director Thomas Smart says on a stroll through the building.
The gallery was given to the province of New Brunswick by Ontario-born British press baron Lord Beaverbrook in 1959. He built the original building and endowed it with a collection.
That collection has grown ever since, and the building has seen numerous additions including an impressive new pavilion that opened in 2017 — expanding the gallery by about 30 per cent and making it the largest in Atlantic Canada.
“If you haven’t been here for a few years, you’re seeing a whole new Beaverbrook Art Gallery, not just in the new pavilion, but in the way the whole space has been retrofitted,” Smart said.
The gallery is divided into areas, some small, some large, featuring collections and themes. There are new things at every turn, giving an impression that the inside of the building is larger than the outside view would imply.
The gallery gets more than 40,000 visitors each year, and on any given day that can include classes of students and tourists who have travelled from points across the country and around the world.
Despite the recent expansion, only about 20 per cent of the collection is on display at any time.
“Our vaults are full and our galleries are full,” Smart said.
He said some works are on loan to other galleries or part of travelling exhibits, and the gallery continues to add to its collection.
The gallery also hosts a variety of events, especially since the addition of the huge pavilion with its high ceilings and large windows overlooking the river.
“We like to think of it as the front room of Fredericton. It showcases the art beautifully, we have performances in here, readings, we have dance, it is such a flexible space,” Smart said.
Smart says the next year will see development of more of the outside space around the gallery, including the relocation of the large statute of Lord Beaverbrook from Officers’ Square to the grassy area next to the gallery, known as The Green.