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Montreal, August 6, 2024 – While the major exhibition Saints, Sinners, Lovers and Fools: Three Hundred Years of Flemish Masterworks continues its run until October 20 – and, already, it’s been seen by over 50,000 people – the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is preparing a host of offerings for this fall, including an opportunity to see more than 100 works that have recently entered the Museum’s collection.
Starting in September, a new rotation in the galleries and the exhibition Two by Two, Together: Recent Additions to the MMFA’s Collection will showcase paintings, sculptures, installations, decorative arts objects and works on paper by local and international artists, which have been acquired over the past five years.
Moreover in November, the MMFA will inaugurate its new space dedicated to Inuit art. Located on the ground floor of the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion, these brightly lit modernized galleries, totalling over 200 m2, double the exhibition space dedicated to Inuit art. Curated by Inuk artist and curator asinnajaq, the inaugural presentation of ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ uummaqutik: essence of life invites us to meditate on the rhythms of life that are particular to the circumpolar territories known together as Inuit Nunangat.
The fall season also brings the Canadian premiere of world-renowned Albanian artist Anri Sala’s immersive video work Ravel Ravel Interval (2017) to the Museum’s Contemporary Art Square. This installation – on which Montreal pianist Louis Lortie collaborated – will launch the MMFA’s celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the birth of composer Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). These festivities will continue into 2025 at Bourgie Hall.
“The MMFA is much more than just large-scale exhibitions. The Museum is the custodian of a rich collection of close to 47,000 works, a large selection of which are seen and admired annually by hundreds of thousands of visitors. Every year, new works are added to this collection, begun in 1860 by a community of Montrealers with a passion for art. Our upcoming program shines a light on a wide selection of works, which, for the most part, are being shown at the Museum for the first time. In addition, Inuit art will have pride of place in the MMFA’s newly renovated spaces, as part of our efforts to bring Inuit artistic and cultural heritage closer to all audiences,” says Mary-Dailey Desmarais, Chief Curator of the MMFA.
Two by Two, Together
Recent Additions to the MMFA’s Collection
Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion, Level S2
Presented in a series of galleries at the junction of three of the Museum’s pavilions, the exhibition Two by Two, Together: Recent Additions to the MMFA’s Collection unveils a selection of artworks that have been acquired by the MMFA over the last five years. Some 80 works are paired in such a way as to create an unexpected and eye-opening dialogue between them, based on their subject, medium, form, function or period.
Two by Two, Together brings together paintings by William Brymner, Peter Doig, Pierre Dorion, Wanda Koop, Stéphane La Rue, Robert Clow Todd, Claude Tousignant, Robin F. Williams and Lets’lo:tseltun – Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun; sculptures by Manasie Akpaliapik, Louise Bourgeois, Stanley Février, Giuseppe Penone and Kishio Suga; graphic works by Tony Lewis, Nicolas Party, Herbert List and Rembrandt; and an extremely rare Chinese cosmic board (Liuren Shipan) from the Sui Dynasty.
Aside from the artworks presented in this exhibition, additional recent acquisitions will be on view in the Museum’s permanent collection galleries. A new rotation in the adjacent contemporary art galleries will showcase works by such artists as Romany Eveleigh, Kareem Anthony Ferreira, Esteban Jefferson, Duane Linklater, Esmaa Mohamoud and Christina Quarles.
An exhibition organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Curator: Iris Amizlev, Curator of Special Projects, MMFA.
Acknowledgements
The Museum is profoundly grateful to its generous benefactors for the many important works it has in its collection.
The MMFA also thanks singer-songwriter Pierre Lapointe for allowing us to title this exhibition after one of his songs, “Deux par deux rassemblés,” which has been translated as “Two by Two, Together.”
Public Partners: Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts de Montréal and Government of Quebec
ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ
uummaqutik
essence of life
Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion, Level 1
A pioneer since 1953 in the research and collection of Inuit art, the Museum invites the public to experience a completely new presentation of its collection, representing the work of nearly 300 artists from Inuit territories spanning from Alaska through the circumpolar regions of Canada, to Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). Displayed in newly renovated spaces, this inaugural exhibition was conceived by Inuk artist and curator asinnajaq.
ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ uummaqutik: essence of life brings together prints, drawings, textile works, photographs, paintings, sculptures and installations, reflecting the richness and diversity in contemporary Inuit artistic expression. This exhibition, composed of over 60 works dating from 1949 to today, will be updated from time to time over the next years. Prioritizing a bold storytelling approach, the presentation will feature works by artists such as Siku Allooloo, Darcie Bernhardt, Lucassie Echalook, Charlie Inukpuk, Mattiusi Iyaituk, Niap, Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona, Joe Talirunili and Jessica Winters, as well as a special commission by Couzyn Van Heuvelen. Later on, ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ uummaqutik will also include works by Kudluajuk Ashoona, Shuvinai Ashoona, Annie Pootoogook and Johnny Pootoogook, among other artists.
Through these art forms, artists share with visitors their views on the simple and extraordinary moments of life, including childbirth, child rearing, everyday activities and seasonal community work. Also evoked are the lives of the non-humans with whom we coexist: animals, plants, stones and stars. Together, the works on view portray these moments as the sharing of energy, the transference of energy and the power of life as a constant release and absorption of the universe’s energy.
An audiodescriptive digital mediation experience (in Inuktitut, French and English) will also be available for everyone, including people who are blind or have low vision. In addition, a program of related activities, incorporating discussions, a literary evening, festivities, a concert, workshops for families, and a display highlighting works chosen by Inuit communities is set to be announced in advance of the inauguration.
Curator: asinnajaq, artist and guest curator, in collaboration with Jacques Des Rochers, Senior Curator of Quebec and Canadian Art, MMFA, and Léuli Eshrāghi, Curator of Indigenous Practices, MMFA.
A pioneer since 1953 in the research and collection of Inuit art, the Museum invites the public to experience a completely new presentation of its collection, representing the work of nearly 300 artists from Inuit territories spanning from Alaska through the circumpolar regions of Canada, to Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). Displayed in newly renovated spaces, this inaugural exhibition was conceived by Inuk artist and curator asinnajaq.
ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ uummaqutik: essence of life brings together prints, drawings, textile works, photographs, paintings, sculptures and installations, reflecting the richness and diversity in contemporary Inuit artistic expression. This exhibition, composed of over 60 works dating from 1949 to today, will be updated from time to time over the next years. Prioritizing a bold storytelling approach, the presentation will feature works by artists such as Siku Allooloo, Darcie Bernhardt, Lucassie Echalook, Charlie Inukpuk, Mattiusi Iyaituk, Niap, Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona, Joe Talirunili and Jessica Winters, as well as a special commission by Couzyn Van Heuvelen. Later on, ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ uummaqutik will also include works by Kudluajuk Ashoona, Shuvinai Ashoona, Annie Pootoogook and Johnny Pootoogook, among other artists.
Through these art forms, artists share with visitors their views on the simple and extraordinary moments of life, including childbirth, child rearing, everyday activities and seasonal community work. Also evoked are the lives of the non-humans with whom we coexist: animals, plants, stones and stars. Together, the works on view portray these moments as the sharing of energy, the transference of energy and the power of life as a constant release and absorption of the universe’s energy.
An audiodescriptive digital mediation experience (in Inuktitut, French and English) will also be available for everyone, including people who are blind or have low vision. In addition, a program of related activities, incorporating discussions, a literary evening, festivities, a concert, workshops for families, and a display highlighting works chosen by Inuit communities is set to be announced in advance of the inauguration.
Curator: asinnajaq, artist and guest curator, in collaboration with Jacques Des Rochers, Senior Curatorof Quebec and Canadian Art, MMFA, and Léuli Eshrāghi, Curator of Indigenous Practices, MMFA.
Acknowledgements
Major Public Partner: Government of Quebec
Patrons: Hilary & Galen Weston Foundation, Terra Foundation for American Art With support from BMO
Public Partners: Canada Council for the Arts and Conseil des arts de Montréal
Anri Sala
Anri Sala
Ravel Ravel Interval
Contemporary Art Square
Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion, Level S2
Internationally recognized Albanian artist Anri Sala (born in 1974) is known for his captivating projects that explore the temporality of language, music and sound in order to invite reflection on communication and the human condition. This fall, the MMFA is presenting the Canadian premiere of his immersive video installation Ravel Ravel Interval (2017), an adaptation of the work Ravel Ravel (2013), which was first shown at the 55th Venice Biennale, where Sala represented France.
This mesmerizing installation, generously promised to the Museum by Pierre Bourgie, consists of two interpretations of Maurice Ravel’s (1875-1937) Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major performed quasi-simultaneously. Created in 1929-1930, Ravel’s piece was commissioned by pianist Paul Wittgenstein following the amputation of his right arm in the First World War.
In Ravel Ravel Interval, Sala trains his lens on the left hands of two performers, Montreal pianist Louis Lortie and French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, each of whom is accompanied by an unseen orchestra, somewhere outside the shot. As they perform the piece, the two pianists vary their tempo: starting out in unison, they then split apart, come back together, drift apart again and finally resume their synchronous play. The interval between the original work and these two interpretations highlights the uniqueness of human expression, inviting us to accept and welcome uncertainty as an essential part of our artistic and personal experience.
The exhibition will launch the MMFA’s celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth. For the occasion, Louis Lortie will carry out an artist’s residency at Bourgie Hall during the 2024-2025 season, in which he will perform the entirety of the French composer’s music for piano in two concerts, as well as offer a master class.
An exhibition organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Curator: Alexandrine Théorêt, Assistant Curator of International Modern and Contemporary Art, MMFA
Acknowledgements
Public Partners: Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts de Montréal, and Government of Quebec
Saints, Sinners, Lovers and Fools
Three Hundred Years of Flemish
Masterworks
Already seen by over 50,000 people in Montreal, this major exhibition shines a spotlight on The Phoebus Foundation’s world-class collection of Flemish art. It transports the public to the Southern Netherlands of the 15th to the 17th century (today mainly Flanders, Belgium) during a dynamic period of social, scientific, economic and artistic development. Spanning close to 300 years, it bears witness to the role Flemish artists played in asserting this tiny, yet influential, region’s place in a fast-changing world.
The nearly 150 works on display, including paintings by Anthony van Dyck, Hans Memling, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Jordaens and Michaelina Wautier, address timeless themes of vice, virtue, desire and folly. The selected works comprise monumental paintings, sculptures, maps and silverwork. Furthermore, the exhibition is complemented by a dozen or so masterpieces from the MMFA’s prestigious collection, such as master paintings by Adriaen Isenbrandt, Jan Fyt and Jan Brueghel II.
An exhibition co-organized by the Denver Art Museum and The Phoebus Foundation, Antwerp, Belgium, in collaboration with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Curator: Dr. Katharina Van Cauteren, Chief of Staff of The Phoebus Foundation Chancellery. The Montreal presentation is curated by Chloé M. Pelletier, Curator of European Art (before 1800) at the MMFA.
Acknowledgements
An exhibition made possible with support from Visit Flanders and with representations from Flanders to the United States and Canada.
Major Public Partner: Government of Canada
Official Sponsor: Denalt Paints
Media Partners: Bell, La Presse and The Gazette
Public Partners: Conseil des arts de Montréal and the Government of Quebec
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