Major Gordon Smith and Jarislowsky Foundation gifts fund new curator of Canadian art at Vancouver Art Gallery
The late artist’s bequest of $1 million was matched by that of his friend and collector’s foundation
Gordon Smith’s Untitled, 1996, acrylic on canvas, from the VAG’s permanent collection.
THE VANCOUVER ART GALLERY is on the search for its first curator of Canadian art after a major donation from artist Gordon Smith and the Jarislowsky Foundation.
The VAG is funding the new position with a new endowment fund, made possible by the bequest of $1 million from late, iconic BC artist Smith, who died in January 2020, together with a matching donation from Stephen and Gail Jarislowsky and the Jarislowsky Foundation.
The gallery said today it believes Smith’s gift to be an unprecedented bequest from an individual artist to a Canadian art museum.
Smith supported the VAG throughout his life, starting with the inclusion of his art in a 1944 group show. He also donated works to the permanent collection and for many fundraising events.
Smith, whose work sits in collections everywhere from the National Gallery of Canada to New York’s Museum of Modern Art, was best known for his vivid abstracted West Coast landscapes. He was recognized for his contributions with awards including the Order of Canada, a Governor General’s Award in Visual Art, and the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts.
The Jarislowskys and Gordon Smith were friends, with Stephen an avid collector and admirer of Smith’s work.
The Smith Jarislowsky Curator of Canadian Art will aim to foster the research, presentation, collection, and promotion of both historical and contemporary Canadian art.
Among Gordon and Marion Smith’s many initiatives was a previous endowment to support the VAG’s educational programs.
“It is important to keep the name of Gordon alive and it is an honor for Gail and myself to participate in recognizing his artistic genius as well as the nobility of the man himself,” said Stephen Jarislowsky in a statement today. “Gordon’s work was ever vibrant and his new inventions, time after time, culminated finally in the last and greatest chef d’œuvres of his 100- year long life. Gordon ever assured us that the best was yet to come. He kept his word. He was a great artist of British Columbia and one of our great joys in life was our friendship over so many years.”
The Vancouver Art Gallery plans to post the position immediately.
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