ŒUVRES OFFERTES AU MBAM PAR MONSIEUR BERNARD LAMARRE ET MADAME LOUISE LALONDE LAMARRE Pierre Soulages Né à Rodez (France) en 1919 Peinture, 222 x 157 cm, 24 août 1979 1979 Huile sur toile 243,8 x 154,9 cm Don de la famille Louise et Bernard Lamarre Pierre Soulages / SODRAC (2016) Pierre Soulages Born in Rodez, France, in 1919 Painting, 222 x 157 cm, August 24, 1979 1979 Oil on canvas 243.8 x 154.9 cm Gift of the Louise and Bernard Lamarre family Pierre Soulages / SODRAC (2016) James Wilson Morrice Montréal 1865 Tunis 1924 L'étang aux Antilles Vers 1920 1922 Huile et fusain sur toile 81,5 x 54,8 cm Don de la famille Louise et Bernard Lamarre James Wilson Morrice Montreal 1865 Tunis 1924 The Pond, West Indies About 1920 1922 Oil and charcoal on canvas 81.5 x 54.8 cm Gift of the Louise and Bernard Lamarre family
Karel Appel Amsterdam 1921 Zurich 2006 Femme dans la rue 1950 Huile sur toile 118,9 x 79,4 cm Don de la famille Louise et Bernard Lamarre Karel Appel Foundation / SODRAC Karel Appel Amsterdam 1921 Zurich 2006 Woman in the Street 1950 Oil on canvas 118.9 x 79.4 cm Gift of the Louise and Bernard Lamarre family Karel Appel Foundation / SODRAC Chih Chien Wang Né à Tainan (Taiwan) en 1970 Yushan avec de la laine à tricoter De la série «Yushan Is a Pineapple» 2009 Impression à jet d'encre 112 x 144,6 cm Don de la famille Bernard Lamarre Chih Chien Wang Born in Tainan, Taiwan, in 1970 Yushan with Knitting Wool From the series "Yushan Is a Pineapple" 2009 Ink jet print 112 x 144.6 cm Gift of the Bernard Lamarre family
Marc Séguin Né à Ottawa en 1970 Femme et lune 2003 Huile, fusain, colle de lapin sur toile 213,7 x 152,3 cm Don de la famille Louise et Bernard Lamarre Marc Séguin / SODRAC (2016) Marc Séguin Born in Ottawa in 1970 Woman and Moon 2003 Oil, charcoal, rabbit glue on canvas 213.7 x 152.3 cm Gift of the Louise and Bernard Lamarre family Marc Séguin / SODRAC (2016)
ŒUVRES ACQUISES GRÂCE AU FONDS COMMÉMORATIF LOUISE LALONDE LAMARRE François Lacasse Né à Rawdon (Québec) en 1958 Les voies naturelles 2002 Acrylique et encre sur toile 228,1 x 151,8 cm Achat, fonds commémoratif Louise Lalonde Lamarre François Lacasse Born in Rawdon, Quebec, in 1958 The Natural Ways 2002 Acrylic and ink on canvas 228.1 x 151.8 cm Purchase, Louise Lalonde Lamarre Memorial Fund Shirley Wiitasalo Née à Toronto en 1949 Figure aux bras bleus 2004 Huile sur toile 101,5 x 81,5 x 1,8 cm Achat, fonds commémoratif Louise Lalonde Lamarre Shirley Wiitasalo Born in Toronto in 1949 Figure with Blue Arms 2004 Oil on canvas 101.5 x 81.5 cm Purchase, Louise Lalonde Lamarre Memorial Fund
Shary Boyle Née à Scarborough (Ontario) en 1972 Mer changeante 2015 Biscuit de porcelaine partiellement émaillé, plexiglas 71,9 x 43 cm Achat, fonds commémoratif Louise Lalonde Lamarre Shary Boyle Born in Scarborough, Ontario, in 1972 Sea Change 2015 Partially glazed biscuit porcelain, Plexiglas 71.9 x 43 cm Purchase, Louise Lalonde Lamarre Memorial Fund Annie Pootoogook Née à Cape Dorset (Kinngait) en 1969 Ajaraaq [Jeu de ficelle] 2003 2004 Crayon feutre, crayon de cire, mine de plomb 51 x 66,5 cm Achat, fonds commémoratif Louise Lalonde Lamarre Annie Pootoogook Born in Cape Dorset (Kinngait) in 1969 Ajaraaq [String Games] 2003 2004 Felt pen, wax crayon, graphite 51 x 66.5 cm Purchase, Louise Lalonde Lamarre Memorial Fund
Thank you, BERNARD LAMARRE / I want to thank you with all my heart for the key role you have played at the Museum for over a quarter of a century. Let me begin by pointing out some of the characteristics that have guaranteed the success of all your endeavours. With your inimitable sense of humour and winning personality, you could charm the birds out of the trees. They say you have the knack of making people feel you are their best friend. I can personally attest to this, as can innumerable politicians and businessmen, not to mention the Trustees, staff and members of the Museum. Your commitment and vision have left an indelible mark on the history of this institution. The Museum s success has been due in great measure to the determination and energy with which you inspired the organization to pursue the twin goals of ensuring its growth and making art accessible to everyone. You initiated and brought to completion the Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion. You were also the prime mover in the expansion project incorporating the Erskine and American Church. This new pavilion will soon become a reality, thanks to your perseverance and enthusiasm and the bonds of friendship you have created with those around you the essential qualities of a great builder and a great Museum President. Your charming wife, Louise, passed on to you her love of art and her desire to make it accessible to all, which led to the presentation of highly successful exhibitions, the development of a whole new audience and even closer ties with the public. Hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Museum would agree that these exhibitions were life-changing experiences. In addition, with your boundless enthusiasm, you have succeeded in persuading more people to become involved in ensuring the Museum s financial stability. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I wish to express our deepest gratitude for all that you have achieved as Museum President. You used to joke about giving up your life drawing classes because the women in your sketches looked like professional wrestlers. We rejoice that you opted for a different path, choosing to encourage up-and-coming artists and espousing the Museum s cause. It has been a real pleasure for all of us to work with you through the years and to spend time with such a charismatic personality. Like other presidents, Bill Clinton for one, you may be called upon to give lectures in Canada or other parts of the world. We would like to retain your services right now, to give a series of talks on engineering and the visual arts. What do you think? Michal Hornstein, o.c., o.q. Museum Vice-president and Chairman of the Acquisition Committee Non-Canadian Art before 1900 4 / 2008-2009 Annual Report
Tribute to a great man / Allow me to express, on behalf of all the Members of the Board, our thanks for your outstanding contribution to the Museum s development and expansion. A member of the Board for nearly twenty-five years, including twenty years as Chairman, your decision to step down from your position is entirely justified, indeed blameless. Needless to say, however, it has come as a shock and caused some sadness. How could it be otherwise when we all know that, over all these years on the Board, you have been the instigator, driver, key player, and what more? the chief engineer of so many projects that proved to be so timely and so important in enabling the Museum to take its place among the most credible museums in the world, in spite of its limited means, hardly comparable to those available to its foreign partners. I think in particular of the creation of the Administrative Centre, the re-opening of the great doors, the construction of the Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion, the new pavilion that will soon be built from the acquisition of the Erskine and American Church. I also think of certain exhibitions, including the one on Leonardo da Vinci and the one on the Roaring Twenties. All these achievements for which all the credit goes to the man in charge have raised our Museum to the firmament of institutions dedicated to the promotion of the visual arts in Quebec and Canada. At the same time, the Museum has also acquired thanks to the rigour, competence and scope of its administrative and executive personnel, whom you were so good at gathering together, unifying and stimulating international recognition for which it has every reason to congratulate itself. This gives it the authority now to organize and host exhibitions of quality and great prestige. Driven by a singular passion for the visual arts, particularly contemporary art, and unshakeable determination, blessed with unusual tact in your dealings with financial supporters, both public and private, you could make the impossible possible. And you always seemed to have the inexhaustible supply of energy needed for the task. A quick calculation shows that, in Quebec alone, you must have solicited at least nine Ministers of Culture and eight Premiers, not to mention the many Ministers of Finance you went to see on behalf of the Museum. And likewise within federal jurisdictions. In speaking on behalf of the Members of the Board, I wish to pay tribute to the man of vision that you are, determined to succeed, and suited as you were, with your natural affability, coupled with your gentle and unusual sense of humour, to extricating us from the stickiest of situations. I wish to pay tribute to the man who knew how to bring together Museum personnel and volunteers, and to inspire in them an unflagging determination to excel. With reference to the lovely device used by Georges-Hébert Germain in the past in drawing your portrait, I wish, we wish, to express all the esteem, affection and gratitude that the Members of the Board, personnel, volunteers and Friends of the Museum feel for the outstanding busy beaver you have been as President. Knowing you, you will want to share the credit with many others. Indeed, there are two persons whom I must mention in this tribute. I am thinking in particular of dear Louise, who was always at your side for so many years and whose enthusiasm so often inspired you. I am also thinking of our colleague Michal Hornstein, the Museum s commendable and rigorous memory, whose unyielding support and spontaneous generosity you have always appreciated so much. THANK YOU, Bernard, and know that your remaining by our side will comfort us and inspire us. Clément Richard Museum Trustee and Chairman of the Acquisition Committee Canadian Art 2008-2009 Annual Report / 5
Private Collection Qui êtes-vous et comment vous présenteriez-vous? Comment définiriez-vous votre collection? Y a-t-il une ou des œuvres que vous êtes particulièrement heureux d avoir pu acquérir? Avez-vous une œuvre préférée? Qu avez-vous appris en collectionnant? Avez-vous des conseils à donner à de nouveaux collectionneurs? À quand remonte votre intérêt pour l art? Y avait-il des collectionneurs dans votre famille? Who are you? How would you describe yourself? I am an engineer and an art lover. What is the focus of your collection and what inspired you to collect in that area? Contemporary Canadian and international art. Works by Soulages, Dubuffet, Franz Kline, the Iranian-born photographer Shirin Neshat. And among Canadian artists, works by Pellan, Borduas, Riopelle, Serge Lemoyne, Robert Roussil and Armand Vaillancourt. When did your interest in art begin? Are there collectors in your family? In the course of my first trip to Europe as a student in 1950, the museums were the only places I could visit that weren t too expensive. That s when I fell in love with my wife and the visual arts. From 1952 to 1955 I lived in England. On my days off and on weekends I found myself haunting museums My late wife also loved art, and she knew more about it than I did. She always had a very good eye I focused on contemporary art because in general the artists weren t yet well known, and it was easier to meet them. I felt it was worthwhile encouraging a été votre première living acquisition artists. And? to begin Quelle with, their works were within my means. Neither of my parents was interested in art. At home all we had were calendars and a few religious statues! Now all of my siblings share my liking for art, as do my two sons and five daughters. In my wife s family there are also some very knowledgeable collectors. What was your first acquisition? A painting by Réal Arseneault, a Quebec artist, which I acquired in 1956 at the Galerie Denyse Delrue. And at about the same time a painting by André Jasmin. Both these paintings are part of our family collection. When I returned from England, my wife and I attended Jasmin s painting classes. I lost heart, because my nudes always looked like wrestlers! I realized that although I was certainly an art lover, I was no artist. Qu est-ce These qui works vous by amène Arsenault à choisir and un artiste Jasmin ou are une abstract, œuvre which en particulier I like because? one is not sidetracked by a landscape or the style of a portrait. Only the arrangements of colour count. I ve always been more affected by colours than by representation. It s an inborn taste. What draws you to a particular artist or work of art? My initial feeling for a work. Put simply, I have to love it. I often used to visit artists in their studios, especially the Canadians like Riopelle, Lemoyne, Roussil and Hurtubise. I followed their development. Is there a work you feel particularly fortunate to have acquired? Do you have a favourite work? A Pierre Soulages dating from 1979, which I still have at home but which I ve offered to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, where it will eventually hang. It is one of his earliest blacklight pieces. I ve always been attracted to Soulages s work, and have met him. His blacks are Y luminous, a-t-il une œuvre full of que relief, vous regrettez remarkable de ne in pas their avoir transparency sometimes, acquise? from certain angles, you even get the impression that they re white. I saw his exhibition at the Museum and it made a powerful impression on me. I stayed in contact with him and eventually bought some paintings from him. I also loved a black-andwhite painting by Franz Kline from 1955 (one of his best years), that I no longer possess. Is there a work that you regret not having purchased? In about 1972 I was feeling rather euphoric after securing an important contract. I flew off to join my family in England, where I saw a remarkable sculpture by Naum Gabo, a member of the Russian avant-garde Constructivists. It was a head of a woman in bronze comprised of a parabolic hyperbola. The very delicate structure of the qui piece guide and votre its choix mathematical,? Demandez-vous applied- Qu est-ce l aide sciences de quelqu un aspect fascinated d autre? the engineer in me. I felt had to buy it, in spite of the very high price, but my wife made me see reason. The following year I tried to buy it, but the price had increased tenfold; three years later I learned that it was valued at over a million dollars! What informs your selection? Do you seek advice from anyone else? I never bought anything without first discussing it façon with de my voir wife. votre Léo collection Rosshandler, a-t-elle curator changé Votre avec of my le company s temps? collection, was, of course, a close advisor. Pierre Théberge, whom I also consulted, had a marvellous eye for discovering gifted artists. These days I leave it to my sons to acquire new art. Has the vision for your collection changed over time? No, it hasn t changed. I like the same artists I did at the start. I never tire of looking at the works of the painters I ve always admired. For thirty years I ve had a large canvas by Marcelle Avez-vous Ferron hanging déjà songé in my à partager private office. votre collection I wouldn t avec trade un it public for all élargi the? money in the world. The same goes for a 365 365 cm Riopelle. The older I get, the more my paintings are part of me. Have you ever considered sharing your collection with a larger public? I have done so with my company s collection. With the curator, we set up an acquisitions programme oriented towards the work of living Canadian artists. What has collecting taught you? Do you have any... advice for new collectors? You should only buy what you love. You have to live with these works, they become rather like your children. But you shouldn t hesitate to ask for advice, either. There s nothing worse than purchasing something as an investment, it then becomes a matter of business. You might as well become a dealer. It s for this very reason that I call myself an art lover rather than a collector. It s the artists who are at the forefront of all the great movements of civilization. They show the way, they help us to understand how our society is evolving. The arts change us, they encourage us to keep moving forward. For me, visual art is the most accessible. We re free to enjoy it whenever we like, in our own time. Art has been a lifelong passion for me.... 209 209 Jean Dubuffet Le Havre 1901 - Paris 1985 Dwelling II, 1966 Vinyl on canvas 146 114 cm Private collection 180 65994_Collection_English.indd 180 11/8/07 12:57:22 PM