Lynne Cooke

This transformative exhibition explores how abstract art and woven textiles have intertwined over the past hundred years.

In the 20th century, textiles were often considered lesser – as applied art, women’s work, or domestic craft. Woven Histories challenges the hierarchies that have separated textiles from fine arts. Putting into dialogue some 130 works by more than 45 creators from across generations and continents, the exhibition explores the contributions; weaving and related techniques have made to abstraction, modernism’s pre-eminent art form.

See a variety of textile techniques including weaving, knitting, netting, knotting and felting. Learn about the wide-ranging reasons artists from Anni Albers to Rosemarie Trockel and Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians/Cherokee Nation) have engaged with this art form. Some seek to effect social change; others address political issues. Engaging with textiles as subject, material and technique, still others revitalize abstraction’s formal conventions or critique its patriarchal history and gendered identity.

Follow this hidden thread of art history to discover the work of creators who were once marginalized for their gender, race or class.

Hardcover
24 x 28 cm (9.5 x 11 in.)
Publication date: 2024

The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in collaboration with the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Under the direction of John R. Porter & Pierre Théberge, in collaboration with Anne Sophie Lemieux & Madeleine Lacerte 

Beyond the immediate charm of some of his subjects lies Lemieux's eloquent vision of our vast space, our northern sensibility and our collective soul — a soul torn between the nostalgia for the past and an unknowable future. He was able to vividly capture in his work the solitude of individual human existence, thus giving it a universal dimension. To mark the hundredth anniversary of his birth, this catalogue has been designed to give as much space as possible to a visual panorama of the artist's work. We hope that all those who peruse this catalogue will be touched by the universality of the work of Jean Paul Lemieux. 

Homage to Jean Paul Lemieux is published by the National Gallery of Canada in association with the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and Galerie Lacerte. 

Hardcover | 119 pages 
21 x 27 cm (8.27 x 10.63 in.) 
Publication date: 2004

Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923-2002)
Hommage aux Nymphéas - Pavane [Tribute to the Water Lilies - Pavane], 1954

This monumental triptych was first exhibited in Canada in 1963 as part of the artist's retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada, and its title refers to a Spanish dance that originated in the 16th century. The dance incorporates a stately and processional rhythm, which is captured in the energy and movement of this painting.

Made in Canada
Image Size: 81.3 x 43.8 cm (32 x 17.2 in.)
Poster Size: 94.4 x 61 cm (36 x 24 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada

Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) 
Hope I, 1903 

POSTER: 
Image size: 71.1 x 25.4 cm (28 x 10 in.) 
Poster size: 91.4 x 61 cm (36 x 24 in.) 

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada

Moyra Davey, Dalie Giroux and Andrea Kunard

Over the past 40 years, artist Moyra Davey has perfected a unique synthesis of photography, film and text to critically engage with the past, present and future of the world around her. Based on Davey’s eponymous 2019 film, this publication unites three main sources in a chronicle of late 20th-century Quebec, shaped by themes of race, poverty, language and nationalism. Using American writer James Baldwin’s 1962 novel Another Country as its point of departure, it focuses on the life and work of Québécois revolutionary Pierre Vallières and Ottawa-based political philosopher Dalie Giroux.

Published to accompany the exhibition Moyra Davey: The Faithful at the National Gallery of Canada, this deeply personal and highly political book seeks to examine an unresolved chapter of Québécois history from a uniquely interdisciplinary perspective that draws attention to contemporary issues of separatism, while reflecting the artist’s understanding of photography and text as unique corollaries.

This publication features writings by the artist, Dalie Giroux and National Gallery of Canada’s Associate Curator Andrea Kunard, and a poster insert.

Softcover | 168 pages (90 illustrations)
17.3 x 24.1 cm (6.7 x 9.5 in.)
Publication Date: 2020

Pratapaditya Pal 

Images divines, perceptions humaines : la collection Max Tanenbaum d'art d'Asie du Sud et de l'Himalaya au Musée des beaux-arts du Canada 

While the Gallery acquired representative examples of historic Asian art beginning in the early 20th century, its holdings were transformed thanks to the generous gift of Max Tanenbaum (1909–1983), who donated part of the collection of the late Nasli Heeramaneck (1902–1971) in 1980. 

This book commemorates one of the most sumptuous gifts in the history of the National Gallery of Canada. Dr. Hsio-Yen Shih (1933–2001), the sixth director of the National Gallery of Canada from 1977–1981, attracted this remarkable donation in an attempt to expand the collection beyond the confines of the arts of Canada, Europe and North America. 

Softcover | 166 pages 
20.32 x 25.4 cm (8 x 11 in.) 
Publication Date: 1997 
Printed in Canada
Available in French only

This magnet features the artwork Intergalactic Empowerment Wampum Belt (2019) by Mohawk artist Skawennati. 

9 x 6.5 cm (3.5 x 2.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

This notecard features the artwork Intergalactic Empowerment Wampum Belt (2019) by Mohawk artist Skawennati. 

Card dimensions: 17.5 x 13.5 cm (6.8 x 5.3 in.)
Blank inside. Envelope included.

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Josée Drouin-Brisebois, Greg A. Hill, Andrea Kunard

It Is What It Is: Recent Acquisitions of New Canadian Art features a selection of over seventy works created by more than fifty artists working across the country in a range of media, practices and sensibilities. More than a catalogue, this publication can be seen as a document that acknowledges some of the most compelling works being produced in Canada today.

FEATURED ARTISTS: David Altmejd, Stephen Andrews, Shuvinai Ashoona, Mary Anne Barkhouse, Rebecca Belmore, BGL, Valérie Blass, Shary Boyle, James Carl, Patrick Coutu, Thirza Cuthand, Geoffrey Farmer, Karel Funk, Tim Gardner, Chris Gergley, Greg Girard, Rodney Graham, Pascal Grandmaison, Adad Hannah, Isabelle Hayeur, Antonia Hirsch, Kristan Horton, Simon Hughes, Spring Hurlbut, Sarah Anne Johnson, Wanda Koop, Rodney LaTourelle, Tim Lee, Mark Lewis, Liz Magor, Luanne Martineau, Scott McFarland, Sandra Meigs, Chris Millar, Gareth Moore, Alex Morrison, Nadia Myre, Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay, Shelley Niro, Ed Pien, Tim Pitsiulak, Yannick Pouliot, Steven Shearer, Ron Terada, Susan Turcot, Jeff Wall, Ian Wallace, Chih-Chien Wang, Colleen Wolstenholme, Kevin Yates, Robert Youds, Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Etienne Zack, Rhonda Weppler and Trevor Mahovsky.

Paper | 160 pages
22.5 x 29.5 cm (8.9 x 11.6 in.) 
Publication Date: 2010

David Franklin

Seventy of the finest Italian drawings from the 16th to the 18th centuries in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada are featured in this volume. Brilliant examples by such artists as Giulio Romano, Parmigianino, Annibale Carracci and Piranesi were selected and described. This is the first in a series of catalogues presenting selected treasures from the Gallery's permanent collection.

Paper | 176 pages
Publication Date: 2003

This notecard features the artwork Jacket for Two Typescripts by Antonin Artaud (1948) by Jean Paul Riopelle (1923-2002).

Card dimensions: 13 x 18 cm (5 x 7 in.)
Blank inside. Envelope included.

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Ann Thomas, Vladimir Birgus, Ian Jeffrey 

Josef Sudek. Le monde à ma fenêtre examines how Sudek’s photographs reflect his relationship to the world around him; his endless fascination with light and its absence led him to create some of the 20th century’s most haunting images of nature, monuments, city streets and objects. This generously illustrated catalogue offers a compelling view of Sudek’s photographs and the rich artistic environment of Prague in the decades before and after the Second World War. 

Hardcover | 272 pages 
24.5 x 30.5 cm (9.7 x 12 in.) 
Publication Date: 2016 

Available in French only

This notecard features the painting Knight Watch (1953) by Jean Paul Riopelle (1923-2002).

Card dimensions: 13 x 18 cm (5 x 7 in.)
Blank inside. Envelope included.

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

David Franklin

Among Renaissance artists, Parmigianino was perhaps more conscious than any of the potential of the graphic arts to convey, and indeed broadcast, complex ideas. He explored this potential himself, not only by means of his numerous drawings but also through the etchings he produced on his own (effectively introducing this print medium into Italian art) and through the engravings and chiaroscuro woodcuts that were made after his designs.

Paper | 289 pages
Publication Date: 2001
Available in French only

Andréi Nakov

Beginning in 1914 in Russia, a group of artists primed for experimentation introduced an entirely new direction for the visual arts, articulating the language of abstraction with Suprematism and Constructivism. This catalogue centers on the emergence of the Russian avant-garde movement in Moscow until the mid-1920s. Works by El Lissitzky, Vladimir Tatlin, Kazimir Malevich, Ilya Chashnik, Liubov Popova, Olga Rozanova and Ivan Kliun are featured. Also included is a rich selection of books, manuscripts, drawings and prints, reminding us that, for many Russians in the early twentieth century, art was a part of everyday life.

Paperback | 164 pages
Publication date: 2016

Sonia Del Re, Dennis T. Lanigan, Christopher Newall

L'éveil de la beauté expresses the richness, diversity and flair of British draftsmanship and illustrates the appreciation developed for the art of drawing during the Victorian era. Included are drawings by such masters as Edward Burne-Jones, John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Poynter and Frederic Leighton.

Paperback | 216 pages 
23 x 30 cm (9 x 12 in.)
Publication Date: 2015

Jean Clair

The Great Parade: Portrait of the Artist as Clown is a spectacular international exhibition featuring masterpieces that explore the fascination the circus has held for artists from the 18th century to the present. The catalogue brings together nearly 200 works - paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures and videos - from Watteau and Chardin to Boltanski and Cindy Sherman, via Tiepolo, Goya, Daumier, Courbet, Seurat, Ensor, Rouault, Léger, Klee, Chagall and Picasso, among others.

Hardcover | 424 pages
Publication Date: 2004
Available in French only

Andrea Kunard

The variety, width and breadth of photographic culture in Canada is extraordinary, and Canadian photographers are among the most prominent and influential in the world today. From classic street photography, documentary images and landscape imagery, to experimental abstractions and conceptual work, photography is an area of particularly rich exploration in our country. Photography in Canada 1960–2000 is the fifth in a series that presents the Gallery's Photographs Collection, and this catalogue is the first to be published by the newly established Canadian Photography Institute (CPI).

Featured artists: Raymonde April, Roy Arden, Barbara Astman, Claire Beaugrand-Champagne, Pierre Boogaerts, Robert Bourdeau, Jim Breukelman, Robert Burley, Edward Burtynsky, Michel Campeau, Serge Clément, Lynne Cohen, Sorel Cohen, Carole Condé, Marlene Creates, Donigan Cumming, Walter Curtin, Jack Dale, Robert Del Tredici, Stan Denniston, Jennifer Dickson, Lutz Dille, Evergon, Charles Gagnon, Pierre Gaudard, General Idea, Tom Gibson, Lorraine Gilbert, Rafael Goldchain, Rodney Graham, Ted Grant, Angela Grauerholz, Clara Gutsche, Dave Heath, Fred Herzog, Hubert Hohn, Thaddeus Holownia, George Hunter, Geoffrey James, Yousuf Karsh, Holly King, Suzy Lake, Michel Lambeth, Ken Lum, Chris Lund, Arnaud Maggs, John Massey, John Max, Susan McEachern, David McMillan, N.E. Thing Co. (NETCO), Shelley Niro, Nina Raginsky, John Reeves, Mark Ruwedel, Jacye Salloum, Michael Semak, Orest Semchishen, Sandra Semchuk, Michael Snow, George Steeves, Gabor Szilasi, Sam Tata, Jeff Thomas, Diana Thorneycroft, Serge Tousignant, Larry Towell, Bill Vazan, Jeff Wall, Ian Wallace, and Jin-me Yoon.

Paperback | 176 pages
20.5 x 26.5 cm (8 x 10 ½ in.)
Publication Date: 2016

Lori Pauli, Marta Weiss, Ann Thomas, Karen Henry

Since the earliest days of photography, artists have directed models posing before the camera and, through the use of theatrical props, costumes, and lighting, have created "staged" photographs that tell a story. Acting the Part is the first major history of this enduring and highly creative branch of photography. Beautiful illustrations range from the earliest salted paper prints and daguerreotypes to today's digitally manipulated images. The book also presents 57 short biographies of the genre's leading practitioners, including Oscar Rejlander, Julia Margaret Cameron, Lewis Carroll, Man Ray, Duane Michals, Les Krims, Jeff Wall, Yasumasa Morimura and Wang Qingsong, among others.

Softcover & Hardcover | 176 pages
28.5 x 23.5 x 1.5 cm (11.2 x 9.3 x 0.6 in.)
Publication Date: 2006

This notecard features the painting La roue II (1956) by Jean Paul Riopelle (1923-2002).

Card dimensions: 13 x 18 cm (5 x 7 in.)
Blank inside. Envelope included.

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.