Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Exhibitions

Permanent

• Sacred Africa II: Works from the Collections of Cirque du Soleil, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Redpath Museum, McGill University

  In June 2006, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts presented art from the African continent in an exhibition of outstanding works from the collection of Guy Laliberté. Sacred Africa I, the result of a unique partnership, featured a selection of works from three Montreal collections – university, fine arts and corporate – McGill University’s Redpath Museum, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Cirque du Soleil.
  
  Opening on November 19, 2008, Sacred Africa II will present a new selection of major works primarily from Laliberté’s collection, illustrating the artistic approaches of other peoples of West Africa and Equatorial and Central Africa. Sacred Africa II: Works from the Collections of Cirque du Soleil, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Redpath Museum, McGill University brings together forty-eight works, sculptures, masks and objects, in the new, more spacious galleries that will now be devoted to African art.

• Gallery Space Devoted to the Artist Marc-Aurèle Fortin

  In February 2007, the Musée Marc-Aurèle Fortin gave the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts its collection of works by Fortin (1888-1970), as well as personal items that belonged to the artist and archival documents. This notable gift rounds out and significantly enlarges the Museum’s collection of Fortin’s oeuvre and highlights the importance of the artist’s achievements. Nathalie Bondil, Director of the MMFA, announced that gallery space devoted to his work would be open to visitors as of June 20.

  Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion
  
  Level 2
  
  

• Échauffement planétaire : images d’un monde sous tension

  Le Musée a conçu le premier déploiement de sa collection permanente sous l'angle d'un monde sous tension.
  
  La multiplication des armes nucléaires, le réchauffement climatique et les bouleversements démographiques sans précédent compromettent l'avenir planétaire comme aucun conflit ancien ne l'avait fait. « Si la destruction, la damnation et la catastrophe traversent toute l'histoire de l'art, ces réalités prennent aujourd'hui une forme et une signification alarmantes dont l'art est le témoin anxieux » explique Stéphane Aquin, conservateur de l'art contemporain au MBAM et responsable de l'aménagement de ces nouvelles galeries.
  
  « Give me back the Berlin wall / Give me Stalin and St. Paul / I've seen the future, brother / It is murder », chantait Leonard Cohen dans The Future (1992). Avec son roman The Road (La Route), qui s'est mérité le prix Pulitzer en 2007, l'auteur américain Cormac McCarthy a donné une de ses images les plus extrêmes à cet avenir de meurtre, celle d'un monde de cendres traversé çà et là de bandes cannibales.

• Napoleon GIFT OF THE BEN WEIDER COLLECTION TO THE MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

  Today, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is inaugurating new permanent galleries devoted to Napoleon and the arts under the First Empire, thanks to a major gift – the collection of works assembled by the late Ben Weider, for whom Napoleon was a giant of history, one of the most influential figures of the nineteenth century, who helped to define the modern age. According to Nathalie Bondil, the Museum’s Director, This outstanding gift and Mr. Weider’s philanthropic desire to raise the profile of Napoleon have enabled us to acquire a group of works on long-term loan and have sparked offers of further gifts, so that the Museum can, at last, open an Empire gallery. Not only Montreal’s heritage but also that of Canada will be enriched, for this magnificent period in the arts was hitherto poorly represented for obvious historical reasons. We will always be extremely grateful to Mr. Weider.
  
  The Napoleon galleries of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts constitute one of North America’s most important collections of items relating to Napoleon (1769-1821). They are open to the public free of charge at all times.

  Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion
  
  Level 3

• The Body in Glass. Gift of the Anna and Joe Mendel Collection to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

  An exceptional gift of one hundred glass sculptures recently enriched the Museum’s Department of Decorative Arts, thanks to the generosity of Anna and Joe Mendel, long-standing friends of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Drawn to glass by its intrinsic properties and expressive potential, these collectors wished to share their enthusiasm for the Studio Glass Movement with Museum visitors. The Mendel Collection is the only one of its kind in Canada, ranking with those of the leading American connoisseurs who have made glass their passion.
  
  A first selection of nineteen artworks from the Mendel Collection, The Body in Glass, will be presented in a new gallery within the Museum’s permanent collection. It deals with the human figure – an inexhaustible subject, fraught with emotion and questions about existence. The Museum is the only place in Montreal – and in Quebec – where visitors can see glass sculptures created by artists from around the world. Like the Museum's permanent collection, admission to this collection is free of charge at all times.

  Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion
  
  Level 1

• Art précolombien

  La collection d’art précolombien du Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, l’une des plus importantes au Canada, s’enrichit encore une fois grâce à des dons déterminants que l’on peut découvrir maintenant dans les nouvelles salles consacrées à l’art de l’Amérique ancienne. Une centaine d’œuvres, parmi lesquelles 32 dons récents et 19 prêts, ont été sélectionnées pour cette présentation privilégiant la rareté. Elle offre un parcours chronologique et culturel pour chaque grande aire culturelle de l’Amérique ancienne : la Mésoamérique, l’Aire intermédiaire (Amérique centrale) et les Andes de l’Amérique du Sud.

  Pavillon Michal et Renata Hornstein
  
  Niveau 1

Temporary

• The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the street to the Stars

  2011-06-17-2011-10-02

  Known as the enfant terrible of fashion, Jean Paul Gaultier is undoubtedly one of the most important designers of recent decades. His avant-garde style soon reflected the concerns of today’s society. The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Street to the Stars (June 17 October 2, 2011) is the first ever retrospective of the couturier who launched his first prêt-à-porter collection in 1976 and established his own haute couture house in 1997. Interested in all cultures and counter-culture, he boldly captures the mood of the times, offering a humanistic multicultural aesthetic: through his diversions, transgressions, metamorphoses, reinterpretations and cross-breedings, he blurs the boundaries and demands the right to be different, inventing a new way of creating and wearing couture. In honour of Jean Paul Gaultier’s thirty five years in fashion, this truly mind-blowing multimedia exhibition will take a fresh look at the way this generous creator, who has shed all his hang-ups, uses his ties to the pop/rock-and-roll music scene, film and dance, and will shed light on the eclectic and impertinent sources of his inspiration, from the street to the stars. An exhibition developed and organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts with the support of the Maison Jean Paul Gaultier.

• Otto Dix - A Terrifying and Beautiful World

  2010-09-24-2011-01-02

  The early twentieth century was marked by the rise of several artistic movements known as expressionist that sought to express personal experiences and register political protests in an innovative formal manner. The German painter Otto Dix (1891-1969), who fought in both World Wars, was a key figure in the New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) movement which espoused a realistic, often acerbic, view of society during the Weimar Republic, prey to deep unease and pessimism. Dix, more than any other of his contemporaries, scrutinized bodies and souls and portrayed the horrifying reality of life, both beautiful and tragic. This attitude earned him a denunciation from the Nazi regime, which considered his art degenerate. It was mocked, destroyed and sold. Otto Dix – A Terrifying and Beautiful World is the first major North American exhibition devoted to this artist, who continues to both disturb and fascinate us. This presentation will comprise over 200 works and historical documents – including the outstanding Portrait of the Lawyer Hugo Simons already in the Museum’s collection and acquired after a notable fight through an unprecedented mobilization of support – among the most representative of his unflinching depiction of his era.

Activities

• Fête au Musée

  2008-01-01-3000-01-01

  Nous vous offrons l’occasion de fêter votre enfant au Musée, un événement mémorable pour toute la famille. La fête commence par une visite des collections et se prolonge par un atelier pratique, le tout d’une durée de deux heures. Une demi-heure est ensuite consacrée au gâteau et aux souhaits d’usage sous la supervision des parents. Chacun des participants rapportera son chef-d’œuvre à la maison. Cette activité convient aux enfants de six ans et plus.

• Lectures

  2008-01-01-3000-01-01

  Lectures on art

  Wednesday, 6 p.m.

  Maxwell Cummings Auditorium Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion 1379 Sherbrooke Street West

• Guided Tour : The Museum collections

  2008-01-01-3000-01-01

  Our volunteer guides offert original tours of the museum's permanent collection. A collection is featured each month. September : World Cultures October: Contemporary Art November: European Art December : European Art

  Wednesday : 2.30 p.m. Sunday : 2.30 p.m.

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