The Collection Continues: A Quarter Century of Collecting

The Collection Continues brings together outstanding works acquired over the last twenty-five years by the Art Gallery of Hamilton for its permanent collection.

Featuring local, national, and international artists from the past and present, this exhibition considers the remarkable growth of the permanent collection and the intimate connections between its many strengths. The generosity of donors, the foresight of directors and curators, the formative role of living artists, and the rise of new generations of artists that explore a diverse array of media and subject matter are all explored here.

The works in this exhibition demonstrate how the Art Gallery of Hamilton continues to build its permanent collection with a view to capturing significant moments in the careers of artists, in major art movements, and in local and wider histories. Generating new questions, narratives, and dialogues, these works have enhanced and helped transform the quality and breadth of the permanent collection.

Work in a range of media—painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, and sculpture—and from the hands of both historical and contemporary artists reflects on the last twenty-five years of collecting. The work of over seventy artists is presented, including: Alex Colville, Meryl McMaster, Attila Richard Lukacs, BGL, Tim Whiten, Barbara Steinman, David Milne, Divya Mehra, Auguste Rodin, Robert Houle, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Kathleen Munn, Geneviève Cadieux, André Derain, and Gustave Doré, to name just a few.

This exhibition celebrates the impact of the last quarter-century on the evolution of an exceptional collection that informs, challenges, and inspires local and broader audiences alike—a collection that is recognized nationally and is a source of tremendous pride regionally.