Permanent Collection

The Art Gallery of Peterborough’s Permanent Collection dates to 1973, beginning with a gift of historical European and Canadian Paintings donated by the Peterborough Teachers College. These works had been part of the collection established for the Toronto Normal School by Egerton Ryerson in the 1850’s. The AGP Volunteers Committee initiated the first purchase made by the Art Gallery of Peterborough in 1977 when they raised funds, matched by the Province of Ontario, to buy a painting by Jack Shadbolt. They raised the money by “selling” one square inch of the painting at a time. This purchase solidified the AGP’s intention to focus its collection on works by contemporary Canadian artists.

The collection now numbers over 1,800 works including paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, photographs, mixed media works, both Canadian and international in origin. There is an emphasis on works on paper, drawing and prints, which includes silk screens, serigraphs, lithographs, etchings, woodcut and linocut prints. Local printmakers such as George Raab (Millbrook), Jean Nind (Peterborough) and Sheila Laidlaw-Radford (Buckhorn) are represented. Among the strengths of the AGP’s holdings are a comprehensive collection of works by Peterborough artist David Bierk (1944-2002), Ronald Bloore (1925 – 2009), and several works by Carl Beam (1943 – 2005) who lived in Peterborough in the 1980’s. Works of Canadian historic significance include paintings and drawings by William Brymner, Horatio Walker, Laura Muntz-Lyall, A.J. Casson, Arthur Lismer, Lawren Harris, and A.Y. Jackson.

In 1988, there was a major gift of 82 drawings by Ronald Bloore, which included significant works from the early 1960’s. Manitoba artist, Ivan Eyre, has donated a significant group of his drawings, and we have a comprehensive group of photo-maquettes by Montreal-based artist Bill Vazan. In 1995, a private collection of 44 pieces with landscape-based subjects was donated by a Peterborough-based collector; included were paintings by Paterson Ewen, Allan Mackay, Vickey Marshall and Jim Reid, as well as photographs by Marlene Creates and Geoffrey James.

There has been particular focus on collecting works by significant Indigenous artists from the region and across the country including Mary Anne Barkhouse, Carl Beam, Michael Belmore, Rebecca Belmore, Rita Letendre, Daphne Odjig, Jane Ash Poitras, and Michael Robinson.

The Gallery also hold works by Kristi Malakoff, Sheila Butler, Nobuo Kubota, Peer Christensen, Gordon Raynor, and a significant donation of prints by senior printmaker Carl (J.C.) Heywood. Recent acquisitions include works by John Brown, Brenda Francis-Pelkey, Dr. Spencer J Harrison, Micah Lexier, Sanaz Mazinani, Kent Monkman, Roula Partheniou, Shaan Syed, and Tim Whiten.

Donations and purchases to the Art Gallery of Peterborough’s Permanent Collection are reviewed by the AGP’s Acquisitions Committee who make recommendations to the Board of Directors for final consideration.