CULTURE DESIGN ART
Rebirth 24/01/2012
A tour through time, an impressive art collection and the gleam of glorious windows await visitors to the expanded Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
-- Paul Larson
In the early 20th century, the sanctuary of the Erskine and American Church in Montreal echoed with organ music, heavenly choirs and worshipers raising their voices in song. The divine colours of Tiffany glass cast beams of celestial light into the room.
In the early 21st century, the pollution had darkened the windows, and the Romanesque Revival building sat empty dark and silent. It was deconsecrated in 2004.
When the montreal Museum of fine Arts purchased its neighbouring building in 2008, a study of the church revealed its most valuable asset was the collection of twenty Tiffany windows. According to Richard Gagnier, of the museum conservation department, the studios of Louis Comfort Tiffany crafted these windows at the peak of studio production, between 1905 and 1910.
"It was considered to be the golden age of the studio," Gagnier said.
Now the fully restored windows once again shine brightly in the Bourgie Concert Hall, the new name for the former church.
"When you see them all together you think of what Tiffany himself said, that stained glass is almost like a jewel," said Rosalind Peppal, Senior Curator of Decorative Arts.
Jacques Des Rochers, Quebec and Canadian Art Curator, enjoys the luxury of sitting within view of the most important Tiffany window collection in Canada, while listening to the many chamber music concerts held in the hall during its first month open to the public.
"To have this concentration of unique works of art together with the wonderful acoustics and great musicians makes for a really unique moment," he said.
2011 marks a significant moment for the museum. For the first time ever, the museum can show an impressive thirty-two percent of its permanent collection of Canadian and Quebec art, thanks to six new floors built at the back of the church. The church and new construction comprise the Claire an Marc Bourgie Pavillion of Quebec and Canadian Art. Des Rochers said most museums can only display about ten or eleven percent of a permanent collection at any one time.
The presentation in each gallery takes the visitor on a fullly immersive journey through the history of art and the history of Canada.
On the top floor, visitors will find a room dedicated to Inuit art. One floor below, they'll discover a gallery dedicated to the Colonial period, in a room decorated with tree trunks and limbs, subtly enhanced by the sound of Canadian birds. This gallery includes works from First Nation artists and early settlers to New France. The works then become more contemporary as visitors go down each flight of stairs.
"There was not enough space," said visitor Andrew Nemes while standing in front of a Riopelle on a lower floor. "Its a problem in almost every major museum. So the fact that there is more space and more works can be seen that haven't been seen in a long time is great for Montreal."
Outside the new pavilion, directly in front of the concert hall on Sherbrooke Street, a new icon invites people to explore the museum. Its is a monumental angel sculpture entitled The Eye, by Montreal native David Altmejd. His first work for the museum and his first in bronze shows hands emerging from a hole in the angel's stomach.
"He wanted to show an opening toward the museum, toward art," Natalie Bondil, Museum Director, said. "With this sculpture he wanted to say it is art that moves your intellect, your eyes, and your guts."
-- Paul Larson
images: Marc Cramer
