National Gallery of Canada, in Ottawa, Ontario, exhibits the most important collection of Canadian art in Canada. The gallery also has important collections of American, Asian, and European art. The museum collection includes paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs, videotapes, and films.
Major donations to the gallery include the Massey Collection of English Painting, the Henry Birks Collection of Canadian Silver, the Bronfman Gift of Drawings, and the Heeramaneck Collection of Southeast Asian Art. The gallery also includes a fine arts reference library. In addition, the gallery provides guided tours and lectures on its collections and exhibitions.
The National Gallery was founded in 1880 to display a collection of works by members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Before moving to its present location, the gallery had been housed at a series of temporary sites, none of which was designed for the gallery’s special needs. Today, the gallery is housed in a three-story building of stainless steel, glass, and rose-colored granite. This building, designed by the Israeli-born Canadian architect Moshe Safdie, opened in 1988.
