The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is a Canadian art gallery

Art gallery

An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...

 located in Victoria

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

. Opened in 1951, the gallery possesses notable works by artists such as Emily Carr

Emily Carr

Emily Carr was a Canadian artist and writer heavily inspired by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the first painters in Canada to adopt a post-impressionist painting style, Carr did not receive widespread recognition for her work until later in her life...

, and has one of Canada's most significant collections of Asian art

Asian art

Asian art can refer to art amongst many cultures in Asia.-Various types of Asian art:*Afghan art*Azerbaijanian art*Balinese art*Bhutanese art*Buddhist art*Burmese contemporary art*Chinese art*Eastern art*Indian art*Iranian art*Islamic art...

. An Asian garden

Japanese garden

, that is, gardens in traditional Japanese style, can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, and at historical landmarks such as Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and old castles....

 located on the gallery grounds includes the only authentic Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese Shinto shrine in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

The modern Art Gallery addition is connected to a Victorian era home known as Gyppeswyk, built in 1889 for the Green family. When Cary Castle

Government House (British Columbia)

Government House of British Columbia is the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, as well as that in Victoria of the Canadian monarch, and has casually been described as "the Ceremonial Home of all British Columbians." It stands in the provincial capital on a 8.9 ha ...

, the original Government House, was destroyed by fire in 1903, Gyppeswyck served briefly as the residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia

Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia

The Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia is the viceregal representative in British Columbia of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared with equally the ten other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest...

.

When it first opened in 1951, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria exhibited art in the historic 1889 mansion that is now adjacent to its seven modern galleries. With almost 17,000 works of art, the Art Gallery has the largest public collection in BC and is a vibrant and active part of Victoria's artist community.

The Victorian Mansion

Designed by William Ridgeway Wilson, the Spencer Mansion was built in 1889. The property originally stretched from Fort Street to Rockland Avenue and incorporated formal gardens, two tennis courts, stables and a coach house. The crowning feature, the belvedere, commands an inspiring view of the ocean. The Mansion was donated in 1951 by Miss Sarah Spencer to become the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

Exhibitions

The exhibition gallery spaces were originally added on to the Spencer Mansion between 1955 and 1978. The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria presents a diverse assortment of exhibitions including showcases of its own Canadian, historical and world-class Asian collection, as well as the creation, commissioning and hosting of contemporary exhibitions. On permanent display is the work of British Columbia's foremost historical artist Emily Carr.

Asian Collection and Garden

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is home to one of Canada's most important Asian art collections, second only to the Royal Ontario Museum. The collection of amber and ivory carvings is one of the largest and most exquisite in North America. The Gallery's collection has grown under the careful watch of internationally recognized Asian Curator, Barry Till. Several impressive objets d'art are on permanent exhibition including a grand Chinese Bell, cast in 1641 during the Ming dynasty that was presented to the City of Victoria in 1903. A popular attraction, it hung in Beacon Hill Park until 1989, when it came to the Art Gallery to ensure its long-term preservation. The Gallery's Asian Garden boasts the only authentic Japanese Shinto Shrine in North America. It is a fine example of the architecture of a Meiji period Shinto Shrine, now situated among bamboo and Japanese maples.

External links

• Art Gallery of Greater Victoria