Extraordinary gift includes works by Lee Bontecou, Jasper Johns, David Hockney, William Kentridge, Robert Rauschenberg, Kara Walker and Andy Warhol
TORONTO - Today the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) announces an extraordinary gift of modern and contemporary art from the late Carol and Morton Rapp. Enthusiastic and energetic patrons of the arts for more than seven decades, their intuitive approach to collecting drew them towards printmakers and photographers whose approach pushed the medium forward. Featuring more than 450 works by 203 artists, this gift — which includes a number of portfolios — will significantly bolster the AGO’s Prints and Drawings Collection, enabling it to tell the full story of the medium's renaissance in the late 1960s and 1970s and its ongoing evolution throughout the early decades of the 21st century.
Unique among Toronto collectors, Carol and Morton Rapp began collecting prints in the 1960s. In the 1990s their interests expanded to encompass contemporary photography and photogravures. Since 1966, the Rapp’s have generously donated 474 works to the AGO, and this latest gift is further proof of their enduring commitment to the AGO.
“More than collectors, Carol and Morton Rapp were stewards of great art, eager to share and preserve the things that brought them pleasure, beauty, and insight,” says Stephan Jost, Michael and Sonja Koerner Director and CEO of the Art Gallery of Ontario. “During their lifetimes they contributed immensely to the cultural fabric of Toronto and to the AGO, and this gift by their family is a heartfelt expression of their enduring commitment to this place.”
“Carol and Morton Rapp were passionate collectors and supported major artists for more than 60 years,” says Jay Smith, AGO Trustee and son-in-law. “They were globally connected and committed to building collections at the AGO and MoMA. One of the distinct legacies of this gift is that they worked closely with living artists and this shared energy is alive in the gift.”
Highlights of the Rapp gift include:
- 13 screenprints by Andy Warhol, including four portraits of Marilyn Monroe (1967) and Flowers 1, Flowers 2 and Flowers 3 from 1970
- Eight works by Robert Rauschenberg, including his first illustrated book composed of lithographs on moveable plexiglass plates Shades (1964) and his three-dimensional, screenprint on plexiglass sculpture Passport (1967)
- Entering the AGO collection for the first time, is American painter Barnett Newman, with a lithograph from 1964 entitled CANTO XVIII
- Nine works by Jasper Johns including lithographs A Cartoon for Tanya (1972) and Savarin (1982)
- Three prints and a portfolio of etchings and poems, Fifth Stone, Sixth Stone (1967-68) by Lee Bontecou, all produced by Universal Limited Art Editions
- Four early works by David Hockney, including 2 etchings from the Cavafy Suite, One Night (1966) and Two boys aged 23 or 24 (1966)
- Seven works by Claus Oldenburg, including Teabag (1966), a sculptural print of screenprinted vinyl and felt on plexiglass
- Three works by William Kentridge, including the monumental linoleum cut Telephone Lady from 2000, and Learning the Flute (2003), a technical tour-du-force composed of 110 individually printed sheets, printed on unbound pages from a 1950 edition of Chambers's Encyclopedia
- Three works on paper by Roy Lichtenstein, including the 1965 screenprint Pow Sweet Dreams Baby!
- Yinka Shonibare’s chromogenic photograph Diary of a Victorian Dandy: 19.00 hours (1998), a satirical take on William Hogarth’s famed caricatures
- Rachel Whiteread’s three-dimensional sculpture Secondhand (2004), an example of stereolithography, created using a 3D scan of vintage doll house furniture
- Kara Walker’s Testimony (2005), a set of 5 photogravures taken from her 2004 video work Testimony: Narrative of a Negress Burdened by Good Fortune
The gift arrives at a significant moment for the AGO, as construction continues on the Dani Reiss Modern & Contemporary Gallery, a 40,000 sq. ft. expansion designed to showcase the AGO’s growing collection of modern and contemporary art.
Admission to the AGO is free for Ontarians under 25, AGO Members, Annual Pass holders, and Indigenous Peoples and is included in General Admission. For more details on how to become a Member or Annual Passholder, visit ago.ca.
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ABOUT THE AGO’S PRINTS & DRAWINGS COLLECTION
The AGO's Prints and Drawings collection comprises more than 20,000 prints, drawings, and watercolours, housing works on paper from the 1400s to the present day. The Prints and Drawings collection intersects with many of the AGO’s collecting areas, including European, Canadian, Inuit, Modern, Contemporary, and Photography.
The collection is grounded in European prints, drawings, watercolours and pastels, and the main strengths of the AGO's holdings are Italian (1500s–1700s), French (1600s-1800s) and British (1700s-1900s). The collection also includes small but distinct holdings from the Dutch and German schools.
Highlights include drawings by Michelangelo, François Boucher, John Constable, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Thomas Gainsborough, Paul Gauguin, Vasily Kandinsky, Pablo Picasso, Egon Schiele, and Vincent van Gogh. Large holdings of Canadian works on paper include those of Greg Curnoe, Betty Goodwin, David Milne, Michael Snow, Walter Trier, F.H. Varley, and David Blackwood.
The collection also contains French and English caricatures, European and American posters, Cologne Dada and large groups of prints by Rembrandt, Francisco Goya, James Gillray, Thomas Rowlandson, James Tissot, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, James McNeill Whistler, Ernst Barlach, Käthe Kollwitz, Stanley Spencer, Henry Moore, and Robert Motherwell.
Members of the public are invited to explore works from AGO’s Prints and Drawings Collection by appointment and during Open Door events in the Marvin Gelber Print and Drawing Study, on the first Wednesday of the month, September through June. The Study Centre makes accessible its collection of prints, drawings and watercolours, as well as the large collection of photographs.
ABOUT THE AGO
Located in Toronto, the Art Gallery of Ontario is one of the largest art museums in North America, attracting approximately one million visitors annually. The AGO Collection of more than 120,000 works of art ranges from cutting-edge contemporary art to significant works by Indigenous and Canadian artists to European masterpieces. The AGO presents wide-ranging exhibitions and programs, including solo exhibitions and acquisitions by diverse and underrepresented artists from around the world. The AGO is embarking on the seventh expansion project undertaken since it was founded in 1900. When completed the Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery will increase exhibition space for the museum’s growing modern and contemporary collection and reflect the people who call Toronto home. With its groundbreaking Annual Pass program, the AGO is one of the most affordable and accessible attractions in the GTA. Visit ago.ca to learn more.
The AGO is funded in part by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming. Additional operating support is received from the City of Toronto, the Canada Council for the Arts, and generous contributions from AGO Members, donors, and private-sector partners.
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Andrea-Jo Wilson | Manager, Public Relations | AGO
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