The Grace of the Gesture

Artists of different generations, nationalities and disciplines are brought together in this superb publication highlighting the privileged relationship between a museum and its community. Published on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Canada’s premier contemporary art museum and accompanying a sprawling exhibition, this splendidly illustrated publication pays tribute to the artists, collectors and galleries whose initiative and generosity brought this singular institution into being in 1964.

Featuring fifty works donated over fifty years, the breathtaking range of artists presented constitutes an encyclopedic repertory of legendary names, notably Marina Abramovic, David Altmejd, Louise Bourgeois, Daniel Buren, Edward Burtynsky, Marcel Dzama, Rodney Graham, Anselm Kiefer, Kent Monkman, Nam June Paik, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Spencer Tunick, Irene F. Whittome and Ian Wallace. The growth of the collection from its first 100 works to its current holdings of nearly 8,000 is portrayed as a living portrait of the art of our times: multidisciplinary, transhistorical and heterogeneous. With more than 100 colour illustrations including numerous plates and fold-outs and complete bibliographic notices. All texts in English and French.