Collector Bob Rennie donates 24 works to National Gallery of Canada

The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) in Ottawa has received a gift of 24 contemporary works of art from Bob Rennie, one of Canada’s top art collectors, and his family.

The donated works include 17 works by Christopher Williams, two works by Kerry James Marshall, four works by Brian Jungen and one work by Yin Zhenmei. With this gift, the Rainey family has donated 284 works to the museum since 2012.

“This gift follows one of the collection’s core missions,” once appeared in art news The “Top 200 Collectors” have been selected every year since 2015, a statement said. “Any work that leaves the Rainey Collection must go to a better home and a better custodian than we are.”

NGC director and CEO Jean-François Bélisle called the donation a “landmark and deeply inspired gift” in a statement, adding, “Bob Rennie’s clear vision and long-standing commitment to artists at critical points in their careers have helped shape one of Canada’s most important collections of contemporary art. The work entrusted to us today is powerful and ambitious and defines our era.”

Williams’ works are the first by the artist to enter the NGC’s collection, and they range from photographs to large-scale installations. Yin’s work is titled souvenirs of self (1991-2001), according to a press release, consists of “six postcard-style photographs in which Yin poses at iconic tourist attractions in Banff National Park and popular tourist destinations in Alberta.”

Jungen’s work includes an example from his acclaimed 2001 “Prototypes” series, in which the artist designed Nike Air Jordan sneakers to resemble masks from indigenous cultures on Canada’s Northwest Coast, and Michael (2003), an assemblage made from Air Jordan shoe boxes.

One of Marshall’s works is the installation wake (2003-25), currently on display at the Kunsthalle Zurich, debuted last autumn at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The work depicts a black sailing ship decorated with medals commemorating the first people of African descent brought to the Jamestown colony in 1619, including a self-portrait of Marshall.

Rainey added in the statement, “I want to remind us all that the two works of Kerry James Marshall document an important period of history and a narrative that should not be forgotten. These voices must be preserved for future generations. They show us when the seeds of slavery were sown and bore the fruits of racism that continue to this day.”