Agnes Etherington Art Centre holds over 17,000 works ranging from the 14th century to the present, placing it among the largest galleries in Ontario. It includes paintings, sculptures, and graphics by major Canadian artists, European old master paintings, African art, historical dress, quilts, silver and decorative art.
Canadian historical art The
Canadian Historical collection primarily representing the history of Canadian fine art in the Euro-American tradition, it also reflects the evolving Canadian cultural matrix through Inuit and Indigenous art and artifacts, as well as historic dress and decorative arts. The collection is notable for fine early topographical watercolours and major 20th-century paintings, and encompasses material connected to regional history in the Queen's University Collection of Canadian Dress, the Heritage Quilt Collection, and the Silver Collection. The Canadian historical collection includes works by:
Andre Charles Bieler,
Tom Thomson,
Emily Carr,
Lawren Harris,
Arthur Lismer,
Frederick Varley,
Edwin Holgate,
LeMoine FitzGerald,
Fernand Leduc,
Ozias Leduc,
David Milne,
William Ronald,
Carl Beam,
William Henry Bartlett,
William Brymner,
Kananginak Pootoogook,
Pitseolak Ashoona Contemporary art The
Contemporary Art Collection features visual art, with emphasis on the emerging generation of artists and works that reflect contemporary life and Canadian society. It is national in scope. The Contemporary collection includes works by:
Charles Stankievech,
Rebecca Belmore,
Judy Radul,
Brendan Fernandes,
Luis Jacob,
Vera Frenkel,
David Rokeby,
Norman White,
Robert Houle,
Shary Boyle,
AA Bronson,
General Idea,
Ian Carr-Harris,
Sarindar Dhaliwal,
Andre Fauteux,
Kim Ondaatje,
Derek Sullivan Historical European art , who wrote the first catalog of their collection in 1974. Here shown standing before a painting they gifted to their son David. The
European Art Collection holds many paintings, prints, and drawings of exceptional quality and depth. The heart of the European collection is the
Bader collection, with over 200 paintings donated by philanthropist
Alfred Bader together with his first wife Helen, and later together with his second wife Isabel. The Baders also gifted the Bader Acquisition Fund to enable the museum to make additional purchases, and the Bader Chair in Northern Baroque Art. Alfred Bader's first donated painting in 1967 was a Salvator Mundi once owned by his mother. Most of the paintings he and Helen collected during the 1970s were religious scenes by Dutch and Flemish artists, a hobby he continued with his second wife Isabel in the 1980s, though by that time the couple was actively shopping across Europe for paintings they could directly donate to the museum with an eye to expanding the collection for educational purposes. Isabel had been a teacher in a girls' school in
Bexhill-on-Sea for over 25 years and had become an expert in historical clothing and textiles. She donated her collection of historical costumes in the 1970s to the museum in Bexhill-on-Sea and founded a drama school there. It was thanks to her that
Herstmonceux Castle later became the couple's gift in 1993 to
Queen's University as the couple returned often to Bexhill-on-Sea and were enthusiastic upon hearing the nearby castle was for sale. After Alfred passed in 2018 Isabel continued to make donations from the couple's collection to Agnes Etherington Art Centre, and her bequest in 2022 included 44 paintings and was valued at a breathtaking $12 million dollars.
Paintings from the Bader collection Girolamo da Santacroce - Salvator Mundi, 1520s.jpg|
Girolamo da Santacroce,
Salvator Mundi, c. 1520s Georg Pencz - Ecce Homo, 1538.jpg|
Georg Pencz,
Ecce Homo, 1538 File:Adoration (1570) 2 El Greco.jpg|
El Greco,
The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1570 Adam Elsheimer - Die Verspottung der Ceres (Milwaukee).jpg|
Adam Elsheimer,
The Mocking of Ceres, c. 1605 File:Johann König - Apollo und Coronis (Agnes Etherington Art Centre).jpg|
Johann König (after Elsheimer),
Apollo and Coronis, c. 1607 File:Jan Lievens - A Man Singing, circa 1624.jpg|
Jan Lievens,
A Man Singing, c. 1624 File:Joos van Craesbeeck - A Man Surprised.jpg|
Joos van Craesbeeck,
A Man Surprised, c. 1635 File:Govert Flinck - The Sacrifice of Manoah, 1640.jpg|
Govert Flinck,
The Sacrifice of Manoah, 1640 File:Granida and Daifilo, by Jacob Backer.jpg|
Jacob Adriaensz Backer,
Granida and Daifilo, c. 1640 File:Man wearing a high beret with jewels and pearls, by Ferdinand Bol.jpg|
Ferdinand Bol,
A Man in a Fancy Robe and a Tall Cap Strung with Pearls, c. 1643 File:Willem Drost - Self-portrait as St. John the Evangelist Around, 1655.jpg|
Willem Drost,
Self-portrait as St. John the Evangelist, c. 1655 File:Michael Sweerts - self portrait with a skull c.1660.jpg|
Michiel Sweerts,
Self portrait with a skull, c. 1660 File:Rembrandt Lighting Study of an Old Man in Profile.jpg|
Rembrandt,
Head of a Man in a Turban, c. 1661 File:Godfrey Kneller - A Scholar in His Study, circa 1668.jpg|
Godfrey Kneller,
A Scholar in His Study, c. 1668 File:Jacob van Ruisdael - Winter Landscape - Bader collection.jpg|
Jacob van Ruisdael,
Winter Landscape with a Wooden House, c. 1667–1673 File:Philips Koninck - Panoramic River Landscape with Hunters, circa 1664.jpg|
Philips Koninck,
Panoramic River Landscape with Hunters, c. 1664 File:Gerbrand van den Eeckhout - Jacob’s Dream, 1672.jpg|
Gerbrand van den Eeckhout,
Jacob’s Dream, 1672 File:Arent de Gelder - Elisha and the Widow of the Prophet Pouring the Flasks of Oil, 1690s.jpg|
Aert de Gelder,
Elisha and the Widow of the Prophet Pouring the Flasks of Oil, c. 1690s The European collection also includes works by
Dosso Dossi,
Luca Giordano,
Sebastien Bourdon,
Peter Lely,
Joseph Wright of Derby,
Raphael,
Parmigianino,
Guido Reni,
Gustav Klimt, and
Pablo Picasso.
African art Numbering over 500 objects, the Justin and Elisabeth Lang Collection of
African Art ranks among Canada's most comprehensive and significant African Art collections. Comprising primarily works by West and Central African peoples. ==Selected publications==