ABSTRACT
Corporate Art Collecting in Canada
Julie Beth Korman
1985
This thesis is a study of the philosophy, initiatives and
policies of Canadian corporations collecting art from 1840 to the present. These general
aspects of corporate art collecting in Canada will be examined in Part I. In Part II,
which is a survey of corporate collections, as the most immediate manifestation of this
form of art patronage, my aim is to present a clear picture of the evolution and
development of corporate art collecting in Canada
The criteria used in the selection of corporate
collections for this study were not based on a critical evaluation. Montreal collections
were most accessible, both from the point of view of the art works themselves and of the
curators, advisors or others involved with the collections. Other Canadian collections
assembled by professionals in the field were selected in the hope that contact or
correspondence with the experts in question would result in a significant analysis of the
collection. The availability of the written material such as catalogues assembled by
public art galleries or by corporations owning the collections was also a consideration,
as these suggested a more elaborate program.
Primary sources consist of information gathered from
personal interviews and correspondence with curators of corporate art collections,
professional in the field of visual art, art dealers, and corporate tax experts. Inventory
lists of art works or artists were also consulted wherever possible, although complete and
accurate statistical data including the acquisition dates and original cost of individual
works were often unavailable. This was due either to lost or incomplete documentation, or
to the fact that some corporations considered this information to be confidential. Annual
reports as well as intercompany memos were also reviewed.
Art and business periodicals were frequently consulted for
this study, but in some cases the authors of the articles had little experience in the
field, and as a result the material was not always dependable. There has been little
critical evaluation of corporate art collecting in Canada. The art community, presently
grateful and appreciative toward the new patrons is offering little criticism, and due to
the relatively brief history of corporate collecting, art historians have not yet begun a
full analysis of the situation.
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