Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman Drawing Acquisition Endowment Fund

NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA FOUNDATION
Press Release
Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman
Drawing Acquisition Endowment Fund
Ottawa - Tuesday 25 May 2004 - The National Gallery of Canada is delighted to acknowledge
the great generosity of Mrs. Marjorie Bronfman, who has made a donation of $350,000 to establish
the Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman Drawing Acquisition Endowment Fund. The Fund will
enable the Gallery to acquire exceptional drawings.
“I have always been struck by the quality of the Gallery’s
exhibitions and educational activities,” says Mrs.
Bronfman. “I believe that the Gallery shares my love and
fascination for the relatively little-known art form that is
drawing.”
From earliest childhood, this great Montreal philanthropist
has cultivated a deep love for the arts. An unconditional
admirer of drawings, Mrs. Bronfman comments, “It is the
simplicity of the artist’s first creative efforts that I find so
interesting. Drawings reflect the very first inspiration.“
David Franklin, Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the
National Gallery, says the endowment fund will be an
enormous asset to the Gallery. “The Fund will enable us
to build on one of the greatest of the Gallery’s treasures
— its collection of drawings by European old masters.”
Philanthropist Marjorie Bronfman with Pierre
Théberge, Director, National Gallery of Canada.
The Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman Drawing Acquisition
Endowment Fund has already allowed the Gallery to acquire two major drawings, A Roman
Capriccio with Figures by Giovanni Paolo Panini and Saint Ambrose Triumphs over Heresy by
Gottfried Bernhard Göz.
Mrs. Bronfman has also very graciously offered as gifts two magnificent drawings from her own
collection, by the celebrated Italian artist Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo: An Angel Holding a
Martyr’s Palm and Angels with a Laurel Wreath. These two drawings are part of the exhibition
Italian Neoclassical Drawings, on display until 22 August 2004 at the National Gallery of Canada.
Mrs. Bronfman’s passion for drawings influences not only her life but her philanthropic activities.
The Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman Foundation, created in 1955, has supported a wide range of
health, educational and artistic activities, from the McGill University Middle East Peace Program
to the Royal Victoria Hospital Foundation. However, the donations made to institutions such as

the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and, now, the National Gallery of Canada often
rank among her most generous gifts.
Pierre Théberge, Director of the National Gallery, is honoured that Mrs. Bronfman has chosen to support the
Gallery and its Foundation. “Her love of art has led her to assemble many very valuable drawings into one of
North America’s finest collections. We are very proud to add her two drawings to our collection.”
“The Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman Drawing Acquisition Endowment Fund, as well as the two works donated
to the Gallery, demonstrate the Bronfman family’s generous support for the National Gallery of Canada. We are
extremely grateful to them,” adds Marie Claire Morin, President and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada
Foundation.
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Established in 1997, the National Gallery of Canada Foundation is dedicated to ensuring the long-term viability
and success of the Gallery by fostering new relationships and partnerships. It welcomes gifts, grants,
bequests and endowments from individuals, corporations, foundations and other organizations in furtherance
of the National Gallery’s mandate and vision.
To receive images or more information
about the donation and the works, please contact:
NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA
Anouk Hoedeman
Senior Media Relations Officer
National Gallery of Canada
613.990.6835
ahoedeman@gallery.ca
NATIONAL GALLERY
OF CANADA FOUNDATION
Marie-Eve Boissonnault
Chief, Donor and External Relations
613.949.3079
meboissonnault@gallery.ca
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Two exceptional drawings purchased thanks to the Marjorie and
Gerald Bronfman Drawing Acquisition Endowment Fund
Giovanni Paolo Panini
A Roman Capriccio with Figures c. 1745
pen and black ink with brush
and grey wash on ivory laid paper
20.7 x 28.4 cm
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Purchased with the Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman
Drawing Acquisition Endowment Fund of the
National Gallery of Canada Foundation, 2003
Gottfried Bernhard Göz
Saint Ambrose Triumphs over Heresy c. 1750
pen and brown ink, grey and blue wash,
heightened with white, over black chalk on laid paper
23.1 x 15.9 cm
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Purchased with the Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman
Drawing Acquisition Endowment Fund of the
National Gallery of Canada Foundation, 2004
Giovanni Paolo Panini
A Roman Capriccio with Figures
Giovanni Paolo Panini was the most celebrated and
popular eighteenth-century painter of Roman vedute
or landscapes. He painted two types of landscapes:
accurate topographical views drawn from life, and fantasy
landscapes much like this one that place actual
monuments in imaginary settings or arrangements.
This drawing does not correspond to any known painting
by Panini. In any case, both his drawings and
paintings were avidly collected, particularly by travellers
to Italy on the Grand Tour who wanted souvenirs.
Although the National Gallery of Canada is
generally strong in drawings of the Italian eighteenth
century, this is its first acquisition of a drawing by
Panini.
Gottfried Bernhard Göz
Saint Ambrose Triumphs over Heresy
Gottfried Bernhard Göz spent a successful career
painting church ceilings in southern Germany and
Czechoslovakia during the mid-eighteenth century, the
golden age of Bavarian Rococco painting and decoration.
An accomplished painter by 1745, he was master
of large multi-figured compositions, and procured
many commissions for ceiling paintings on a grand
scale, for both religious and civic buildings.
The National Gallery of Canada had no previous drawings
by the great ceiling painters of the German eighteenth
century, and this pleasing drawing by Göz is a
welcome addition to our expanding collection of
German drawings. Göz’s talent for creating harmonious
and unified compositions is evident in his drawing
Saint Ambrose Triumps over Heresy. Drawings by
any of the fresco painters of this period are extremely
hard to come by, and one is very hard-pressed to find
comparable drawings in recent sales. The quality of
the present drawing and its sheer rarity must speak for
themselves.

Two Italian drawings donated from
Marjorie Bronfman’s private collection
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
An Angel Holding a Martyr’s Palm and Angels with a Laurel Wreath
Tiepolo produced numerous studies of this general kind featuring angels with putti in the clouds. More specifically,
it should be noted that these two drawings each contain specific attributes — a palm of martyrdom and a
laurel crown — both appropriate for any representation of Christian martyrdom. The artist use his preferred
medium of pen and brown ink and wash, handled with a typically vibrant touch.
Remarkably, the works offered pay tribute both to the continuing generosity of the Bronfman family to the
National Gallery of Canada and its Foundation, but also to their admiration for the style of the Tiepolo family.
You can admire these drawings in the exhibition Italian Neoclassical Drawings, on display until 22 August 2004
at the National Gallery of Canada.
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
An Angel Holding a Martyr's Palm c. 1783
pen and brown ink with brown wash,
over traces of black chalk on laid paper
28 x 20 cm
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Gift of Marjorie Bronfman,
Westmount, Quebec, 2002
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
Angels with a Laurel Wreath c. 1783
pen and brown ink with grey wash
on laid paper
27.6 x 19.2 cm
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Gift of Marjorie Bronfman,
Westmount, Quebec, 2002