By Grace Romund (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: January 25, 2012
For the first time in its history, Abbotsford’s art gallery The Reach will be host to a travelling exhibit from the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. The exhibition is a series of prints by the famous 18th century Spanish artist Francisco Goya y Lucientes.
The Goya exhibition is mainly comprised of a series of 80 prints entitled The Disasters of War which detail Goya’s impressions of the Peninsular War (1808-1814) when French armies led by Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain. The second part of the exhibition is a rare bound edition of Goya’s satirical prints Los Caprichos. This exhibition is famed as being one of the first series of works by an artist that express an anti-war and humanitarian commentary about the brutal realities of war.
Scott Marsden, the curator of the Reach, explained the relevance and importance of the Spanish 19th century man to people of today. “Goya was a printmaker, a painter, and an artist 200 years ago. He was mostly painting Spanish royalty, but when Napoleon came through in 1808 [Goya] was shocked so he bore witness to all the atrocities that Napoleon was inflicting on the Spanish people. That is really what this show is about. For example, there is a print of French soldiers cutting a man in half. There are some pretty horrific images… He wasn’t the first to artist to bear witness to war, but he was one of the most important artists of the 19th century with a humanist view of war.” Marsden noted, “A lot of artists since then have used him as a foundation for their own exploration in terms of social justice and social issues within the confines of fine art.”
Suzanne Greening, the executive director of the Reach spoke about the upcoming exhibitions. “We’re really pleased about having this exhibition. It is the first time we have had an exhibition from the National Gallery of Canada.” She explained, “The National Gallery of Canada is Canada’s national gallery which has a federal mandate. It keeps Canada’s art. Not only do they do exhibitions in Ottawa but they have a touring program as well.”
Greening explained how the prints and etchings were in response to war. There have always been wars, but rarely reflection or lessons learned from them. “Art is important because it has the capacity to teach,” she added.
After the exhibition opens, the Reach, in collaboration with The Peace and Development Education Program, Mennonite Central Committee, BC, will be holding a peace symposium at Matsqui Centennial Auditorium entitled “Goya: Conversations on War & Peace” on February 4. The symposium will begin with an exhibition tour led by the curator of the Reach, Scott Marsden and Dr. Dorothy Barenscott, an art historian and professor at UBC. A keynote speech will be delivered by Ernie Regehr who is a Fellow at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, at Conrad Grebel University College. The keynote speech will be followed by a panel discussion on the nature of peace today. Greening said the symposium is “to increase the scholarship of [the] exhibitions and how [they] engage people.”
“We can go to some of the bigger institutions like the Vancouver Art Gallery or the Glenbow museum in Calgary… and bring in bigger exhibitions. Quite often when institutions create exhibitions so much work goes into it that it’s nice if they can travel. It exposes more people to great art. The Goya exhibition is coming from the National Gallery’s permanent collection, which is wonderful because that means that the collection which belongs to Canadians is coming out to the West Coast. We’re going to be the only BC venue for the exhibition.”
“Our primary mission is to be an exhibiting institution of art and heritage. We do both; we’re quite different in that. Usually there is either an art museum or a historical museum. Our mandate within that is to present local, regional, national and international art.”
The Goya exhibition coming to Abbotsford adds to the quality and diversity of programming. Greening asserted that something such as the Goya exhibition now coming to the Reach is recognition by their peers across Canada that they are a professional institution. Greening also mentioned, “We are bringing in another [exhibition] from the National Gallery of Canada later this year.” The opening reception for the Goya exhibition as well as four other new exhibitions to the Reach will be on Thursday, January 26, at 7:30 p.m.
