In 2005-2006, The Museum’s collection was expanded by 483 works with a total value in excess of $8 million, bringing the number of items acquired in the past eight years to almost ten thousand. This represents a 25% increase in our collection which could not have been achieved without the generosity of numerous collectors and donors like Liliane and David M. Stewart, whose gift represents half of the pieces acquired.

The 2005-2006 financial year saw the acquisition of several important pieces: the purchase of Self-portrait Smiling, a print by Marc Chagall; Feliciter or The Scottish Girl, a rare bust in painted terracotta by Henry Cors, and a collage by Christo entitled The Pont Neuf, Wrapped, Project for Paris. Thanks to the generous financial support of the Société Générale/Fimat, we have enriched our collection with a superb fall-front secretary of painted wood, gold leaf and leather by Maurice Dufrêne. This is a rare transitional piece exhibiting many Art Nouveau elements but heralding the simpler, more sober design of Art Deco. A generous gift from The Museum Campaign 1988-1993 Fund enabled the Museum to acquire the spectacular Proust’s Armchair by the Italian designer Alessandro Mendini.

The International Friends of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum’s Volunteer Association Fund also enabled the Museum to purchase Raoul Dufy’s L’Estaque, painted in 1913. Another treasure among recent acquisitions is the Halberdier, painted in 1895 by the Swiss artist Ferdinand Hodler. This monumental work now forms a centrepiece in the Museum’s Collection of European Art thanks to an exemplary gift from Michal and Renata Hornstein, who have already given the Museum 327 drawings by this artist.

The MMFA can also be proud of acquiring several works by major Canadian painters: these include Jean-Paul Riopelle’s Gravity, a wonderful vertical mosaic painted in 1956 and given to the Museum by Yseult Riopelle; a historic work by Michael Snow donated by the Volunteer Association, Four Grey Panels and Four Figures (1963) from the series “Walking Woman”, of which the Museum also possesses three other works; and Rita Letendre’s Poetic Device, recently donated by Guy Fournier, who has also given us several works by celebrated artists like Pellan, Toupin, Comtois and Vasarely. In addition, Madeleine Pellan gave us the entire corpus of prints executed by her husband, Alfred Pellan, a total of seventy-two artist’s proofs in impeccable condition.