Testimonials

Janet M. Brooke, a specialist in collections history and 19th-century French art, has enjoyed a distinguished career as a curator, museum director, and advocate for museums nationally. The Janet M. Brooke Fund will support research on the MMFA’s permanent collection of European art before 1900.

My curatorial career in European art began here at the museum, and all these years later I remain deeply attached to its permanent collection,” explained Janet M. Brooke. “I know that open-ended, curiosity-driven research is as fundamental to building and enriching the meanings of collections as it is chronically sidelined in today’s funding environment. I hope that my endowment will help reset that balance, by providing sustainable collections research support to the museum’s European art specialists – and career-building contract opportunities to emerging scholars – to pursue this crucial work.

Bruce Hugh Russell is an author, collector, and independent curator. The Bruce Hugh Russell Fund will support acquisitions of customary works by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and Oceania.

As interesting as individual works of art can be, my experience has always been that their power to speak to us compounds when they are seen in dynamic juxtapositions with related objects, added Bruce Hugh Russell. Canada’s museums, including the MMFA, have a wealth of collections, but to a very great extent these have been acquired as donations of objects by collectors. There’s nothing wrong with this, but to balance and build on those gifts, curators need acquisition funds that can be relied upon when opportunities arise for specific acquisitions that will enhance and enrich their dedicated collection areas. My hope is that this fund will help develop representation of Indigenous cultures at the MMFA

Janet M. Brooke and Bruce Hugh Russell are role models for the part that each of us can play in ensuring the sustainability of our institution for the greater good of the community. We are extremely moved by their gesture, which provides lasting support for activities that concern essential aspects of the Museum's mission.

– Stéphane Aquin, MMFA Director.

It is with great emotion that I salute the remarkable generosity of these patrons. By making a planned donation, Janet and Bruce are looking beyond themselves and demonstrating, in the most altruistic way, their commitment to the MMFA’s future. When you give to the Museum, a place that transforms people’s lives every day, you’re giving back to the community. I sincerely hope that their selfless gesture will inspire other philanthropists.

–Jo-Anne Duchesne, Director General of the MMFA Foundation.

Mr. Schubert could tell more than a few stories about his travels around the world. A renowned pharmaco-economist and a polyglot, he has worked in Canada, the United States and Europe, in both the hospital setting and in the pharmaceutical industry. He developed his love of art with his wife, Marie, and his in-laws.

When they returned from their travels, Marie would organize outings; the MMFA was a favourite destination, where they took pleasure in discovering and journeying through art. It is this love of art that has shaped the Museum over the years. Marie Pineau’s parents also loved the Museum. Her mother, a regular visitor, sponsored a seat in Bourgie Hall and even moved to be closer to her favourite “playground.” In 2012, shortly after her mother’s death, Marie paid tribute to her parents by establishing the Adrienne D’Amours Pineau and René Pineau memorial fund. This fund made it possible to acquire two major works: Funeral of a Naval Officer under Louis XVI (1836) by Eugène Isabey, and a Sèvres porcelain breakfast service called “Déjeuner” (1811). This was the first of many gifts that attested to Marie and François’s desire to honour the memory of their loved ones.

Marie Pineau died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2017. The death of this steadfast friend of the Museum was commemorated by a testamentary bequest she had planned with her husband, which enabled the Museum to acquire a pair of vases for its decorative arts collection: Fire and Water from the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory. As a lasting tribute to his wife, Mr. Schubert also decided to fund the major restoration of a vase from the Royal Porcelain Manufactory in Berlin (eighteenth century), recently rediscovered in our reserves by Sylvain Cordier, Curator of Early Decorative Arts.

Mr. Schubert believes it is vital not only to encourage the MMFA, which his wife was so fond of, but also to support an institution that needs financial resources for the conservation of its collections and for all the operations associated with its cultural and social functions.

Giving back has always played a key role at the MMFA. It enables the Museum to change, look to the future, and undertake major projects. We encourage you to follow the example of François Schubert and Marie Pineau and honour your loved ones in an institution that is important to you.