Director's Report

A reinvented Museum

Once again this year, it should be kept in mind that the Museum has accomplished an amazing feat by maintaining an ambitious programme of temporary exhibitions, while at the same time behind the scenes it has been building a new pavilion, reinstalling all of its collections, and producing new scholarly and pedagogical tools. Its varied programming has attracted real support from both local and international critics, and an excellent response from the community, even though some galleries presenting works from the collection were not open to the public during the reinstallation work.

This year has been particularly stimulating, marked as it has been by a time of action backed up by reflection, a time of freedom to innovate that we have had the privilege to experience together. Museums usually close during work on an expansion or decide to cut down on their services. However, this was not the case for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, for two reasons: first, because we are an institution that is self-financing, and we need the revenues mainly generated by our programme of exhibitions and many other activities; second, during such an exciting time we did not want to cut ourselves off from our public and not share with them the infectious energy of these years.

All this involved sophisticated planning and logistics, as the teams were working on many projects at the same time. Exceptional effort has been taken in respect to our four major collections – Quebec and Canadian Art, Decorative Arts and Design, World Cultures, and International Art, from Old Masters to Contemporary – which have been reinstalled in new gallery layouts, with many works being restored and reframed. Each collection will soon benefit from more space in its own pavilion, which will enable visitors to better grasp the comprehensive scope of our institution. The work on the collections, which are the very heart of the Museum, was accompanied by a major gift campaign, three substantial scholarly publications, new pedagogical tools such as audioguides encompassing history, art and music, not to mention other projects, like a new website, a new area for families doubling the accommodation capacity for our Educational programmes, the “Music Box”, an innovative exhibition space for bringing the visual arts and music together, and many other initiatives that will be revealed in the near future.

In 2010, a great dance began, with thousands of works – our stars – newly restored, reframed, groomed, photographed and documented for a reinvented museum, following a studied choreography that will place them in position for a spectacular opening in the fall of 2011.

While all this was happening, the Museum provided a farreaching and diverse programme designed to attract various audiences. Let us now turn to the exhibitions – no less than a dozen – that were in the news, many of them firsts, underlining our commitment to constant innovation, and nurtured and supported by the entire team of Museum employees, who are the first people I would like to thank, and stimulated by our many friends, partners, collectors, volunteers and collaborators of every kind, in particular the members of the Board chaired by Brian Levitt, a dedicated and inspiring person, who is very dear to me and who expresses his confidence in us by allowing us the freedom to carry out ambitious projects. I also wish to draw attention to the unflagging support of two groups of remarkable people, whose energy and enthusiasm are very important to us, the Association of Volunteer Guides and the Volunteer Association, which brilliantly orchestrates our Annual Ball. Finally, I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all our major donors, especially the Bourgie family (Claire and Marc Bourgie, Claude Bourgie Bovet and Pierre Bourgie), as well as our indispensable Government of Quebec and Government of Canada partners, and the City of Montreal, for their ongoing support. I would be remiss if I did not also express my gratitude to the Arte Musica Foundation, headed by Pierre Bourgie and directed by Isolde Lagacé, and intimately associated with the Museum’s future.