by Ana O'Reilly

Created on: January 17, 2011

The National Gallery of Canada was officially opened on May 21, 1988. It is located at 380 Sussex Drive, across from Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica on Sussex Drive and Major’s Hill Park on Hull Street.

The museum is housed in a purposely-built construction of concrete, granite and glass.  The ground floor comprises the main entrance, bookstore, seminar rooms, the foyer and various offices. A ramp accesses the next level.

Level 1 houses temporary exhibitions and the Canadian and Aboriginal Art, Contemporary Art and Inuit Arts collections, as well as the Caffétéria des Beaux-Arts and the Café l’Entrée. The Garden Court and the Water Court are also located on this level. The Rideau Street Chapel is worth a visit too.

Level 2 houses the Asian, Contemporary and European Art collections and the Prints, Drawings and Photographs temporary exhibitions.

The colonnade off the foyer provides access to the Level 1 Great Hall. The hall’s lofty glass and steel ceiling is redolent of a cathedral. The views of the Ottawa River and Major’s Hill Park are beautiful.

The Canadian Art collection is quite extensive and is divided by periods from Early Aboriginal Art to the 1960-75 artists. The Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven collection offers a glimpse on the work of those Canadian artists, who expressed their feelings towards their subject: the Canadian landscape and who presented themselves as Canada's national school of painters.

As one walks along the rooms and enters the Art in Quebec room (1740-1860), one can instantly see the cultural and ethnic differences between this province and the rest of Canada. The clothes, the facial features and the themes are different. The examples of sacred art made in Quebec that sets the collection apart.

The Rideau Street Chapel used to be located in the Grey Nuns convent on Rideau St., Ottawa. The chapel’s altars and altar screen, fine examples of Canadian heritage, were carefully transported and set up in the museum for preservation purposes.

The Garden Court and the Water Court offer an ideal environment for pause and reflection.

Useful information

National Gallery of Canada – Musée des beaux-arts du Canada

380 Sussex Drive

P.O. Box 427, Station A

Ottawa, Ontario K1N 9N4

Telephone: (613) 990-1985

National.gallery.ca

info@gallery.ca

1 May – 30 September
Open daily from 10 am to 5 pm, Thursday to 8 pm.

1 October – 30 April
Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm; Thursdays until 8 pm. Closed Mondays.
Exceptions: open Ontario Family Day, Spring Break in Ontario and Quebec, Easter Sunday and Monday, Thanksgiving Day, Remembrance Day starting at noon, and 26-27 December. Closed Good Friday, Christmas Day, New Year's Day and 3 January.

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