A $3-million anonymous donation will allow the National Gallery of Canada to set up a maintenance fund for the Canada Pavilion, Canada's official exhibition site at the Venice Biennale.
As well, the National Gallery's abstract expressionist gallery has been renamed the Shirley L. Thomson Gallery as the donor wanted to commemorate the work of the former gallery director.
Thomson, director from 1987 to 1997, championed artistic daring and public discourse about the gallery's collections, leading the acquisition of Barnett Newman’s Voice of Fire and Mark Rothko’s No. 16, which sparked debate about public funding for the arts.
“Dr. Shirley Thomson is an example to museum directors across Canada and around the world because she was a fearless champion of artistic freedom," says the gallery's current director, Sasha Suda.
Thomson died in 2010.
Source: National Gallery of Canada