AGO gets massive donation including 13 Andy Warhol prints, Canada Reviews

The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) today announced a massive and valuable gift of more than 450 modern and contemporary works from the late Carol and Morton Rapp, longtime patrons of the arts. The donation, which includes prints, photographs, and several portfolios by 203 artists, will significantly enhance the AGO’s Prints and Drawings Collection, helping to trace the evolution of the medium from the late 1960s to the present day.

Carol and Morton Rapp, who began collecting prints in the 1960s and expanded into contemporary photography in the 1990s, had already donated 474 works to the AGO over the years, but this one is incredible.

“More than collectors, Carol and Morton Rapp were stewards of great art, eager to share and preserve the things that brought them pleasure, beauty, and insight,” said Stephan Jost, Michael and Sonja Koerner Director and CEO of the AGO. “During their lifetimes they contributed immensely to the cultural fabric of Toronto and to the AGO, and this gift by their family is a heartfelt expression of their enduring commitment to this place.”

Highlights of the gift include:

• Andy Warhol – 13 screenprints, including four portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Flowers 1, 2, 3 (1970)

• Robert Rauschenberg – eight works, including Shades (1964) and Passport (1967)

• Barnett Newman – a 1964 lithograph, CANTO XVIII, entering the AGO collection for the first time

• Jasper Johns – nine lithographs including A Cartoon for Tanya (1972)

• Lee Bontecou – three prints and a portfolio of etchings and poems (Fifth Stone, Sixth Stone, 1967–68)

• David Hockney – four early works including etchings from the Cavafy Suite (1966)

• Claus Oldenburg – seven works including Teabag (1966)

• William Kentridge – three works including Telephone Lady (2000) and Learning the Flute (2003)

• Roy Lichtenstein – three works on paper, including Pow Sweet Dreams Baby! (1965)

• Yinka Shonibare – Diary of a Victorian Dandy: 19.00 hours (1998)

• Rachel Whiteread – Secondhand (2004), a three-dimensional sculpture using 3D scanning

• Kara Walker – Testimony (2005), five photogravures from her video work

“Carol and Morton Rapp were passionate collectors and supported major artists for more than 60 years,” said Jay Smith, AGO trustee and son-in-law of the Rapps. “One of the distinct legacies of this gift is that they worked closely with living artists, and this shared energy is alive in the gift.”

The gift coincides with the ongoing construction of the AGO’s 40,000 sq. ft. Dani Reiss Modern & Contemporary Gallery, which will showcase the gallery’s collection of modern and contemporary art.