Muniz, Vik
Irises, after Van Gogh (from Pictures of Magazines), 2004
Collection Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
Photo : Courtesy of Brent Sikkema Gallery

About the Permanent Collection

The Musée collection, which comprises over 7,000 works produced by more than 1,500 artists, 1,200 of whom are living, allows us to amply illustrate the ways contemporary Québec art has developed, through major works by the likes of Paul-Émile Borduas, Alfred Pellan, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Guido Molinari, Fernand Leduc, Claude Tousignant, Yves Gaucher, Betty Goodwin, Roland Poulin, Geneviève Cadieux and Jana Sterbak, as well as to represent the vital contribution made by major figures in Canadian art, through the works of Jack Bush, Paterson Ewen, Michael Snow, Jeff Wall and Rodney Graham, among others. The collection also includes outstanding works by such well-known international artists as Bill Viola, Gary Hill, Louise Bourgeois, Richard Serra, Bruce Nauman, James Turell, Richard Long, Mario Merz, Christian Boltanski, Shirin Neshat, Sam Taylor-Wood, Nan Goldin, Isaac Julien and Vik Muniz.

The 1939 founding of the Contemporary Arts Society by John Lyman in Montréal was decided on as the starting point of the museum's sphere of investigation, its exhibition program and the building of its collections. Reflecting the main trends in contemporary art, as well as the diversity of disciplines and media-painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, video, installation-the collection provides a solid base for a continuum of activities: historical, thematic, monographic and travelling exhibitions, along with a varied program of guided tours, educational workshops and meetings with artists.