In 1985 Justin and Elizabeth Lang donated their
private collection of 574
pieces of African sculpture and works of
art to Queen's University in
Kingston, Ontario. The Langs'
donation was valued, at the time, at $1.8
million. It was acknowledged as one
the largest collection of African art
in Canada which had been assembled over a
period of forty years.An inaugural
exhibition and its accompanying
catalogue, Visions and Models:
African Sculpture from the Justin and
Elizabeth Lang Collection, honoured
the donors and presented 64 objects from the collection to the public.
Jennifer Fry, a scholar of African art
and friend of the Langs, acted as
consultant and guest curator for the
first exhibition. It was held at
the
Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen's
University from February 2 through
March 31, 1985. During the opening
of this exhibition, Elizabeth Lang told
some 200guests that bidding farewell to
the collection was indeed "like
parting with old friends."
This was a difficult moment although a
most
satisfying one. The collection was
kept intact and a good home had been
found.
Considering
the size and value of the collection, the
Agnes Etherington
Art
Centre went into negotiations with
trepidation in 1983 when art centre
officials were introduced to Justin and
Elizabeth Lang in Montreal. While
the gallery felt worthy to display the
collection, acquiring it also carried
enormous responsibilities. The
gallery had to evaluate the impact that
such
a massive collection would have on its
other holdings, its staff, and its
ability to care for and study the Langs'
collection. The gallery's decision
was simplified by an endowment donated by
Justin and Elizabeth Lang for the
study of the collection. The art
centre was also renovated in 1986 to
create a permanent exhibition
space. The combination of the
collection, the
new wing, and the endowment made the
university a national centre for the
study and exhibition of African art.
This web
site is based on the content of the
catalogue, Visions and Models:
African Sculpture from the Justin and
Elizabeth Lang Collection written by
Jennifer Fry. It is now out of
print.
This digital
collection was produced under contract to the SchoolNet Digital
Collections program, Industry Canada.
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