The Art Gallery of Ontario will proudly showcase a special selection, including works by Andy Warhol, Lee Bontecou, Jasper Johns, David Hockney, William Kentridge, Robert Rauschenberg and Kara Walker.
During the 1960s, Carol and Morton Rapp began collecting prints solely for the love of art. Passion is what most often drives unique hobbies. But the two Toronto art lovers never stopped. And so their collection evolved along with the world of art. In the 1990s, their interests expanded to encompass contemporary photography and photogravures. Today, their collection serves as a testament to their unwavering love for art, but also to how they contributed to advancing the arts by supporting some of the most famous printmakers and photographers known today.
“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,” says Stephan Jost, the Michael and Sonja Koerner Director and CEO of the Art Gallery of Ontario. “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.”
The Rapps’ contributions to the Art Gallery of Ontario began in 1966 when they generously donated 474 works. Seven decades later, their generosity continues to strengthen the AGO’s Prints and Drawings Collection, capturing the medium’s renaissance in the late 1960s and 1970s and its ongoing evolution throughout the early decades of the 21st century.
“They were globally connected and committed to building collections at the AGO and MoMA,” says Jay Smith, AGO Trustee and Rapp son-in- law. “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.”
Their gift consists of works by 203 artists, more exciting as it includes several portfolios, from Andy Warhol’s four portraits of Marilyn Monroe to Kara Walker’s Testimony.
It’s due to monumental collections like these AGO remains one of the largest art museums in North America, attracting approximately a million visitors annually, and one of the most significant in the world. Today, the AGO’s prints and drawings collection includes more than 20,000 prints, and the institution welcomes all to discover the evolving history of this medium.
