Recent Gifts

In 2008 University College received by bequest from Gail Sheard (UC B.A. 3T7) a gift of eleven works of art. This bequest has filled some gaps. Up to now, no works by Léon Bellefleur, Yvette Boulanger, Suzanne Guité or Robert Pilot were held in the collections cared for by the University of Toronto Art Centre.

Not surprisingly for a private collection, the works in the Sheard collection are all on a domestic scale and clearly performed a strong decorative function. The genres and styles vary, but, are generally traditional. They encompass a nude, (John R. Fox) an abstraction (Léon Bellefleur) and three still lifes by women artists: Molly Lamb Bobak, Yvette Boulanger and Suzanne Guité. One recurring motif is that of landscapes by water, (André Bieler, Joe Plaskett, Robert Pilot and two York Wilsons). Four of these are redolent of warmth and pleasure, the fifth is deeply evocative of a Canadian winter.