Pictures on the Wall: Building a Canadian Art Collection by Michael Audain

In an alternate universe, where I’m very wealthy, I will collect art. Really impressive, very cool art. I will pay artists for their brilliance and then share my acquisitions with others. Sadly, I live in this universe and am a millennial librarian – that is to say, never going to be wealthy. However, other people are, and some of them are even carrying out what I think I would: using their wealth to collect art, donating that art to collections which are publicly displayed and/or building my own museum to showcase all of my art. Michael Audain, a real estate developer, is one such person. After a lifetime of collecting art, he has put together this memoir about his collection, featuring beautiful, full-colour photographs of the pieces he highlights. Pictures on the Wall: Building a Canadian Art Collection is an interesting kind of coffee table book: heavy with weighty paper and beautiful pictures, but also a memoir of a life spent admiring art, pursuing art, and most interesting – repatriating art.

Pictures on the Wall: Building a Canadian Art Collection is an interesting kind of coffee table book: heavy with weighty paper and beautiful pictures, but also a memoir of a life spent admiring art, pursuing art, and most interesting – repatriating art … A rich work.

Audain breaks the book into several sections which reflect his areas of interest in art: “Art of the Northwest Coast,” focusing on Indigenous art from the west coast and Indigenous artists in the region; “Emily Carr,” focusing on Carr’s work; “Vancouver and Beyond,” for art from Vancouver-area artists; “Jean Paul Riopelle,” focusing on Riopelle’s work; “Mexican Modernists,” showcasing the work of Mexican artists; and “Divers Enthusiasms,” a collection of random pieces that Audain is fond of and wanted to show off, but didn’t fit in the other sections.

While looking at the art was relaxing and fascinating, what is interesting about this book is the reflections and tidbits Audain offers on art collecting, over decades of doing it. On some level, this is a very material reflection; in other places, Audain muses about the desire to “bring home” artworks with a west coast origin, and make sure they’re available for people to see. There’s a mix of possessing art for one’s own pleasure, and meditations on art collecting as a hobby, and where the lines of selfish want and altruistic desire to share art with others come together. I would have been more interested in examinations of these drives, but Audain’s acknowledgement of his many motives for art collection was better than I had hoped.

Overall, Pictures on the Wall is a unique work. It showcases beautiful art, tying the pieces together with stories of their provenance, Audain’s experiences collecting art, and wherever possible, comments from the artists themselves to Audain. It is a rich work, and worthy of further study and reflection.

Michael Audain is the founder and chairman of Polygon Homes Ltd., an officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of British Columbia. In his personal memoir, One Man in His Time… (2021), Audain expands on his left-wing activism, business leadership, philanthropism and dedicated support for wildlife causes and the visual arts. He lives with his wife, Yoshiko Karasawa, in Vancouver, BC.

Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre (September 30, 2023)
Hardback 11″ x 10″ | 208 pages
ISBN: 978-1-7716-2374-2

Alison Manley

Website

Alison Manley has ricocheted between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for most of her life. Now in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she is the Cataloguing and Metadata Librarian at Saint Mary's University. Her past life includes a long stint as a hospital librarian on the banks of the mighty Miramichi River. She has an honours BA in political science and English from St. Francis Xavier University, and a Master of Library and Information Studies from Dalhousie University. While she's adamant that her love of reading has nothing to do with her work, her ability to consume large amounts of information very quickly sure is helpful. She is often identified by her very red lipstick, and lives with her partner Brett and cat, Toasted Marshmallow.