VICTORIA, BC.- The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria has been the grateful recipient, for almost four decades, of Asian art treasures from long-time patron, Dr. Judith Patt. These generous gifts have now coalesced into a new exhibition Remembering a Patron: Asian Art Donations from Dr. Judith Patt put together by her friend and AGGV Curator Emeritus Barry Till. The exhibition opens in the Graham Gallery on June 30.

Dr. Patt was originally from Kansas City, Missouri, and found her way to Canada after completing a degree in architecture at Stanford University and a graduate degree in the history of art at UC Berkeley. Specializing in Asian art, she received her PhD in 1979 and joined University of Victoria in 1980 as an assistant professor of art history. She continued to develop expertise in Asian art; teaching the subject at UVic through the 1980s and ‘90s.

A great supporter of the AGGV for many years, Dr. Patt’s last generous act was bequeathing the bulk of her extensive art collection to the Gallery upon her death last year. She served on the board of directors, was on the acquisitions committee for years, and co-curated the exhibition, The World Tea Party in 2004. She also co-authored the book Haiku: Japanese Art and Poetry (2010); sales of this volume benefit the AGGV.

The many treasures included in this exhibit include notable Chinese and Japanese paintings, as well as a large variety of Japanese prints from the 18th to the 20th century.

The collection also includes items ranging from modern Japanese silkscreen art to Chinese porcelain ceramic pieces from the 1600s.