WINNIPEG.- Some of the oldest and best-loved artworks in the Winnipeg Art Gallery collection are back on view in an exciting new way. Salon Style: Reimagining the Collection brings together 16th-to-19th century paintings presented in salon-style fashion. We're not talking the hair salon; the artworks have been hung closely next to and above one another so as to fit in one gallery. Salon Style runs into 2019.

As construction continues on the WAG Inuit Art Centre, impacting on some of the exhibition galleries, there’s been lots of artwork moving around behind-the-scenes. Director & CEO Dr. Stephen Borys and Chief Curator Andrew Kear got so inspired by some of the gems they were rediscovering, they just had to have a show—featuring almost 200 paintings!

Salon-style references how the Paris Salon installed paintings beginning in the late 17th century and continuing through the 19th century. Attempting to save space by hanging as many paintings as possible on one wall, the Salon hung works very close together, from floor to ceiling, often without regard for chronology or genre.

Quick Facts:

• Salon Style showcases close to 200 paintings from the WAG’s permanent collection.

• The 16th-to-20th pieces feature landscapes, genre and figurative works, portraits, and abstract art.

• The exhibition highlights work from Canadian, American, and European artists, ranging from the Northern Renaissance and Baroque, to 19th century, the Group of Seven, and Canadian Modernism.

• Artists range from Lucas Cranach to Jean-Paul Riopelle, Eugène Boudin to Prudence Heward, Tom Thomson to Emily Carr, and many others.

• The exhibition is co-curated by Dr. Stephen Borys, WAG Director & CEO, and Andrew Kear, WAG Chief Curator and Curator of Canadian Art.

• The WAG is Canada’s oldest civic art gallery and is home to over 27,000 artworks spanning centuries, media, and cultures, including the largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art on earth.

Salon Style was like putting together a giant puzzle—and the result is spectacular with so many works juxtaposed and ready to be rediscovered. You can view the hang over and over again, and find a new artist or artwork every time. As construction of the WAG Inuit Art Centre continues, it has been necessary to close two of our exhibition galleries—so we’re doing our best to keep the WAG’s permanent collection on view in creative ways. --Dr. Stephen Borys, Director & CEO and exhibition co-curator, Winnipeg Art Gallery

The reinstallation of these artworks is not just about the individual pieces, but also how they are seen together in this monumental installation. The Salon style offers the viewer an opportunity to see acclaimed works in a historical format—the way in which paintings were often exhibited publicly in the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe. --Andrew Kear, Chief Curator and exhibition co-curator, Winnipeg Art Gallery