Gathered Leaves
Hidden Masterpieces Surface in Whistler
Story by Katherine Fawcett
"If you can paint one leaf, you can paint the world."
"Si vous pouvez peindre une feuille, vous pouvez peindre le monde."
William Ward
Study of a Dead Chestnut Leaf II, c. 1856
pen and ink with wash over graphite
on cream wove paper, 17.4 x 24.5 cm
Gift of the Douglas E. Schoenherr Collection, Ottawa, 2019
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: NGC
Théodore Géricault
Oenone Refusing to Heal Paris, 1816
pen and brown ink with brush and brown wash over graphite on cream laid paper, 13.5 x 21.3 cm
Purchased 2017. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Photo: NGC
Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun
Study for the Figure of Innocence in "Innocence Taking Refuge in the Arms of Justice", 1779
pastel on brown laid paper (originally blue), 42 x 33.7 cm
Purchase 2024. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Photo: NGC
This summer, a rare hush will fall over the airy galleries of the Audain Art Museum (AAM). But lean in closely, and you’ll hear it: the scratch of graphite, the swirl of pastel, the whispered thoughts of artists at work. Gathered Leaves: Discoveries from the Drawings Vault, on display until Oct. 13, is a breathtaking exhibition that pulls 130 works from the archives of the National Gallery of Canada’s (NGC) renowned Prints and Drawings collection into the Sea to Sky spotlight.
“It's a rare opportunity for us to be able to feature such rare, fragile and important work,” said Dr. Sonia Del Re, Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings at the NGC, based in Ottawa. “This is a collection that belongs to all Canadians, so travelling across the country is a priority for us.”
“Once this incredible exhibition leaves Whistler, it will be on display at The Rooms in St. John’s, N.L., through the fall and winter, after which these works will not be seen in public for another ten years due to their fragility. This is a rare opportunity to witness an important part of the National Gallery of Canada’s permanent collection," said Curtis Collins, AAM Director and Chief Curator.
Vincenzo Camuccini
The Invention of Painting, c. 1816-1820
black and brown chalk with stump on white laid paper, 61.2 x 53.3 cm
Purchased 2014 with the support of the Friends of the Print Room Trust, National Gallery of
Canada Foundation, in honour of Mimi Cazort, Curator of Prints and Drawings
from 1970 to 1997
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: NGC
Théodore Géricault
Oenone Refusing to Heal Paris, 1816
pen and brown ink with brush and brown wash over graphite on cream laid paper, 13.5 x 21.3 cm
Purchased 2017. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Photo: NGC
Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy-Trioson
Study for "A Deluge Scene", c. 1795
black chalk on faded blue laid paper, 22.5 x 27.8 cm
Purchased 2016 with the generous support of the Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman Drawing
Acquisition Endowment
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: NGC
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon
Algerian Landscape, with the Atlas Mountains in the Distance, 1860-1861
arabic on cream wove paper, 62.7 x 101.2 cm
Gift of the Dennis T. Lanigan Collection, 2023
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: NGC
The drawings in this exhibition trace the evolution of artistic expression across five centuries, offering an unusually intimate encounter with creative minds such as Gustav Klimt, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Edvard Munch, Wassily Kandinsky, and more.
Unlike paintings or sculptures, drawings are often created quickly, privately, and without polish. Some are beginnings — ideas on the brink, emotions in raw form. According to Del Re, many of the works in Gathered Leaves were never intended for public viewing, and that’s what makes them so moving and intimate. With their smudges and scribbles, they offer something rare in the gallery world: vulnerability. To preserve that fragility, each drawing is displayed under precise lighting (just 50 lux) and protected by low-glare plexiglass, ensuring that visitors can absorb every detail up close without harming the piece.
One of the exhibition’s stars is Edgar Degas’s Racehorses. This pastel piece was created in the late 19th century. Known for his obsession with movement and form — ballerinas, bathers, racehorses — Degas captures the elegant chaos of jockeys and their animals. The work not only reveals the artist’s deft hand but also his experimentation with materials and gestures.
Vassily Kandinsky
Braun, 1924
watercolour, gouache and ink
on beige wove paper, 48.6 x 33.8 cm
Partial gift in memory of Martin Landmann, 2024
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: NGC
Gustav Klimt
Study for the Portrait of Eugenia Primavesi, c. 1913
graphite on beige wove paper, 56.7 x 37 cm
Purchased 2024
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: NGC
Glyn Philpot
Head of an Ethiopian Man (Billy), c. 1912-1913
charcoal and white chalk on brown wove paper,
27.5 x 26.1 cm. Purchased 2023
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: NGC
Del Re noted that amid the better-known names are artists whose stories are just as compelling but long overdue for the spotlight. Robert S. Duncanson, a trailblazing African-American artist of the Hudson River School, is represented by a luminous landscape drawing. Duncanson created during a time of intense racial injustice in the United States. His work invites viewers to consider both the serenity and complexity of the American wilderness — and the stories it holds. Elizabeth Louise Vigil Labar, another lesser known but highly significant artist, adds to the exhibition’s depth with her distinct, expressive drawings. Labar's inclusion speaks to the curators' intention to feature artists the canon has historically overlooked.
Kiriko Watanabe, the Gail & Stephen A. Jarislowsky Curator at the AAM, said the museum is thrilled and honoured to host Gathered Leaves. “We are so fortunate to have all these masters coming together here.” She said that the exhibition is a must-see for art enthusiasts, scholars, and anyone curious about history and the creative process.
Vilhelm Hammershøi
Group of Trees along the Royal Road near Gentofte, Denmark, 1892
graphite on beige laid paper, 21 x 28.6 cm
Purchased 2018
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Photo: NGC
Aubrey Beardsley
A Woman with Medusa Locks in a Garden, 1893
pen and black ink over graphite
on cream wove paper, 7.5 x 8.0 cm
Bequest of Douglas E. Schoenherr, Ottawa, 2022
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
Photo: NGC
Edvard Munch
Seated Nude, 1902
pastel on paperboard, 49.9 x 65.8 cm
Purchased 2021
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Photo: NGC