Two by Two, Together, at the MMFA – until October 5, 2025

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts presents

Lets’lo:tseltun – Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun (1957-),
Natives Playing on the Land, 2015. MMFA, gift of W. Bruce C. Bailey in honour of Jacques Des Rochers, Senior Curator of Quebec and Canadian Art. © Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. Courtesy of the artist and Macaulay & Co. Fine Art 
Nicolas Party (born in 1980), Landscape, 2021.
MMFA, gift of Iris and Adam Singer. © Nicolas Party. Photos MMFA, Jean-François Brière

TWO BY TWO, TOGETHER

An exhibition bringing together over 80 recent additions to the MMFA’s collection

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is opening a window into its collecting practices with the exhibition Two by Two, Together, which brings together a rich selection of works from all over the world that have been acquired over the past five years. Most of them are being shown to the public for the first time and will be grouped together in such a way as to create a dialogue between them, while showcasing the Museum’s many collecting areas.

The MMFA’s permanent collection is one of the oldest in Canada and consists of close to 47,000 art works and objects from five continents, dating from the Neolithic era to the present day. This collection grows each year through donations, purchases and bequests.

Robert Clow Todd (about 1809-1866), Corbeau at Montmorency Falls, 1845. MMFA, purchase, Donald Luc Boisvert and Gaston Lamontagne Fund. Photo MMFA, Julie Ciot

Two by Two, Together unveils some 80 diverse works that shine a spotlight on works made in a wide range of artistic disciplines by artists from Quebec, Canada, and around the world. Visitors can admire important paintings by Peter Doig, Pierre Dorion, Wanda Koop, Stéphane La Rue, Robert Clow Todd, Claude Tousignant, Robin F. Williams and Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun; sculptures by Louise Bourgeois, Stanley Février, Giuseppe Penone and Kishio Suga; graphic works by Tony Lewis, Nicolas Party and Rembrandt; photographs by Herbert List and Robert Mapplethorpe; and an early Chinese cosmic board (Liuren Shipan) from the Sui Dynasty.

“In continuously developing the collection, the MMFA is committed to presenting works by artists who have long been marginalized and underrepresented. We aim to offer our audiences an increasingly inclusive experience, through the diversity and richness of acquisitions from every corner of the globe and spanning thousands of years of history,” says Stéphane Aquin, Director of the MMFA.

Henry Sandham (1842-1910), Low Tide, Murray Bay, 1884. MMFA, purchase, Donald Luc Boisvert and Gaston Lamontagne Fund. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière

“Most of the works in Two by Two, Together are grouped together, such as to create a dialogue between them based on their subject, medium, form, function or period. Through these juxtapositions, we hope to provoke new and enlightening interpretations of the Museum’s collection,” adds Iris Amizlev, Curator of Special Projects at the MMFA and curator of the exhibition.

Aside from the creations shown in the exhibition, other recently acquired artworks can be found in the Museum’s permanent collection galleries, identified by special labels. In addition, a new rotation of works in the galleries adjacent to Two by Two, Together highlight new contemporary acquisitions by such artists as Esmaa Mohamoud, Christina Quarles and Kareem-Anthony Ferreira.

For more information, including opening hours and ticket prices, visit: www.mbam.qc.ca