Ivan, Congratulations on your landmark donation of nine monumental
bronze sculptures to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection

The Ivan Eyre Sculpture Garden is one of wonder and enjoyment, as
visitors are led on a walking tour of the twice-life-size bronze
sculptures along a winding garden path. Their size, effect, and impact
is dramatic and significant.

The nine sculptures, donated by well known Canadian artist Ivan Eyre,
is part of the McMichael's permanent collection. Eyre is perhaps best
known for his large landscapes and mythological paintings—like his
drawings, Eyre's sculpture is a complex synthesis of many elements of
Western and non-Western influences.

Eyre's career has been marked by a long list of awards and
distinctions. In 1988, The Personal Mythologies/Images of the Milieu
exhibition opened the new National Gallery in Ottawa. In 1998, the
Pavilion Gallery and Museum was opened in Winnipeg, with the entire
third floor devoted to rotating exhibitions of his work as a painter,
draftsman, and sculptor.

The Sculpture Garden's beautiful, spectacular artistic ensemble and
its place at the McMichael reinforces the gallery's mission to
showcase the land as artistic muse and provide visitors with a deep
appreciation of the relationship between art and nature.

In celebration of the new gift from the artist, the gallery is pleased
to present the accompanying exhibition, Ivan Eyre: Sculpture In
Context, on display from May 7 to August 14, 2011.