Art Gallery of Ontario scores major donation, more than 450 pieces including 13 Andy Warhols

The Art Gallery of Ontario says it has received a significant gift of more than 450 pieces of art, including works by pop titans Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and David Hockney.

The trove of modern and contemporary works comes from the family of late Toronto art patrons Carol and Morton Rapp.

It consists largely of prints, drawings and photographs from the late 1960s and 1970s, as well as throughout the early decades of the 21st century.

Gallery CEO and director Stephan Jost says highlights include 13 screen prints by Warhol, among them four portraits of Marilyn Monroe.

Three works on paper by Lichtenstein include a 1965 silkscreen in his distinct, comic-book-inspired style.

Jost says the donation is “extraordinarily significant” and he expects it will be available for public viewing in about two years.

“It’s one of the most transformative gifts we’ve had in the last couple decades,” said Jost.

He singled out a bold 1967 Warhol silkscreen in yellow and red that he expects will be a crowd-pleaser when it eventually makes it to an AGO exhibit.

“It’s a good day when somebody gives you 13 Andy Warhols. And what’s nice is many of them are super-iconic like the Marilyn Monroes,” he said.

“Those are something you see all the time, the kind of poppy art ones where Marilyn Monroe looks kind of like a drag queen. When you get a series of those, it’s iconic — people walk in and they say: `I’ve seen that before!’ And that’s kind of cool.”

Jost also pointed to a 1965 Lichtenstein silkscreen titled “Pow Sweet Dreams Baby (C 39), from 11 Pop Artists series,” as a notable addition and a quintessential image from the era.

“He’s the one who basically takes cartoon art and pop art and zooms in and takes one still and then updates it. And the great one is `Sweet Dreams Baby’ … which is just so ’60s.”

Jost is also fond of a 1998 print by British artist Yinka Shonibare titled “Diary Of A Victorian Dandy, 19:00 Hours.” In this one, an aristocratic Black man holding a cane stands proudly in the centre of a group of white partygoers gathered in a stately home.

“One of things he does is restage 18th century life but substitutes people of African descent into those narratives … to kind of help us understand the relationship between class, performance, gender and race,” Jost said.

Other donated treasures include nine works by U.S. painter Jasper Johns and four early works by English art giant Hockney. Overall, the donation includes pieces by 203 artists, among them a number of portfolios.

The Rapps were longtime champions of the arts, and their son-in-law Jay Smith, an AGO trustee, said the couple also donated pieces to the National Gallery of Canada, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

However, they were especially supportive of the AGO, and Jost said they contributed greatly to the cultural fabric of Toronto and the gallery.

“They showed up at everything and it wasn’t just the fancy events,” he said.

“They just always said yes to the world, right? And I think that’s probably the thing I love about them. And they loved contemporary art. They loved learning.”

Morton, who died in September 2024, made his name with a chain of machinery parts and distribution centres and Carol, who died in July 2023, was an active AGO volunteer since the 1960s. She sat on several committees and held positions that included vice president of the board of trustees from 1997 to 2000 and honorary chair from 2001 to 2002.

Jost said the couple took great care of their collection, even taking it into account when they rebuilt their Forest Hill home with a modern minimalist style that could showcase prized pieces while shielding them from the harmful effects of light.

“We are going to make it look great because Carol and Mort were special people,” he said.