Centuries of Images

Centuries of Images, the Musée’s permanent exhibition, explores past and present art. Featuring 95 works from its collection, it charts the key moments in the development of the culture of the image once it ceased playing a religious role.

The exhibition brings together works from the 14th century to today and includes artists from Québec, Canada and from across the world. Amongst these, Arman, Paul-Émile Borduas, Emily Carr, Jack Goldstein, Alfred Laliberté, Ozias Leduc, Guido Molinari, Henry Moore, James Wilson Morrice, Alfred Pellan, Joan Reixach, Jean Paul Riopelle, Auguste Rodin, Niki de Saint Phalle, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, Claude Tousignant and Irene F. Whittome. Presenting paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, installations and media works, this show is a unique opportunity to enrich one’s knowledge of the history of art.

The collection of the Musée d’art de Joliette dates back to the 1940s and the founding of the picture gallery of the Joliette Seminary by Father Corbeil and his colleagues, progressive clerics endowed with a strong artistic intuition. Due to the high quality of the works acquired by its founders, the gallery won very quickly a strong reputation. In the course of time the original collection of Canadian painting and sculpture amassed by Father Corbeil was enriched by many gifts, particularly those of Canon Wilfrid Anthony Tisdell in 1961 and Mr. Maurice Forget in 1995. The Musée d’art de Joliette holds today 9,000 works, and its collection continues to grow and to develop.