Canadian collector and businessman Bob Rennie has donated 61 works valued at C$22.8 million ($16.8 million) to the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) in Ottawa. The gift, which took 18 months to plan, includes pieces by Yinka Shonibare, Mona Hatoum, Rodney Graham, Ai Weiwei, and others. It surpasses Rennie’s previous record donation of C$13 million in 2017 and brings his total contributions to the NGC to over C$35 million, comprising more than 260 works since 2012. Rennie, a longtime patron of the National Gallery of Canada Foundation, emphasized his approach of collecting artists in depth rather than for momentary sensation.
This donation matters because it significantly enriches the NGC’s holdings of both Canadian and international contemporary art, with several works carrying timely political resonance. Yinka Shonibare’s 'The American Library' (2018) directly addresses anti-immigrant rhetoric amid current US-Canada tensions, while Mona Hatoum’s pieces gain urgency from the Gaza crisis. The gift also strengthens the legacy of Vancouver School photo-conceptualist Rodney Graham, who was more celebrated abroad than in Canada. Rennie’s condition that the works travel to smaller venues across Canada ensures broad public access, reinforcing the NGC’s national outreach mission.