From Neglect to Splendour
A dazzling work of scholarship dissects the tumultuous history of Canada’s premier art institution April 2004
A half century ago, when I first went to Ottawa from Oxford University to join the Canadian foreign service, I still remember the shock. The city was so damn ugly. There were the marvellous neo-gothic Parliament buildings and the rest was an eyesore.
I was barely aware of the existence of the National Gallery of…