| Alan Klinkhoff Gallery | |
| Founder: | Alan Klinkhoff |
| Location City: | Montreal and Toronto |
| Location Country: | Canada |
| Area Served: | worldwide |
| Key People: | Alan Klinkhoff Jonanthan Klinkhoff Craig Klinkhoff |
| Industry: | Canadian Art specialty services |
Alan Klinkhoff Gallery is a Canadian fine art corporation located in Montreal and Toronto. A member of the Art Dealers Association of Canada,[1] the firm provides acquisition and evaluation services for collectors, as well as exhibitions and sales of Canadian art by such artists as Paul-Émile Borduas, Emily Carr, Marc-Aurèle Fortin, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Jean Paul Lemieux, David Milne, Robert Pilot, and Marc-Aurèle Suzor-Côté.[2] Alan Klinkhoff, a frequent commenter on Canadian art and art market, is quoted in the Montreal Gazette, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Financial Post, The New York Times,[3] and on CBC Television.[4] The gallery, a successor to Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, is known for museum-quality, non-sale exhibitions of important Canadian painters.[5] [6]
The son of Montreal gallerists Walter and Gertrude Klinkhoff, Alan Klinkhoff (1953-) was first introduced to the art world at age 12 when he delivered three paintings from A.Y. Jackson's Ottawa studio to Galerie Walter Klinkhoff (1949-2013).[7] A dealer of the Group of Seven (1968),[8] the gallery was known for "museum-quality exhibitions at which nothing was for sale".[9] In 1970 Alan took his first purchasing trip overseas and in 1972 began to assist in the gallery during school holidays.[10] In 1974 he studied art in Paris and, on his return to the gallery, co-founded with his brother Eric a fine-art evaluation, restoration and framing service, Services D'Art Klinkhoff (1975-1983).[10] Alan also assisted with the gallery's retrospectives for Marc-Aurèle Suzor-Coté (1977), Paul-Émile Borduas (1986), and A.Y. Jackson (1990).[2] [10] The Klinkhoffs, known for their support of the Beaver Hall Group, also organized retrospective exhibitions for Prudence Heward (1980), Ethel Seath (1987),[11] Mabel Lockerby (1989), Ann Savage (1992), and Lilias Torrance (1995) as well as a group show (1999).[9] [10] From 1988 to 1997 Alan Klinkhoff was contracted as an art evaluator for the federal Department of Justice.[4] [3] After the death of his father in 1997, Alan's sons Jonathan and Craig apprenticed with the gallery.[10] In 2013, following Sotheby's departure from art auctions in Canada, Alan was interviewed on the Canadian art market in The Financial Post.[12] After the dissolution of Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Alan, together with his wife Helen and sons Jonathan and Craig, established the Alan Klinkhoff Gallery.[7]
Alan Klinkhoff Gallery (Galerie Alan Klinkhoff) opened at 1448 Sherbrooke Street West on Gallery Row adjacent the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) in February 2014.[2] In October the gallery participated in the Journal of Canadian Art Historys colloquium: "Frame and Framing in Canada: Functions and History" organized by the MMFA.[13] That year the Klinkhoffs also opened a Toronto office and gallery at 113 Yorkville Avenue, managed by son Jonathan.[1] [14] In 2015 Alan was interviewed on the authenticity of sketches attributed to J.E.H. MacDonald.[15] In October, concurrent with the Beaver Hall Group's MMFA exhibition,[9] the Montreal and Toronto galleries mounted The Beaver Hall Group & The Klinkhoff Family with memorabilia and anecdotes from previous group exhibitions.[16] In 2016 both galleries also presented the exhibition René Richard: Tom Thomson of the North.[17] In November Alan was interviewed on Canadian art sales when Lawren Harris' painting Mountain Forms, previously sold by Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, set auction records at $11.2 million.[18] The gallery also held the estate sale of collector William I M. Turner Jr which included works by Albert Robinson, Franklin Carmichael, A. J. Casson, J.E.H. MacDonald, Goodridge Roberts, and F. H. Varley.[19] In spring 2017, the Toronto gallery opened the Lawren Harris & Canadian Masters Sale with a lecture on Harris' work by Charles C. Hill, former curator of Canadian Art at the National Gallery of Canada.[20] The sale of 14 of Harris' works included one painting for $9.5 million for a total over $30 million.[21] [22] At the time of the federal review of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia's acquisition of 2,000 photographs by Annie Leibovitz, Alan Klinkhoff as a former "expert for the Canadian government" was quoted in the Toronto Star,[23] as well as in The New York Times,[3] and on CBC Television.[4] In November 2017 the gallery held non-sale exhibitions in both Montreal and Toronto of John Little's paintings, the first that Little "consented to in nearly 40 years".[5]
The gallery encourages visits by "art students, teachers, collectors and a general public" through lecture series and open exhibitions.[24] [25] The Montreal gallery, managed by Alan Klinkhoff and son Craig, mounted the graduating class of Montreal's Lower Canada College Exhibition.[14] The gallery also mounts popular, non-sale retrospective exhibitions open to the public.[26] In 2016 the Montreal and Toronto galleries exhibition of art and hockey sticks Fine Art & Hockey: A Point of View attracted hockey stars Sidney Crosby and Brad Marchand.[26]