TABLE OF CONTENTS

Collection Summary

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content

Index Terms

Administrative Information

Custodial History

Preferred Citation

Contact Information

Box List

National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives

Eric Goldberg fonds:

Finding Aid



Collection Summary

Title:Eric Goldberg fonds.
Dates:– ca. 1945-ca. 1965.
Quantity: – ca. 180 drawings.

Biographical Sketch

Eric Goldberg was born in Berlin in 1890 and was the son of the portrait painter, Richard Goldberg. He began his art studies in Paris in 1906, first attending the École des Beaux-Arts and later the Académie Julian under Jean-Paul Laurens (1838-1921) and Jules Lefebvre (1836-1911). After completing his studies in Paris in 1910, Goldberg returned to Berlin, where he studied at the Berlin Academy under Lovis Corinth (1858-1925) and Hermann Struck (1876-1944). When Corinth retired, he appointed Goldberg to replace him as professor of drawing and painting. In 1913 Goldberg moved to Palestine, where he was appointed to the faculty of the Bezalel Art School, Jerusalem, to teach drawing and painting. After four years in Palestine, Goldberg returned to Paris, where he exhibited regularly at the Salon du Printemps, the Salon d'Automne, and the Palais des Tuileries, and also had many private exhibitions. During this period Goldberg also visited the south of France, Italy, and the famous artists' colony of Tossa del Mar in Spain, before moving to Montreal in 1928. Not long after arriving in Montreal, Goldberg married Regina Seiden (1897-1991), an artist he had met in Paris.

Goldberg exhibited frequently in Montreal and Toronto, as well as in American cities such as New York, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Chicago. In New York, Goldberg exhibited at the Montross Gallery in 1930, the Ehrich-Newhouse Galleries in 1936, and the Carroll Carstairs Gallery in 1938. In Montreal, Goldberg was a founding member of the Contemporary Arts Society and the Eastern Group of Painters. He first exhibited at the Art Association of Montreal in 1936, and in the early 1940s began a long association with Max Stern's Dominion Gallery. The first solo exhibition of Goldberg's work at the Dominion Gallery was held in 1943; subsequent solo exhibitions of his work were held there in 1950 and 1955. In the late 1940s Goldberg began creating works based on Gaspé (Québec) and lower St. Lawrence subjects, several of which were exhibited at the Dominion Gallery. He continued to paint subjects from the Gaspé region into the early 1950s. Eric Goldberg died in Montreal in 1969.

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Scope and Content

The fonds includes 8 sketchbooks comprising approximately 180 graphite, crayon, and pen drawings. Several of the drawings are signed, some are identified by location, and a few are inscribed with a Dominion Gallery price code. Many include notes regarding colour and probably served as preparatory drawings for paintings. Goldberg created several of the drawings during trips to the Gaspé region of Quebec.

Source of title proper: Title based on contents of fonds.

Immediate source of acquisition: Donated to the National Gallery of Canada by the Max Stern estate in 2000.

Terms governing use and reproduction: Permission to reproduce or publish material from the Eric Goldberg fonds must be obtained from the National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives.

Finding aids: Box list available.

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Index Terms

Names:
Goldberg, Eric, 1890-1969
Document Types:
Drawings.

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Administrative Information

Custodial History

The Dominion Gallery purchased the sketchbooks and several other works by Eric Goldberg from Regina Seiden Goldberg in 1980. The sketchbooks remained with the Dominion Gallery until it closed in 2000, when they were donated to the National Gallery of Canada by the Max Stern estate.

Preferred Citation

Eric Goldberg fonds, National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives.

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Contact Information

Reference Services
Library and Archives 
National Gallery of Canada 
380 Sussex Drive 
Ottawa, Ontario 
K1N 9N4 

T 613-714-6000 ext. 6323 

[email protected]


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Box List

Box Folder
Box 1 File 1 Sketchbook no. 1 *note: contains graphite and pen drawings of landscapes and figures, with notes regarding colours 
File 2 Sketchbook no. 2 *note: contains graphite and pen drawings, mainly of landscapes and figures, with notes regarding colours 
File 3 Sketchbook no. 3 *note: "Pencil Sketches Lower St. Lawrence" written on cover; most are graphite drawings and many are inscribed "Eric" and "Port au Persil" 
File 4 Sketchbook no. 4 *note: "Mostly Gaspé working drawings" written on cover; locations are noted on several of the sketches 
File 5 Sketchbook no. 5 *note: "Gaspé" written on cover; mainly graphite and crayon drawings, along with a few pen drawings; locations are noted on a few of the sketches 
File 6 Sketchbook no. 6 *note: mainly graphite and crayon drawings; most are detached from the coil binding 
File 7 Sketchbook no. 7 *note: graphite and crayon drawings 
File 8 Sketchbook no. 8 *note: mainly graphite drawings of figures, with notes regarding colours 
File 9 Miscellaneous sketches 

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