A new home for old masters

In conjunction with celebrations for Montréal’s 375th anniversary, the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts has inaugurated the massive $25 million Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace. With the addition of this 53,000-square-foot facility, the MMFA now occupies nearly 575,000 square feet, making it Quebec’s largest museum.

The new pavilion is named in honor of a Polish-born real estate magnate and his wife, who, after escaping from the Nazis, moved to Rome at the end of World War II and began to collect art. Later, they immigrated to Canada and, in 2012, they donated their $75 million collection of Old Masters to the MMFA.

Besides housing the Horn­stein collection and other international art, the new pavilion includes facilities for the International Atelier for  Education and Art Therapy. Designed by Atelier TAG in consortium with Jodoin La­marre Pratte Architectes, the aluminum-lacework structure has been designed to fit in with the Victorian houses that surround it. For more information, visit www.mbam.qc.ca/en.