TORONTO – Ancient artifacts and historical pieces of art, collected by two Canadian museums, have been transformed into wonders of the 21st century, thanks to Google.
Pieces from Pointe-à-Callière, Montreal’s Museum of Archaeology and History, and the Canada Council Art Bank have been added to the Internet giant’s online art collection, Google Art Project.
Images of Canadian art, artifacts and sculptures were added from artists such as Jean Claude Dupont, George Munro Grant, Meryl McMaster and Michael Snow. Included in the Pointe-à-Callière collection is a Lower Canada coat of arms, dated 1800, saved from old Parliament which burned down in 1849.
The collection of works from the Canada Council Art Bank, the largest collection of contemporary Canadian art in the world, shows contemporary pieces from the 70s.
Google announced Monday that nearly 2,000 new works of art had been added to Art Project, which made its debut in 2011, from 29 different museums spanning 15 countries.
These two museums are only the second and third Canadian institutions to have work featured in Google Art Project.
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) was the first to join the site in April of 2012.
Fifty-eight pieces of art by 52 different artists from the AGO’s Canadian and European collections are available to view online.
Since launching in February 2011, the Google Art Project has had over 20 million visitors.
The initial collection contained 17 galleries and museums, featuring a grand total of 1,060 images, 486 artists and 385 virtual gallery rooms.
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