Toronto donors confident Leibovitz photos will be displayed, warn of art chill
HALIFAX — A wealthy Toronto family that donated a multi-million-dollar collection of Annie Leibovitz photographs to a small Halifax art gallery is confident the works will eventually be displayed, but warns that a federal board’s refusal to recognize the art’s cultural value could harm Canadian galleries and museums.
The Mintz family said it is “incredibly disappointed” the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board decided not to grant the bulk of the collection donated to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia a certification of cultural significance, which comes with important tax breaks for donors.
“We don’t believe that a bureaucratic panel in Ottawa should be rejecting what the museums themselves acknowledge as important gifts,” Bonnie Jackson, a spokeswoman for the family, said in an emailed statement Friday.
“In Canada, a program of incentives ensures that public galleries can acquire great collections. Without it, our museums would suffer.”