Necessity: 21 Years of Collecting at the Mount

Inspired by the expression “making a virtue of necessity,” Robin Metcalfe’s selection reflected the varieties of necessity — cultural, social and economic — that have shaped the Art Gallery’s acquisition program and the cultural communities it represents. Metcalfe and Mary Sparling, Director of the Gallery from 1973 to 1994, discussed the collection from divergent political perspectives in a Sunday afternoon presentation.