Howdy!

An interesting exercise in compare and contrast. CBC News reports that an artist named Myles MacDonald spent three-and-a-half years collecting cans and bottles, which he then returned for the deposit, and then gave the cash to the Art Gallery of Prince Albert (Saskatchewan, not the can).

Contrast that with this:

The National Gallery of Canada announced on the 25th of May, that Ms. Marjorie Bronfman gave them $350,000 in order to purchase "exceptional drawings."

I got the news originally from La Tribune de l'Art. Which does note that the National Gallery has already used some of the funds (or maybe all of the funds) to purchase A Roman Capriccio with Figures by Giovanni Paolo Panini

and Saint Ambrose Triumphs over Heresy by Gottfried Bernhard Göz.

Ms. Bronfman also gave the National Gallery two other drawings, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo: An Angel Holding a Martyr's Palm and Angels with a Laurel Wreath. I'd love to see how much they were appraised for.

The Art Gallery of Prince Albert is attempting to match Mr. MacDonald's gift. Personally, I think that if Ms. Bronfman had given the National Gallery $345,000 and the Art Gallery of Prince Albert $5,000, she would have gotten more bang for her buck.