The Mendel Gift

In 1940, Frederick Salomon Mendel (1888-1976) came to Saskatoon with his wife, Clare. At the time, he was a prosperous, 52-year-old businessman forced to flee Nazi Germany. Within months of his arrival in Canada, he opened the enterprise that would become Intercontinental Packers Limited. The Mendel family, including daughters Joanna and Eva, brought with them the experience of a rich cultural life in Europe and a love of art, which they continued to pursue in Saskatoon.

Twenty years later, as a gesture of gratitude to the community for welcoming his family and business, Mendel approached Mayor Sidney Buckwold to initiate the creation of a public art gallery. The Saskatoon Art Gallery and Civic Conservatory opened to an enthusiastic public on October 16, 1964, and soon became known as the Mendel Art Gallery. The following year, the Mendel family made a significant donation of 13 paintings from an extensive private collection: today called The Mendel Gift. This gift includes works by members of the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, who were at the forefront of modernist explorations in Canada. These paintings formed the nucleus of the permanent collection that now numbers more than 8,000 works and set the tone for future acquisitions. Over the years, the Mendel family supported many artists and made numerous gifts to the collection.

Image: Lawren S. Harris, Untitled (mountains near Jasper), 1934-1940, oil on canvas, 127.8 x 152.6 cm. The Mendel Art Gallery Collection at Remai Modern. Gift of the Mendel family 1965.