Bader Collection and Rembrandt Paintings

Undoubtedly, the most generous and long-standing benefactors of Queen's Agnes Etherington Art Centre are Drs Alfred and Isabel Bader. The Agnes now has one of the largest and best-regarded collections of European art in Canada.

Alfred, a Queen's graduate from the 1940s in chemistry and history, combined his success in producing chemicals in the United States with a connoisseurship in art. In 1967, he began donating paintings to his alma mater. Alfred and Isabel eventually donated more than 200 paintings, spanning the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries and with a focus on Dutch and Flemish paintings of the Baroque era, giving the centre one of the largest and best-regarded collections of European art in Canada.

[Rembrandt's Head of a man in a turban]
Rembrandt's Head of a Man in A Turban
(c.1661)
[Rembrandt's Old Man in a Cap]
Rembrandt's Head of an Old Man in a Cap (c.1630)
[Rembrandt's Man with Arms Akimbo"
Rembrandt's Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo
(Photographed by Bernard Clark)
[Rembrandt's Head of an Old Man with Curly Hair]
Rembrandt's Head of an Old Man with
Curly Hair

In 1979, Bader's keen eye fell upon a Rembrandt being offered by Christie's in London. Head of an Old Man in a Cap, painted by the Dutch master about 1630, offered an excellent example of Rembrandt's innovative approach to the human face. The portrait captures the aged skin, dramatic fall of light and the introverted expression of an old man caught in time and contemplation. Bader bought the canvas, lent it to Queen's and then, in 2003, donated it to the university.

In 2007, the Baders donated a second Rembrandt, Head of a Man in a Turban, to the gallery.

A third Rembrandt, Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo, in 2015. At that time, they also endowed two Art History chairs in northern and southern Baroque art and a Bader Curatorship of European Art.

A fourth Rembrandt, Head of an Old Man with Curly Hair, was donated by Linda and Daniel Bader in 2019.

The generosity of the Bader family has guaranteed the Agnes will remain in its place of importance for years to come.

The Bader Collection

In 2014, a gift of 68 paintings from their personal collection of Dutch and Flemish Baroque art by long-time benefactors Alfred (Sc'45, Arts'45, MSc'47, LLD'86) and Isabel Bader (LLD'07) were added to 130 paintings previously donated by the Baders.

A few highlights from that gift include a striking self-portrait by Willem Drost, an engaging Biblical scene by Aert de Gelder, an introspective portrait by Jacobus Leveck, and a vibrant early work by Rembrandt鈥檚 friend, Jan Lievens.