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Ydessa Hendeles

Ydessa Hendeles collects Canadian and international contemporary art and photography. Her Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation opened in Toronto in 1988 as Canada's first privately supported contemporary art exhibition space. The exhibition program ended in 2012, while the foundation continues as a not-for-profit.

Artists named in the collection

Christian Boltanski, Jeff Wall, Bill Viola, Louise Bourgeois, Bruce Nauman, Maurizio Cattelan, Hanne Darboven, James Coleman, Diane Arbus, Katharina Fritsch

On record

  • Gave 32 works to the Art Gallery of Ontario, announced in January 2010.
  • Received the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2002.
  • The foundation held over 30 exhibitions before closing its Toronto space.

Institutional roles

  • Adjunct professor, Department of Art History, University of Toronto

Questions

What does Ydessa Hendeles collect?Ydessa Hendeles collects Canadian and international contemporary art and photography. Her Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation opened in Toronto in 1988 as Canada's first privately supported contemporary art exhibition space. The exhibition program ended in 2012, while the foundation continues as a not-for-profit.

Which artists are in the Ydessa Hendeles collection?Cited sources name works by Christian Boltanski, Jeff Wall, Bill Viola, Louise Bourgeois, Bruce Nauman, Maurizio Cattelan, Hanne Darboven, James Coleman.

Sources

  1. Ydessa Hendeles, Wikipedia
  2. Ydessa Hendeles, The Canadian Encyclopedia
  3. 32 new works, The Globe and Mail, 2010

Last verified 2026-10-31.

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