July 30, 2024

MINNEAPOLIS – The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) announced that it has received a bequest of 43 artworks from the estate of distinguished local collectors Drs. Norman and Brenda Canedy. The gift of European art is comprised of 13 paintings, 24 drawings, and 6 prints, and includes notable works both by artists new to Mia’s collection—such as Antonio del Castillo, Michele Rocca, and Christoph Unterberger—as well as pieces that enhance Mia’s current holdings of other works by artists such as Giulio Bonasone, Gioacchino Assereto, and Scarsellino. Longtime supporters of Mia since the 1960s, this gift from the Canedys is a fulfillment of years of commitment to the museum and an opportunity to ensure these works remained in and accessible to audiences in the Twin Cities.

The star of the Canedys’ gift is Nicolaes Berchem’s “The Allegory of the Seasons, Elements, and Time” (c. 1670). Acquired by the couple from the Hazlitt Gallery in London in 1962, this cabinet painting showcases Berchem’s masterful brushwork and radiant use of light. It also features intricate iconography: Time, personified as an aged man with wings, is represented floating above a faintly painted wheel of the zodiac. In one hand he holds a serpent eating its tail, a symbol of eternity, and in the other, he holds flowers, a common symbol of spring. Berchem integrated depictions of the other three seasons in Time’s attire: a crown of dried branches represents winter, ears of grain denote summer, and grapes indicate autumn. Meanwhile, the four elements are represented in the four quadrants of the painting: fire and air above (the universe’s celestial sphere), and water and earth below (in the terrestrial sphere), and Berchem’s inclusion of the moon and sun reflect the separation of night and day. The painting was on loan to Mia and regularly on display since 2017. Another painting by Berchem that is a promised gift to Mia’s collection, Landscape with Shepherd and Shepherdess, is now on view with several of the other Dutch works in the show Destined for Mia: A Collection of Dutch Paintings, through August 25, 2024.

“The Canedy collection is a testament to Norman and Brenda’s deep appreciation, understanding, and passion for art,” said Katie Luber, Nivin and Duncan MacMillan Director and President of Mia. “Their generosity will have a lasting impact on our museum, providing our visitors with unparalleled access to works of significant historical and artistic value. But it is also a reflection of the strengths of institutions such as ours, which has been built and continues to be sustained by generations of engaged collectors and donors who share the Canedys’ commitment to their local art museum, and who see Mia as an essential steward for works of art that benefit the whole community.”

Among the other highlight works in the bequest are:

• Antonio del Castillo’s “Saint John the Baptist” (c. 1635-1640), a Baroque work that enhances Mia’s growing collection of Spanish art. When the Canedys acquired this painting, it was attributed to various Italian Lombard painters (Giacomo Francesco Ciper, il Todeschini, and Tanzio da Varallo) before it was recognized as Spanish. After much research and correspondence with Spanish experts, the work has been re-attributed to Antonio del Castillo, the first work by this artist in Mia’s collection.
• A pair of monochrome roundels by Christoph Unterberger, “‘Artes Resurgent’ Sacred Rome Preparing to Elevate the Genius of the Fine Arts” (c. 1772) and “‘Impleat Orbem’ The Tiber and Fame Spreading Their Glory” (c. 1772). Both are painted to look like sculpted reliefs and relate to Unterberger’s ceiling frescoes in the Vatican Palace.
• A large painting attributed to the noted 17^th century Italian painter and draftsman Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi, “Sunrise on a Pastoral Landscape: Apollo and the Hours” (c. 1625-35).
• An oil sketch by the Genoese artist Gioacchino Assereto, “Saint Monica Healing the Possessed,” c. 1630-40, which may relate to a larger painting in Mia’s collection by the artist, “Saint Augustine and Saint Monica,” c. 1630-40, perhaps both painted by Assereto for a series representing scenes from the life of the female saint. And a number of Italian old master drawings, a focal point of Norman Canedy’s personal and professional interests. These include compositional studies, figure studies, ornament and architectural drawings, and landscapes. Canedy conducted extensive research and proposed attributions for all of these works as part of his collecting—attributions that will likely continue to evolve as additional research is done, further enriching Mia’s scholarly and educational resources.

Dr. Norman W. Canedy and Dr. Brenda Haram Canedy were distinguished professionals in their respective fields. Norman, born on September 23, 1926, in Petersburg, Indiana, was a beloved professor of art history at the University of Minnesota, where he specialized in Renaissance and Baroque art, and taught from 1962 until his retirement in 1995. His academic career was marked by meticulous research of Italian Renaissance drawings, with a particular interest in Rome and the papal court. Brenda, born on March 12, 1933, had a notable career in nursing and healthcare, and was particularly recognized for her research on nursing practices, including a comparative study of clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners. Her work advanced the field of nursing, improving patient care and mentoring future healthcare professionals.

In addition to their lasting legacies in academia and healthcare, they were both passionate about art and collecting. Norman’s role in the collecting pair was as the studious scholar, researching and documenting attributions and scholarly opinions, and investigating the complicated subjects and iconographies of the works they acquired. While not an art historian by training, Brenda had an exceptional eye for quality and often pushed the couple to stretch in their collecting. Norman passed away on May 4, 2020, and Brenda followed on August 2, 2023, leaving their collection to Mia, where much of it has been on long-term loan since 2017.