Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

The Spencer Mansion was built in 1889, and was designed by William Ridgeway Wilson.[9] The Spencer Mansion was once a part of a larger property, originally stretching from Fort Street to Rockland Avenue; incorporating a garden, two tennis courts, stables and a coach house. The Spencer Mansion had a belvedere, with a view of the ocean. The Victorian era home was originally built for the Green family, who named the building Gyppeswyk, the Old English name for Ipswich.[10] When Cary Castle, the original Government House, was destroyed by fire in 1903, Gyppeswyck served briefly as the residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. The building was donated in 1951 by Sarah Spencer to the institution that became the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.[1]

The exterior of the building has been painted in several different colour schemes since its construction.[11] In 1975 it was painted cream in order to coordinate with the brick used for one of the Exhibition Galleries. The building was re-painted back to its original colour scheme of dark red, dark green, and pale salmon in 2004.[11] The original colour scheme was ascertained after peeling through the building's 15 layers of paint.[11] The building's eastern facade, and portions of the northern facade were largely destroyed with the construction of the first galleries of the Exhibition Galleries during the 1950s.[12] The loss of the porte-cochère, and the installation of a north-side glass-enclosed staircase during the construction of the Exhibition Galleries makes Spencer Mansion inadmissible for designation as a heritage building.[1]

Works showcased in the Spencer Mansion, a historic building that forms a part of the building complex.

The interior of the building has undergone significant changes since its construction, either conducted by the museum, or by previous owners of the building.[11] However, the building still retains a number of features from its original construction, including its original fireplace, ornate tiles and woodworking on the southeast corner of the second floor.[11] In 2004, several renovation works undertaken on the building, including the reconstruction of the rooftop Palladian window, and providing a seismic retrofit to the building's chimney.[11]

The first floor of the Spencer Mansion houses the museum's gift shop, and art rental and sales office.[13] The former bedrooms on the second floor serve as the museum`s offices, and library, while the museum's archives are located in the building's attic.[11]

Main entrance lobby, located within the Exhibition Galleries

From 1955 to 1978, the museum expanded the building by constructing seven galleries in a modernist expansion wing adjacent to the eastern portion of the mansion, collectively known as the Exhibition Galleries. The first two fireproof galleries were opened in 1958 and 1959,[4] and were known as the Centennial Galleries.[14] Its namesake commemorates the centennial of the establishment of the Colony of British Columbia.[14] The final renovations during this period occurred in 1978, which saw the renovation of two of its larger exhibition galleries, as well as repairs to the Spencer Mansion.[5]

Renovations to the Exhibition Galleries were conducted from 2001 to 2003.[13] Work on the Exhibition Galleries included the installation a new climate control system,[13] enabling the museum to host travelling exhibitions that include works which need a climate controlled environment. Work on the museum's entrance at the Exhibition Galleries, and its corridors was also conducted during these renovations.[13]

The museum's collection of Asian art is made up of approximately 8,000 works, comprising 40 per cent of the museum's total collection.[18] With approximately 8,000 Asian works, the museum holds the second largest collection of Asian art in Canada, after the Royal Ontario Museum.[15] While the collection of Asian works includes items from all over Asia (including South Asia, and Western Asia), the focus of the Asian collection is primarily on works from China, and Japan.[19] The museum's collection of Chinese works is believed to have increased significantly in value in the first decades of the 21st century, due to China's economic growth, and renewed interests for art from that region.[19]

A Shinto shrine in the museum's Asian Garden

The museum's collection of Asian art features old and new works, including bronze objects, ceramics, textiles, and amber and ivory carvings.[19] The museum's Asian collection was started in 1973 by the museum's first director, Colin Graham.[19] Two Japanese prints, acquired by the museum in the 1950s, were the first two items that formed the Asian collection.[19] Other works from the exhibit includes a Chinese painting valued at C$6 million in 2016, and a Japanese byōbu created by Kanō Sanraku.[19] The byōbu features a depiction of a peacock displaying its plumage next to a pine tree, painted on a gold leaf.[19] The 197 cm (78 in) by 370 cm (150 in) byōbu was donated to the museum in 1995, and was restored with cooperation from the Government of Japan for approximately C$150,000.[19] The byōbu was valued at C$500,000 in 2016.[19] The museum's outdoor Asian garden includes the only Meiji era Shinto shrine in North America.[20]