Eric Brown

Eric Brown (1877–1939) was the first Director of the National Gallery of Canada. His tenure was from 1910–1939.

Career and biography Eric Brown was born in Nottingham, England. His brother was the British landscape painter Sir John Arnesby Brown (1866–1955). In 1909, Brown immigrated to Canada at the invitation of F.R. Heaton (1866–1939), head of W. Scott and Sons, Montreal art dealers. Upon his arrival, Brown superintended a loan exhibition of British paintings in Montreal and worked for the Art Gallery of Toronto. While in Montreal and Toronto, Brown met Sir Edmund Walker (1848–1924), who hired him first to undertake work for the Toronto Art Association and then as both Secretary for the Advisory Arts Council and Curator of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

The National Gallery of Canada In 1910, Brown was appointed as the first director of the National Gallery of Canada. Initially the gallery was a collection of the diploma works of academicians, supplemented by occasional gifts; thus Brown's primary concern was the establishment of the Gallery and the building of its collections

Honours and awards He was an honorary member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours and received the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal (1935) and the King George VI Coronation Medal (1937).