Alan Glass (1932-2023), Ziggurat Polar, 1991, mixed media, 162.5 x 124 x 9.5 cm. Private collection. Photo Paolo Gori
Alan Glass (1932-2023), Ziggurat Polar, 1991, mixed media, 162.5 x 124 x 9.5 cm. Private collection. Photo Paolo Gori
Worlds of Wonder
In spring 2025, discover the Surrealist works of Montreal-born artist Alan Glass (1932-2023), who lived most of his life in Mexico.
Organized by the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico, in collaboration with the MMFA, Worlds of Wonder is the first solo exhibition of the artist’s work in a Canadian museum. It reveals the artist’s unique exploration of Surrealism across varied media, ranging from drawings to intricate assemblages.
In his drawings that lie somewhere between abstract and figurative, Glass creates ethereal environments out of familiar and extraordinary forms. In his boxed assemblages, for which he is better known, Glass turns everyday objects into marvellous, surreal visions. These juxtapositions create dreamlike scenes that evoke memories, desires and obsessions from the depths of the artist’s psyche.
Though little known to Quebec or Canadian audiences, Glass is an internationally acclaimed artist. His works can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, the Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Born in Montreal in 1932 and raised in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Alan Glass enrolled in the Montreal School of Fine Arts in 1949, where he studied under the mentorship of Alfred Pellan. Thanks to a grant from the French government, Glass left for Paris in 1952 to continue his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts and the École du Musée de l’Homme. In the summer of 1956, he began working as a doorman at the Club Saint-Germain-des-Prés. During his night shifts, he created abstract automatic drawings with the newly invented ballpoint pens, which caught the eye of Surrealist André Breton. In 1958, Breton and fellow poet Benjamin Péret organized Alan Glass’s first solo show at Galerie Le Terrain Vague, a Surrealist publishing house and bookstore.
In Paris, Glass developed many friendships, notably with Chilean-born Alejandro Jodorowsky, and reunited with several friends from Quebec, including artists Micheline Beauchemin, Jean Benoît, Solange Legendre, and Mimi Parent, and poet and engraver Roland Giguère.
When Glass came across a small sugar skull, decorated with bright colours and beads from Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations, he went in search of more, arriving in Mexico in 1962. From 1963 until his death, he never left his chosen home of Mexico except for occasional visits to Montreal and Paris and a major voyage to India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, funded by a Canada Council Arts Award grant in 1968.
Alan Glass in his Tabasco Street studio, in Mexico, 2006. Photo Daniel de Laborde
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Join the great family of MMFA Members from $35 a year. You’ll enjoy numerous perks and benefits, including unlimited free access to all the exhibitions and collections as well as a wide variety of events and activities.
Photo Thibault Carron
Credits and curatorial team
An exhibition organized by the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico, in collaboration with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
The exhibition is curated by Abigail Susik and Kristoffer Noheden, guest curators, Xavier de la Riva, former Chief Curator of the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico, Joshua Sánchez, Chief Curator of the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, and Elisabeth Otto, Assistant Curator of Quebec and Canadian Art at the MMFA.
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Photo Thibault Carron
