HALIFAX - A wealthy Toronto family that donated a multi-million-dollar collection of Annie Leibovitz photographs to a small Halifax art gallery is confident the works will eventually be displayed.
But the Mintz family warns that a federal board's refusal to grant the bulk of the collection donated to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia a certification of cultural significance, which comes with important tax incentives for donors, will harm public galleries and museums.
A spokeswoman for the family says a bureaucratic panel in Ottawa shouldn't be rejecting what museums themselves acknowledge as important gifts.
Bonnie Jackson says in an email that the collection of more than 2,000 photos by the famed American portrait artist, including a pregnant and naked Demi Moore and a brooding Queen Elizabeth II, is of outstanding significance.
She says the family is "incredibly disappointed" by the board's "surprising" refusal to acknowledge the importance of the works.
Still, Jackson says the Mintz family does not see this as the end of the road, and is confident a solution will be found so that one day the collection can be proudly showcased.
The art gallery says that although it owns all the pieces, Leibovitz maintains the copyright and it's up to her whether they can be shown publicly.
The photographer has not yet spoken publicly on the matter.
