Ross and Susan Eddy first became aware of renowned Canadian artist David Silverberg when Ross’s daughter Chris was a student at Mount Allison University. Following their first Silverberg acquisition, “Umbrellas”, and during Ross’s term on Mount A’s Board of Regents, the Eddys acquired numerous prints which were displayed in their home and the offices of Ross’s Toronto law firm.

In 2013, at the urging of Silverberg, the Eddys approached Acadia about donating 19 of Silverberg’s works to the University. Coincidentally, Acadia had just announced that construction of the Wu Welcome Centre would begin in 2014, creating the perfect home for the Silverberg prints. 

David Silverberg received his BA from McGill University in 1957 and studied etching and engraving at the L’École des Beaux Arts in Paris and the Instituts des Arts décoratifs et de bâtiments in Grenoble, France. Between 1963 and 1995 he taught printmaking at Mount Allison and served a five-year term as Acadia’s Artist in Residence beginning in 1995. 

Silverberg’s art is concerned with many themes based on his extensive travel. He has exhibited worldwide in 200 solo shows and over 100 group shows alongside artists such as Dali, Picasso and Chagall. He is best known for his engravings that are created through a process involving cutting an image onto a steel plate using a diamond-tipped stylus, applying ink so that it only remains in the engraved lines then pressing the image onto paper to produce a print of the image.

Acadia is grateful for the Eddys’ gift and for its association with Silverberg. The 19 prints are beautifully displayed in the Great Room of the newly finished Wu Welcome Centre at Alumni Hall, itself a gift from the Wu family of Hong Kong.

To see an interview with David Silverberg, please visit: https://youtu.be/lFyhFV8HAgQ