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Art collectors combine private collections for a one-night-only exhibition and fundraiser for the Israel Museum

Buzzing around the works of abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler on Aug. 9 were art collectors, philanthropists and well-attired scene regulars. On one of the white walls in the expansive, sparse space hung Nude, from 1958, and on another, Spices, from 1968, both splendid examples of the artist's colour field works on unprimed canvases. Off to the side, near a window, was a piece of sculpture from 1972, a lesser-known medium for the American artist who died in 2011.

But this wasn't a regular opening of a new exhibition. Rather, it was the 2017 instalment of Pop-Up Museum, an event that sees artworks from private collections are brought together for one night only to raise funds for the initiatives of the Canadian Friends of the Israel Museum. Rather than stage the event in a typical gallery space, the works are hung in a private home, or in the case of this latest event, courtesy of Matthew Sapera Fine Homes, a soon to be private home on Dunvegan Road in the tony Toronto enclave of Forest Hill.

Canadian Friends of the Israel museum is one of 16 active support groups on six continents that host events to raise funds for the The Israel Museum, funds that grant Israeli children of all backgrounds and religions free access to the museum's impressive exhibitions and a permanent collection, which ranges from the prehistoric to Picasso and beyond.

Though the works were only up for one night, returning curator David Moos, former curator of modern and contemporary at the Art Gallery of Ontario, now an art advisor, approached this short-run exhibition with long-run thought and great care. The Frankenthaler-filled drawing room was one of many smartly curated spaces that made up an exhibition that filled this un-humble home. In the library, a totem pole was flanked by a pair of works by Emily Carr, one from 1912, the other from 1937. In other rooms, works from well-known artists were on loan from well-known big givers, including an Adolph Gottlieb owned by Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman, a Henry Moore from the collection of Tony and Moira Cohen, and a Robert Mapplethorpe from the collection of Sheldon Inwentash and Lynn Factor. Atop a grand white staircase was a joyful work by Alex Katz from 1987. "My wall looks so empty!" Pauline Menkes, its Prada-clad owner, proclaimed as we shuffled by one another in the adjacent entry where over a marble mantle piece hung a lively 1949 Hans Hofmann from Aaron Milrad and Brenda Coleman's collection.

Among those in attendance: event honorary chairs Charles and Marilyn Baillie – their Matisse hung upstairs in another foyer – and their fellow honorary chairs David and Audrey Mirvish, whose contributions were a pair of impressive works in the aforementioned Frankenthaler space. Also present, event chairs Leslie Gales and Keith Ray and Sarah and David Kaufman; CFIM national chairs Wendy and Elliott Eisen; Joe Brennan and Danny Greenglass of Brennan Custom Homes Inc.; director of the National Gallery of Canada, Marc Mayer; The Printing House chairman Earle O'Born and his wife, Janice; developer David Feldman and his wife Angela; Dr. Paul Marks and Dr. Shawna Granovsky; Isadore Sharp, founder and chairman of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and his wife Rosalie; Cassels Brock partner Max Gotlieb and his wife Heather; architect Alex Josephson; CFIM national director Pearl Berman; and James Snyder, the Israel Museum's Jerusalem-based international president and director emeritus.

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