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The National Gallery of the Cayman Islands
Recent Acquisitions
 National Watercolour Collection
Watermarks featured the work of the Islands’ most renowned watercolourists in an exhibition that endeavoured to document this delicate medium, which has long been popular in the Cayman Islands, and to raise public awareness of the many works damaged during Hurricane Ivan.
In 2004 the islands experienced the temporary loss of these vibrant surroundings and with that loss comes a deepened sense of disintegration. Many precious watercolours from private and public collections were also destroyed during Hurricane Ivan and with them some of our visual heritage. Through this exhibition we hoped to create a new collection that will be held in trust for the people of the Cayman Islands – a collection that will serve as a powerful reminder of Cayman’s natural beauty and of all that art can give us in a world struggling to rebuild itself.
In order to secure that this substantial collection remained together each of the works of arts in the exhibition was available for sponsorship by local businesses. Collectively they which they will form a National Watercolour Collection held in trust for the people of the Cayman Islands by the National Gallery. A total of 13 works were secured.
Sponsors of the programme included companies LOM Securities Ltd., Paget-Brown Trust Company Ltd., Bank Austria, Appleby Spurling Hunter, Queensgate Bank and trust Company Ltd., Caribbean Utilities Company, Walkers, and individual sponsor Hollie Coleman
 Out of the Debris and into the Gallery
Sculptor Karoly Szucs from Artisan Metal Works has recently donated a piece of artwork to the permanent collection of the National Gallery. The sculpture entitled ‘That Morning’, created from scrap iron and found objects, was the opening piece in the Gallery’s Emergence exhibition that featured photography, video and assemblage art created from recycled materials in the wake of Hurricane Ivan.
Along with other artists from this poignant exhibition Karoly drew from his own experiences during and after the ordeal. “Nothing was left untouched that morning, our homes, our lives, our infrastructure. We were completely powerless to change the course of nature,” his accompanying artist statement reads.
Hungarian born Karoly, who has resided in the Cayman Islands for several years, was moved to create after returning to his devastated Industrial Park studio and finding his large supply of metal badly corroded by flood water. Standing four foot high ‘That Morning’ is a swirling vortex of corroded iron rising up in a manner reminiscent of its inspiration. Embedded in the centre of the spiral are objects that the artist found when walking in the aftermath – electricity and water meters, a broken mug and a clock that stopped at 8.10AM when the storm was at its most fervent - symbolising the complete upheaval of normality. These objects appear suspended as if captured in flight and thrown about by the strong wind.
The Gallery is delighted with the donation, as it is a sensitive and creative representation of a significant chapter in our Islands’ history.
"There was nothing left untouched that morning, our homes, our lives, our infrastructure. We were completely powerless to change the course of nature" Karoly - 2004
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