The National Gallery of Jamaica, and indeed the entire Institute of Jamaica family, are grieved to hear of the passing of the Hon Aaron Matalon, OJ, an eminent business leader, a true patriot, and an enthusiastic patron of the arts and of Jamaican culture. At his death he was Chairman Emeritus of the National Gallery, having served as its chairman from 1991 to 2003.

While he had always been a generous supporter of the National Gallery, Aaron Matalon played a particularly active role in the development of the National Gallery from 1991 to 2003. He took important steps to place the gallery on a sounder financial basis. A gift shop was established and the gallery staged several highly successful art fairs and auctions.

The first in 1993 attracted an enthusiastic audience of some 6,000 persons and remains the standard by which the now prevalent fairs and auctions islandwide are judged. Mr Matalon and the late Michael Manley were also moving forces for the building of a permanent home for the National Gallery of Jamaica.

The project has stalled at the stage of fully developed architectural plans and awaits implementation. Mr Matalon was also highly influential in reviving the gallery's Art on the Waterfront summer school, which he did through the sponsorship and collaboration with the MultiCare Foundation, a non-profit foundation for inner-city development which he had founded in 1993.

National Gallery collection

His most important contribution, by far, was, however, to the development of the National Gallery collection. In 1999, the National Gallery presented a mammoth exhibition of 212 works. It was called Gifts to the Nation, and it represented works of art of all periods, primarily Jamaican but with some of Caribbean interest, which Aaron Matalon and his wife Marjorie had decided to donate to the National Gallery of Jamaica.

The collection was anchored by an important map collection, including the first known printed map of Jamaica - the Bordone map of 1528 - and key works of the topographical tradition of the 18th and 19th centuries. The 20th century part of the collection included nearly every important Jamaican artist of the period but was strongest in the so-called 'nationalist' artists and the artists of the various 'realist' traditions, including Edna Manley, Carl Abrahams, Roger Mais, Huie, Marriott, Pottinger, Campbell, Barrington Watson, Samere Tansley and Judy Ann McMillan. The collection also boasted a substantial group of the surrealist painter Colin Garland. This donation, which was received for the nation by then Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, was the most substantial ever made to the gallery and has aptly been described as one of the most generous acts of philanthropy in our nation's history.

Edna Manley Foundation

After Edna Manley's death in 1987, Aaron Matalon was instrumental in establishing the Edna Manley Foundation, which he served as chairman from 1987 until 2004. He spearheaded the Foundation's efforts to preserve and promote the legacy of Edna Manley, a pivotal figure in the development of the early Jamaican art movement. Under Aaron Matalon's guidance, the foundation published Mrs Manley's diaries in 1989 and a monograph, Edna Manley: Sculptor (1990), containing the catalogue raisonné of her sculptures.

The foundation also supported the production of films, an interactive CD ROM, the staging of a full scale retrospective in collaboration with the National Gallery in 1990, and spearheaded a bronzing project which saw editions of 20 of Mrs Manley's fragile works bronzed. One of Mr Matalon's key initiatives with the foundation was the establishment - in collaboration with the National Gallery of Jamaica - of the Edna Manley Memorial Collection, to which Mr Matalon and his wife Marjorie donated nine highly important works.

On March 1, 2000, the occasion of the centenary of her birth, the Edna Manley Memorial Collection was augmented by works from the National Gallery's permanent collection and private collections and went on view at the National Gallery in two adjacent galleries now known as The Edna Manley Galleries. This was the culmination of Mr Matalon's work with the foundation in honouring a great Jamaican artist and cultural catalyst.

The Hon Aaron Matalon's service to the Institute of Jamaica extends well beyond his role in the development of the National Gallery. In 1976, Mr Matalon served as the chairman of the Interim Board of Management of the West India Reference Library, the forerunner of the National Library of Jamaica and served as chairman in 1978.

Urgent financial needs

Between 1985 and 1989, Mr Matalon served as deputy chairman of the Council, Institute of Jamaica. It was in that capacity that in 1985, in response to the urgent financial needs of the Institute of Jamaica, Mr Matalon spearheaded a major fund-raising venture which resulted in the establishment of the Cultural Heritage Fund, which was launched in 1986.

The Cultural Heritage Fund, in addition to providing support for the acquisition of various artefacts, serves to facilitate staff benefits, especially to travelling officers who in their primary role are required to promote the work of the organisation. As a philanthropist, Mr Matalon also recognised the need to train staff and, as a consequence, the fund also accommodates staff training needs.

For his outstanding support of art and culture over the years, and especially for his continued support of the National Gallery and the development of its collections, Aaron Matalon was awarded the Gold Musgrave medal in 2006.

- Dr David Boxer