Arquivo - Ferdinand Eckhardt fonds

Ferdinand Eckhardt was born in Augsburg, Germany, April 28, 1902. In 1920, he began to study art history at Vienna University. He came to Winnipeg in 1953 and acted as the Director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery for 21 years. He married Sophie-Carmen (Sonia) Eckhardt-Gramatté a Russian composer in 1934. Sonia was the widow to German expressionist artist Walter Gramatté, who died in Spain in 1929. Due to this connection, the WAG-Qaumajuq has a substantial collection of Gramatté's work.

When Dr. Eckhardt took over as Director in 1953, the Gallery consisted of a few corridors of the Civic Auditorium’s third floor (now the Provincial Archives building at 200 Vaughan Street). Eckhardt helped establish a permanent location and structure for the Gallery in 1971, in which he spent 17 years to get the financial and economic support for this project. He retired in 1974, becoming Director Emeritus at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Eckhardt died on December 25, 1995 at the age of 93. In accordance with his wishes, he was buried in Berlin beside his wife who died in 1972.