The National Gallery of Canada was an early fan of Christian Marclay’s video installation The Clock, buying one of six copies of the work even before the U.S. artist won the Golden Lion at the 2011 Venice Art Biennale.

On Thursday, the Ottawa-based gallery will unveil the film montage to the public, with a series of 24-hour screenings over the coming six weeks. The NGC bought the work in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts of Boston.

Christian Marclay created art-world sensation The Clock. (Associated Press)

Marclay created the film montage from moments of cinema and television history, each showing a clock or watch, so as to depict the passage of time.

The artwork incorporates thousands of clips, including Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, Christopher Walken in Pulp Fiction, Peter Fonda in Easy Rider, Orson Welles in The Stranger, Gary Cooper in High Noon and hundreds of other segments that are not as well known.

The Clock runs for 24 hours and is displayed in real time over the course of the day. When a character onscreen checks the time or a clock appears in the frame, the sequence shows the actual time to the viewing audience.

After almost 10 years of research and preparation, The Clock has been an art-world sensation since its first display in London and New York in 2010.

It was hailed as a highlight of the Venice Art Biennale in 2011 and was shown in Boston in September.

The Clock runs until March 25 at the National Gallery, with free admission offered on select nights. It will travel to the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto in September.