The Impressionists who were one source of inspiration for the Group of Seven are present in substantial numbers at the Art Gallery of Ontario. One of my favourites is Camille Pissarro's Poplars, Grey Weather, Éragny.


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The Art Gallery of Ontario has many works of Group of Seven artists who are not Lawren Harris. I liked the landscapes of J.E.H. MacDonald, "Lake O'Hara" and especially "Fine Weather, Georgian Bay" speaking to me.


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Two weekends ago, I enjoyed an afternoon at Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario. One of the first works I saw on this visit were these two terracotta busts by one Hamilton Plantagenet MacCarthy. The one in the back is of Sir Isaac Brock, an acting Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada who died in an early battle of the War of 1812. The one in the front ( Read more... )

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One thing I liked about The Idea of North was the inclusion, mostly towards the end, of works which inspired Harris or which were inspired by Harris. His aesthetic lives on.

Rockwell Kent's Icebergs, Greenland, also painted in the 1930s, looks at the same Arctic territory Harris explored.


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Yesterday, as I mentioned earlier this afternoon, I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario on the final day the Steve Martin-curated exhibition The Idea of North was open to see that exhibition of the works of Lawren Harris. I really enjoyed seeing all of these iconic works, but I found myself relating particularly to his earlier works, depicting ( Read more... )

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The Toronto Star's Janice Bradbeer tells the story of how, from humble beginning, the Art Gallery of Ontario got its start.

The Ontario Society of Artists, led by president George Reid, drew a stroke of colour across winter’s white canvas in January 1900 to create the Art Museum of Toronto - later to become the Art Gallery of Ontario ( Read more... )