This unique exhibition features highlights of Canadian art from the historic collection that was begun in at the beginning of the twentieth century by Hart House at the University of Toronto. Together for the first time in more than 30 years, A Story of Canadian Art provides audiences with an opportunity to discover a significant chapter in the formation of art and cultural history in Canada.
The selection of works will draw on the first fifty years of the collection and include among others A.Y. Jackson's Georgian Bay, November, purchased in 1922; David Milne, Waterlilies and the Sunday Paper, Temagami, 1928, donated by Vincent Massey in 1947, and Lawren Harris's Abstract (War Painting), 1943 presented by the Artist to Hart House in 1949. The exhibition also includes works by Andre Bieler, Simone Marie Bouchard, Franklin Carmichael, A.J. Casson, Paraskeva Clark, Charles Comfort, L.L. FitzGerald, Prudence Heward, Edwin Holgate, Bess Housser, Yvonne Housser, Jack Humphrey, A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald, Henri Masson, Kathleen Morris, Lilias Newton, George Pepper, Tom Thomson, Jacques de Tonnancour, F.H. Varley, William Weston, W.J. Wood.
Most notably, the exhibition tells us about particular critical junctures in the history of how this singular Canadian collection was built, but will also provide glimpses into the history of art in Canada has been written.
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canadian Museums Assistance Program