Hello everybody!
Do you feel it? The crisp cool mornings and evenings of a slowly encroaching late summer dare I say early Fall?!? For many this is a long awaited time of cooler temperatures, sharpened pencils and the smell of autumnal leaves. For others (such as myself) the school anxiety and the loss of the sense of freedom that summer brings as well as the light that comes with it! How are you celebrating the last bit of summer? Cottaging? Camping? Watching the sunrise (for your early birds) or the sunset. How are you making this time special?
Please read on!
Adventures in the Collection
This week Jonathan shares his experience of his first stroll back through the gallery since his return:
I’ve been working a few days a week in the gallery since July 30th and haven’t taken time to have a good look around so I took a stroll yesterday to stop in and visit some of my old favourites. I have loved the Group of Seven since I was a kid, and their works always whisk me back to my halcyon days. This past week it was rather chilly in Barrie and the smell on the air is hinting that the late summer is already giving way to autumn. Leaves have begun to fall in my yard, and while it makes for a lovely scene, being Toronto born and bred I can’t help but feeling at home when looking at the fallen leaves on a concrete sidewalk and an asphalt road. I just had to spend some time with Lawren Harris’ Houses, Richmond Street. I look at this painting and can imagine the perfect autumn day, a little warm in the sunshine and a little cool in the shade, the sounds of the dried leaves rustling in the breeze and the smell of a fire burning in someone’s fireplace. I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to cooler days, apple picking, pumpkin pie, and beautiful colours on the trees. I hope all of you are keeping well!
Art in the Spotlight: Kim Ondaatje
We are continuing to highlight some of the many interesting talks the AGO has been hosting online. This week, we recommend you check out Art in the Spotlight where Devyani Saltzman, Director of Public Programming, and Renee van der Avoird, Assistant Curator of Canadian Art, discuss Kim Ondaatje’s House on Piccadilly Street screenprints and the psychological dimensions of interior spaces. Kim Ondaatje was part of a small but thriving arts community in London, Ontario where they developed their own distinct style known as London regionalism. She is unique for being one of the few working women artists in Canada in the the late 60s. This is a timely work as many of us having been spending copious amounts of time at home. What is home when you are inside 24 hours a day? Doors from the House on Piccadilly Street Series purchased in 1972 – with hopes of being presented soon, however everything in the exhibition schedule has now been affected by Covid-19. While we have several Kim Ondaajte works in our collection, we currently only have Hearn Plant, Toronto Harbour up in the Canadian collection. Delve further with our most recent AGO Insider article.
Be well and stay healthy.
Jonathan, Christine, Trish and Nicole
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416-979-6660 ext 397