Art Gallery Of Ontario

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Art Gallery of Ontario

Weekend Roundup: May 4-6

Friday: Kurt Browning and friends skate into the Air Canada Centre

Friday, May 3
Prepare for a night of great music, stunning choreography and superstar skaters as Stars on Ice comes to the Air Canada Centre. Directed by four-time world champion Kurt Browning, this year’s extravaganza of fancy footwork shines the spotlight on such big names as Olympic medalists Joannie Rochette and ice-dance duo Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

Loosen up your laughing muscles for one of the most acclaimed comedians of the 20th century, as Jerry Seinfeld takes the stage at the Sony Centre as part of his Just for Laughs tour. The tour has proven so popular that the sitcom star and observational humorist is playing four shows over a two-night stint.

Experience works by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso—from his enormous personal collection—at the Art Gallery of Ontario. The multi-disciplined master sold hundreds of paintings in his lifetime, but kept thousands more for himself; nearly 150 of these drawings, paintings and sculptures are on display now. (more…)

Prolific, Polychromatic Picasso at the AGO

Among Picasso's sombre blue-period worksis the haunting La Célestine (La Femme à la taie), painted in 1904 (© Picasso Estate/SODRAC, 2011)

MAY 1 TO AUGUST 26 Quick! Name the world’s greatest collector of artwork by Pablo Picasso. Was it Gertrude Stein, the American expat who became one of Picasso’s early champions in Paris? How about Heinz Berggruen, the German-born gallerist who befriended the artist in 1949 and would go on to purchase more than 130 of his paintings? Or perhaps the title has now passed to some art-minded billionaire?

It turns out that none of these collectors can hold a candle to Picasso himself. Ridiculously productive, he sold hundreds of works yet kept thousands more—everything from informal sketches to some of his greatest masterpieces. Now, nearly 150 of these paintings, drawings and sculptures are on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario, underlining the protean breadth of Picasso’s creative genius.

Drawn from the Musée National Picasso, Paris, the unique exhibition of “Picasso’s Picassos” comprises exemplary visuals from every stage of the Spanish-born artist’s seven-decade career, including his blue, rose and African-influenced periods, his groundbreaking foray into cubism, and those points at which he expanded the possibilities of expressionism, neoclassicism and surrealism. Among the highlights: The Death of Casagemas, one of the first works painted by Picasso after his emigration to Paris (and an important example of his famed blue period); the cubist landmark Man with a Guitar; The Matador, a late self-portrait; and varied sculptural pieces that add an extra dimension to Picasso’s celebrated oeuvre.

Thematically, there’s very little that hasn’t been said about Picasso’s inspirations, techniques, even his private life and political views. An exhibition of this nature need not get too analytical. Instead, the AGO treats its visitors to a straightforward yet still colourful showcase: a survey of many of the early 20th century’s major artistic developments, as depicted (and, in some cases, created) by one hugely talented man.

—Craig Moy

Staff Picks: 5 Spots to Spot Public Art

Canoe Landing Park (photo by Ian Muttoo)

It’s true that Toronto can’t compete with, say, Paris when it comes to decorating our parks and public spaces with art, but more intriguing sculptures, murals and installations are popping up all the time. In particular, these five locations offer visuals that are equally worth photographing and contemplating. (more…)

Hot Art: Iain Baxter& Invites Attention at the AGO

Iain Baxter&'s Still Life with Winter Vista

MARCH 3 TO AUGUST 12 Art is a process. It doesn’t end with the completion of a physical object; the dialogue an artwork fosters between creator and viewer is also part of its purpose. Few exemplify this conversation better than Iain Baxter&, whose very name suggests his belief in art’s collaborative nature. The artist, whose conceptual works span more than 50 years and range from photography to paintings to mixed-media installations, gets the retrospective treatment at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Some 100 of Baxter&’s most intriguing pieces are offered in a manner reflecting the artist’s ethos: QR codes throughout the display allow smartphone-wielding visitors to access additional interactive content.

Staff Picks: 10 Popular Public Art Galleries

The Art Gallery of Ontario features works by Michael Snow and many, many other artists

Become a part of Toronto’s hot art and culture scene by exploring these public art galleries, which are home to timeless masterpieces, contemporary creations, travelling exhibitions and everything in between. (more…)

Weekend Roundup: March 2 to 4

Friday: Entity offers provocative dance (photo by Ravi Deepres)

Friday, March 2
A stunning yet spare staging of contemporary dance awaits Harbourfront Centre audiences, as England’s Random Dance Company and acclaimed choreographer Wayne McGregor perform Entity, featuring music by the likes of Coldplay, Massive Attack and Jon Hopkins.

The National Ballet of Canada’s winter season opened this week with the lighthearted, romantic and slightly comical La Fille mal gardee. This classic pastoral ballet tells the story of Lise, who wishes to marry a young farmer. Her mother, however, has other plans, and promises Lise to a wealthy but buffoonish landowner.

The Artist Project Toronto entices creators, collectors and enthusiasts to Exhibition Place’s Queen Elizabeth Building this weekend. Admire contemporary works of photography, painting, textile art, digital media and more by independent artists Canada and around the world. While there, take a trip down Installation Alley to view large-scale sculptures and conceptual art projects, too. (more…)

Weekend Roundup: January 13 to 16

Friday: Gaze in awe at The Blue Dragon (photo by Erick Labbe)

Friday, January 13
Follow the story of a Canadian expat in modern-day China and the two women in his life. Now at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Mirvish Productions presents The Blue Dragon, a stunningly staged display of drama and dance created by visionary theatre artists Robert Lepage and Marie Michaud.

Three of Disney’s darling princesses visit the Roger’s Centre at Disney Live! presents Three Classic Fairy Tales. Treat the kids to an evening of magic to see Cinderella, Belle and Snow White – and the princes – and watch their favorite fairy tales unfold on stage.

Be sure to visit the AGO‘s Chagall and the Russian Avant-Garde exhibition before it closes on Sunday. The colourful works of Marc Chagall and his contemporaries trace a revolution in modern art movement that swept through Russia during the early 1900s.

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30 Things We Love About Toronto This November and December

2. Spirits by Karoo Ashevak (photo courtesy of the Museum of Inuit Art)

1. Crunching into stone-baked pizzas and grilled panini at Café Uno in the the Distillery Historic District.

2. Marveling at finely crafted stone and bone carvings at the Museum of Inuit Art.

3. Horses and llamas and cows (oh my!), plus a giant vegetable competition and more at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

4. Admiring Grace Kelly’s glamourous gowns, Oscar and more at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

5. Savouring straight-from-the-tandoor-oven naan—alongside chicken tikka and palak paneer—at Little India. (more…)

Hot Art: A Full Palette of Chagall (and More!) at the AGO

OCTOBER 18 TO JANUARY 15 Russia isn’t exactly the most colourful place on earth, but you wouldn’t know it by viewing the works of Marc Chagall. One of the 20th century’s most successful artists, he was at the vanguard of early modernism, incorporating elements of cubism, fauvism and surrealism into vivid dreamscapes such as Blue Circus. The Art Gallery of Ontario presents some of the Belorussian-Frenchman’s best-known images in Chagall and the Russian Avant-Garde, an exhibition created by Paris’s Centre Pompidou. In addition to more than 30 of Chagall’s finest works, the display also offers context through a major assemblage of paintings, drawings, sculpture and more by his contemporaries, including Wassily Kandinsky, Sonia Delaunay and Kasimir Malevich.