It is 1879 at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and a circle of students gather around a seated figure, each attempting to translate his presence into a fine portrait. The model is Pierre Louis Alexandre, a man whose life, like his image, would quietly persist across dozens of canvases. One of those works, Portrait of Pierre Louis Alexandre (c. 1879–80)…

At the Art Gallery of Ontario, a focused grouping of exhibitions brings together three women artists: Emily Carr, Elizabeth Wyn Wood, and Edna Taçon whose work traces a compelling arc through Canadian modernism. Rather than presenting a single movement, the installation reveals something more structural: how women artists shaped modernist language across painting, sculpture, and abstraction, often without sustained recognition.  Carr,…

The opening of Colourful Parachutes: Imagining Alternative Futures Through the Power of Play offers a refreshing and thought-provoking take on what an exhibition can be. From the moment guests arrived, it was clear this was not a traditional gallery experience. Instead of quiet observation and distance, space invited movement, interaction, energy and curiosity transforming the act of viewing art into something…

There is a quiet tragedy that lives in studios, notebooks, and hard drives, the graveyard of unfinished or discarded art. Paintings turned to the wall. Drafts deleted. Sketchbooks abandoned. Not because the work lacked value, but because the artist believed it did. They did not think it was good enough, but why not? Was it…

Paul McCartney’s Photographic Exhibition at the AGO. The AGO is always a pleasure to visit, and it is all too easy to get sidetracked by their permanent collection and current exhibitions as you enter the luminous public gallery. However, I was on a mission to see the photographs taken by the famous bassist and vocalist…

The Artist Project offered a vast exploration of the talent Toronto has to offer. At first, when you enter, it may overwhelm your senses, with 250 independent artists and an immeasurable number of enthusiastic attendees all sharing the same space. But there were group tours to guide you along and artist talks that allowed for…

Gallery Arcturus is housed in a heritage building in the garden district of Toronto and situated near the botanist’s paradise Allan Gardens. The unobtrusive townhouse has a dim sandstone facade softened by age and shadow. Although it has Victorian-era features it blends well into the suburban landscape and could be easily missed. An elevated stoop…

Arta Gallery Toronto’s Distillery District is a quaint step back into the past. Its narrow cobblestone paths really give you a sense of how the old city once was. Today it is a trendy hotspot for festivals, café hoppers, and tourism. And how could it be complete without an art gallery? Actually, the district houses…

The Corkin Gallery was a superb choice to display the Canadian abstract modernist painter and academic Leopold Plotek’s work. The high ceilings gave the large canvases (most of which were nearing the 80×80-inch mark) enough space to breathe, and the natural daylight allowed for true evaluation of the colours, which ranged from muted to flamboyant,…

I had intended to visit the Bau-Xi Gallery located on Dufferin Street in Toronto, but I was pressed for time. Luckily, to my surprise, they had another location close to Union Station and opposite the Art Gallery of Ontario. The gallery itself is a renovated and commercialized fully detached Victorian-era home. From the outside it…