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Drama and Desire: “Paolo and Francesca” by Gaetano Previati
June 29th, 2010
Gaetano Previati’s Paolo and Francesca is on display for a limited time at the AGO as part of the exhibition Drama and Desire: Artists and the Theatre.
Gaetano Previati, Paolo and Francesca, oil on canvas, Accademia Carrara, Bergamo.
Looks a bit like a soap opera? This painting depicts an episode from a story originally set in medieval Italy. It tells of the brave but deformed aristocrat Giovanni who sends his handsome younger brother Paolo to propose to the maiden Francesca on his behalf. She falls in love with Paolo, but soon marries Giovanni who is in disguise. Francesca only discovers the trick after her wedding night. She and Paolo become lovers. They are surprised by Giovanni who accidentally kills Francesca as she rushes to protect Paolo. Giovanni also murders Paolo.
AGO Youth Council 2010: Dasha & Carol
June 28th, 2010
It is our pleasure to introduce the members of the AGO Youth Council 2010. Find out about Youth Council projects and activities and how to get involved.
Dasha Kuznetsova
The AGO Youth Council is a creative escape from the busy bubble of day to day life. My name is Dasha Kuznetsova, which is obviously Russian, but with a Kazakh mix. I’ve been lucky to have lived in three countries. Toronto is amazing with its multiculturalism, and so many opportunities. Art, dance, and music have been a big part of my life ever since I was a toddler. I love bragging to people that I was in a Sesame Street Magazine when I was 5, from winning a painting contest. There are many, many other interests I have, but I won’t go on, and try to make this short and sweet.
Carol Yin
I am Carol Yin.
I want to make small improvements and big differences.
I love Fashion – I believe dressing up is an everyday enjoyment.
I hate the smell of blood.
I think crying is good for my well-being.
I detest liars I watch <
I wish for happiness I have fun doing the most unconventional things.
and…I will be…
Work In Progress: Behind the scenes of At Work
June 25th, 2010
Kendra Ainsworth is a Masters candidate in Museum Studies at the University of Toronto, and is an Interpretive Planning intern at the AGO.
Work is a learning experience, a process of self-discovery, whether you are an artist, student, CEO, or an intern like me. Everyday you are improving your skills, contributing to your field, and (hopefully!) making a name for yourself.
These are concepts that the artists featured in an upcoming exhibition have grappled with, and which play out in their art. The show, appropriately titled At Work, opens September 22nd, and focuses on the artistic practice of three seminal female artists active during the 60s and 70s: Eva Hesse, Betty Goodwin and Agnes Martin. These three women were incredibly dedicated to their work, and were constantly pushing the boundaries of their respective fields, and of their practice. This exhibition presents a unique opportunity to peer into the inner world of their lives, studios and art.
Before anyone gets a chance to see the show, I’d like to show you what goes on behind the scenes – the work that goes into the making of an exhibition. With this weekly blog series, I’d like to share my perspective on the processes involved in creating an exhibit for the AGO, as I learn about them.
Although I am an intern here at the AGO, I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, an art expert. And when I was first informed that I would be working on this exhibit, I was a little terrified! Much like many visitors to the AGO, visual art and art history are not my background, and although I appreciate art, there will always be more for me to learn. The first step for me in the process of developing this exhibition was to learn about these three artists, and study their work, in much the same way that curators do. I went to the library, took out stacks of books, read artist profiles, looked at images, and made notes, all the while trying to gain insights into the inspiration, drive, and processes of these women that allowed them to create paintings and sculpture as arresting as the ones that you will see in this exhibition.
I hope that you will follow along with me through my work on this exhibition, and get an insider’s view on what goes on behind the scenes at the AGO. Perhaps you will get inspired yourself, whether to do something creative, to come see the exhibit when it opens, or just to think about the work you do in your day to day life, and what it teaches you about the world, and about yourself.
The Storyteller: “Albanian Stories” by Adrian Paci
June 24th, 2010
Adrian Paci’s video work Albanian Stories is on display for a limited time at the AGO.
Adrian Paci
Albanian Stories, 1997
Single-channel video transferred to DVD, color, sound
7 minutes
Courtesy of Galleria Francesca Kaufmann, Milan
Adrian Paci is an Albanian-born, Milan-based video artist who left Albania following the fall of Communism in 1991 and whose work addresses the political turbulence of his native country as well as his life as an emigré.
Albanian Stories features Paci’s three-year-old daughter recounting a series of improvised fairytales in which folkloric characters, such as a cow, cat and rooster, commingle with surprising references to “soldiers” and “international forces.”
In this half fictional, half real-world account imparted by an innocent narrator, the fairytale becomes a vehicle for exposing both the particularity and the universality of conflict, as well as the way in which our understanding of events is colored by the circumstances surrounding their reception.
The work is on display at the AGO as part of The Storyteller exhibition, which runs until August 29, 2010.
Your Stories: Remembering a friendship, a Maharaja and his doctor
June 22nd, 2010
To kick off our call for your maharajas stories, we are delighted to share with you this story from Barbara Stephen. Just last week Barbara wrote to us with her very own memory, not of a particular Maharaja, but how a family friend brought a little bit of royalty into her family’s life through a silver cup and saucer. Dr. George Martos was once the personal physician to Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Holkar II of Indore and he gave her mother this gift after a trip to India to hunt tigers with the Maharaja.
Here’s her story:
During the 1950s and early 1960s, my mother worked with Dr. George Martos, a Hungarian doctor who had gone from teaching at the University of Berlin to Indore where he was Medical Officer of Health during WWII, and was closely connected with the Maharaja. He built a hospital for him there, and retained his connection with Indore after immigrating to Canada after the war, requalifying, and opening an obstetrical practice in Toronto.
From time to time the Maharaja would extend an invitation to join him in India for the tiger hunt, and in due course a ticket would arrive from the maharaja desk at a London travel agency. My mother heard lots of details about life in Indore, and as Dr. Martos was also my doctor and a family friend until his untimely death, I too learned about raising lion cubs, managing elephants, hunting tigers, etc.
I suspect the current Maharani may remember Dr. Martos from her childhood. I believe it was my mother, Charlotte Burry, who wrote to inform the family of his death in the 1960s, not too long after the death of the Maharaja. Dr. Martos always spoke of the Maharaja with great affection and respect.
My mother was given a silver demi-tasse cup and saucer from Indore after one of his last trips, very plain and moderne in style, with an angular handle. It was locally made and he indicated to her that it was quite special.
– Barbara Stephen is a Curator Emerita and Early Chinese Specialist with the Royal Ontario Museum.
I will post more about the Maharaja of Indore (now part of the state of Madhya Pradesh) later. Not only was he a fascinating individual – he was photographed by Man Ray, commissioned a sculpture by Brancusi, built hospitals and loved cars – we expect to have his life-sized portrait in the exhibit!
Do you have a Maharaja story? We’re on the prowl for your connections and we’ll be highlighting various anecdotes and memories that come our way. Share your story here.
Piali Roy is a Toronto freelance writer with a long-held interest in South Asian culture and history. You can contact her at yourvoice@ago.net.
Drama and Desire: “Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth” by John Singer Sargent
June 22nd, 2010
John Singer Sargent’s Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth is on display for a limited time at the AGO as part of the exhibition Drama and Desire: Artists and the Theatre.
John Singer Sargent, Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, 1889, oil on canvas, Tate Britain
Ellen Terry (1848-1928) was the greatest English-speaking actress of her day. “Miss Terry”, wrote artist John Singer Sargent, “has just come out in Lady Macbeth and looks magnificent.” Terry soon agreed to be painted by Sargent in a dramatic pose of the artist’s invention. “The picture is splendid,” commented Terry. “It’s talked of everywhere and quarreled about as much as my way of playing the part…. Sargent has suggested in this picture all that I should like to convey in my acting.”
Ellen Terry, Queen of the Stage
Terry’s London debut in 1888 as Lady Macbeth, in a spectacular dress decorated with beetles, sparked an unprecedented response from artists. Photos of this dress, and Terry wearing it, will be featured in the AGO’s installation. Coincidentally, the Toronto Public Library owns personal archives of Ellen Terry which have been borrowed for the exhibition.
The dress was made from knitted wool and tinsel decorated with Jewel Beetles (Sternocera Aesquisignata). Mrs. Cosmyn-Carr, the designer, commented: “I wanted to make this particular dress look as much like soft chain mail armour as I could, and yet have something that would give the appearance of the scales of a serpent.” The AGO has borrowed a selection of Jewel Beetles from the ROM to include in the show.
Ellen Terry and Toronto
Ellen Terry regularly toured North America to great acclaim. With the London Lyceum Theatre Company she performed at Toronto’s Grand Opera House at least four times through the 1880s and 1890s. But all was not work. “When we were first in Toronto,” she commented, “I tobogganed at Rosedale. I should say it was like flying! The start! Amazing! A very nice Canadian man was my escort, and he helped me up the hill afterwards.”
How to Dress An Elephant (Video)
June 21st, 2010
The Maharaja exhibition features a life-sized model of an elephant dressed as if part of an imperial procession. But exactly how do you dress an elephant for a grand parade?
Here staff members from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London check out Ramu, a freelance elephant, to see how he is being adorned with textiles, howdah and elephant jewellery belonging to the Maharana of Mewar.
How to Dress an Elephant from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.
Society Cut-Ups: Victorians and the Art of Photocollage (Audio)
June 18th, 2010
Playing with Pictures exhibition curator Liz Siegel explores the whimsical and sometimes surreal world of Victorian photocollage. By cutting up photographic portraits and pasting them into elaborate watercolor scenes they painted, aristocratic British women made work that is at once perfectly Victorian and ahead of its time, challenging both photographic convention and societal tradition.
Elizabeth Siegel is the Associate Curator of Photography, Art Institute of Chicago.
Recorded: Saturday, June 5, 2010 @ Marvin Gelber Prints and Drawings Centre, Art Gallery of Ontario
Duration: 51:41
Click to play:
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This Weekend: Come visit us at Taste of Little Italy
June 17th, 2010
The AGO’s community ambassadors continue their schedule of summer festivals at the Taste of Little Italy festival. Come visit us this Saturday June 19th from 11am to 6pm and check out our booth themed around our upcoming exhibition Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts, opening November 20, 2010.
You can also learn more about this show and share your stories and ideas by posting here on our blog, or by emailing us at yourvoice@ago.net
This show is organized in collaboration with the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
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Art of the Day
“Did you know that the Art Gallery of Ontario has a Tumblr? It is called Art of the Day and it features, shockingly, a new piece of art every day. Also, it is pretty.” — Torontoist
What's On at the AGO
A playlist highlighting recent and upcoming events at the Gallery.
Art, Artists and Ideas
A playlist featuring artists, curators and other encounters with Art.
King Tut Podcast
Discover objects from King Tut, the Golden King and Great Pharaoh with David Silverman, Curator of the exhibition
Edward Steichen Exhibition Microsite
This online exhibition features galleries of high-quality images, audio guides, and in-depth analysis.
Image: Actress Joan Bennett, 1928 (detail). Gelatin silver print. Courtesy Condé Nast Archive, New York. © 1928 Condé Nast Publications.
Beautiful Fictions Audio Tour
See the late 1960s to the present through the lens of 60 Canadian and international photographers. Bring this podcast along on your next AGO visit!
Image: Axel Hutte, Audubon Swamp, 2005, chromogenic print. © Axel Hutte and Schirmer/Mosel, 2009
The Thomson Collection of Ship Models Audio Tour
Join Simon Stephens, curator at the National Maritime Museum in London, England, as he guides listeners through the world of British ship models spanning 350 years.
Image: Troop Landing Craft, Georgian Model; made in Great Britain; around 1755 - 1760; wood, painted and varnished; metal (including iron and copper), painted; 16.0 x 36.0 x 42.0 cm; The Thomson Collection © Art Gallery of Ontario
Director's Highlights Audio Tour
Join Matthew Teitelbaum as he talks about the art and architecture that he finds the most interesting and engaging.
Image: AGO Photographer Sean Weaver © 2008 Art Gallery of Ontario
Collection X: Indian Church
This online exhibition examines the Indian Church as a symbol for the rapid encroachment of Western modernity on First Nations.
Image: Arthur Renwick, Canadian, born 1965, Nlaka'pamux BC (left), Git'ksan BC (right), 2005, archival inkjet print, edition 1/5, Collection of the artist, courtesy of Leo Kamen Gallery © 2007 Arthur Renwick
Collection X: Come Away With Me: Japan, China and Hong Kong, 1890s
Through this selection of images, you will encounter a typical travel album of its day, at a particular moment of cultural upheaval and exchange.
Unknown photographer (active China, 1890s), From the album Views of Japan, China and Hong Kong, 1870s–1890s, albumen print, 21.3 x 26.5 cm, [2007/275.46], Art Gallery of Ontario, Gift of Neil B. Cole, 2007, © 2009 Art Gallery of Ontario
Collection X: Come Away With Me: European Travels
This exhibition explores a personal travel album, which charts a trip through several European cities during the spring and summer of 1936.
German photographer, Album: European Travels (detail), around 1936, 16 gelatin silver prints in a 48-page cloth- and paper-bound album, album: 12.7 x 15.8 x 2.3 cm; prints: 8.8 x 11.8 cm, [103545.a03], Art Gallery of Ontario, Gift of David Moore and Ross Winter / Camera Lucida, 2007 © 2009 Art Gallery of Ontario
Collection X: The Art of Collection Building
This exhibition explores the evolution of the print and drawing collection through the personalities, artworks and stories that make it unique.
Image: François Boucher (French, 1703 - 1770), Young Country Girl Dancing (Detail), c1765 - 70, black, red and white chalks and stump on buff laid paper, 46.2 x 29.2 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario, Purchased as a gift of The Salamander Foundation and the Marvin Gelber Fund with a generous grant from the Department of canadian heritage on the recommendation of the canadian Cultural property Export review Board under the terms of the Cultural property Export and Import Act, 1998 © 2009 Art Gallery of Ontario
Slideshow: Isaak Massa - A Man of the World
Isaak Massa ( 1586–1643) was a self-made businessman, diplomat, map-maker and author from the Netherlands. Massa commissioned three portraits from Frans Hals, who was a close friend.
Slideshow: Childhood to Old Age
Could this young girl of four already be engaged? Her ring, the little statue (symbol of fertility), the carnations, the fan and the peacock (symbol of Juno, goddess of child- birth) all refer to love and marriage.