Art Gallery of Ontario

{{other uses of|AGO}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox museum | name = Art Gallery of Ontario | native_name = Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario | logo = AGO Inverted Logo.svg | image = Art Gallery of Ontario 2023.jpg | caption = [[Dundas Street]] façade of the AGO in 2023 | image_upright = 1 | mapframe-frame-width = 250 | mapframe = yes | mapframe-caption = Interactive fullscreen map | mapframe-zoom = 12 | mapframe-marker = museum | mapframe-wikidata = yes | coordinates = {{coord|43|39|13|N|79|23|34|W|region:CA-ON_type:landmark|display=it}} | location = {{nowrap|317 Dundas Street West}}<br />[[Toronto]], Ontario<br />M5T 1G4 | established = {{Start date and age|1900}} | type = [[Art museum]] | visitors = 846,835 (2023)<br />[[List of most-visited art museums|84th most-visited globally]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/03/26/the-100-most-popular-art-museums-in-the-world-2023 |title=The 100 most popular art museums in the world—blockbusters, bots and bounce-backs |website=The Art Newspaper |date=March 26, 2024 |access-date=Jan 19, 2025}}</ref> | director = Stephan Jost<ref>[https://ago.ca/about/leadership-team AGO Leadership Team]</ref> | president = Liza Mauer (Co-President) Beth Horowitz (Co-President) <ref>[https://ago.ca/about/board-of-trustees AGO Board of Trustees]</ref> | curator = Julian Cox (Chief Curator) | public_transit = {{Unbulleted list|{{rint|toronto|1}} [[St. Patrick station|St. Patrick]]|{{rint|toronto|streetcar|505}}}} | website = {{URL|https://ago.ca/}} }} The '''Art Gallery of Ontario''' ('''AGO'''; {{langx|fr|link=no|Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario}}) is an art museum in [[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada. Located on [[Dundas Street|Dundas Street West]] in the [[Grange Park (neighbourhood)|Grange Park neighbourhood]] of [[downtown Toronto]], the museum complex takes up {{convert|45000|m2|sqfoot}} of physical space, making it one of the [[list of largest art museums|largest art museums]] in North America and the second-largest art museum in Toronto, after the [[Royal Ontario Museum]]. In addition to exhibition spaces, the museum also houses an [[artist-in-residence]] office and studio, dining facilities, event spaces, gift shop, library and archives, theatre and lecture hall, research centre, and a workshop.

Established in 1900 as the '''Art Museum of Toronto''' and formally incorporated in 1903, the museum was renamed the '''Art Gallery of Toronto''' in 1919, before adopting its present name, the Art Gallery of Ontario, in 1966. The museum acquired the [[The Grange (Toronto)|Grange]] in 1911 and later undertook several expansions to the north and west of the structure. The first series of expansions occurred in 1918, 1924, and 1935, designed by [[Darling and Pearson]]. Since 1974, the gallery has undergone four major expansions and renovations. These expansions occurred in 1974 and 1977 by [[John C. Parkin]], and 1993 by [[Barton Myers]] and [[KPMB Architects]]. From 2004 to 2008, the museum underwent another expansion by [[Frank Gehry]]. The museum complex saw further renovations in the 2010s by KPMB and [[Hariri Pontarini Architects]].

The museum's permanent collection includes over 120,000 works spanning the first century to the present day.<ref name="AGO 2021">{{cite web |title=Art Gallery of Ontario Appoints Xiaoyu Weng as Carol and Morton Rapp, Curator, Modern & Contemporary Art |url=https://ago.ca/press-release/art-gallery-ontario-appoints-xiaoyu-weng-carol-and-morton-rapp-curator-modern |website=ago.ca |date=March 11, 2021 |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |access-date=September 4, 2021 }}</ref> The museum collection includes a number works from Canadian, [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]], [[Inuit]], African, European, and Oceanic artists. In addition to exhibits for its collection, the museum has organized and hosted many travelling art exhibitions.

==History== [[File:Art Gallery of Ontario 1922.jpg|thumb|A south view of the first expansion building in 1922.]] The museum was founded in 1900 as the Art Museum of Toronto by a group of private citizens and members of the [[Ontario Society of Artists|Toronto Society of Arts]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ccca.concordia.ca/history/osa/english/references/osa100yr-2.html |title=Ontario Society of Artists |work=concordia.ca |access-date=March 7, 2013 |archive-date=October 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002025040/http://ccca.concordia.ca/history/osa/english/references/osa100yr-2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="osa">{{cite journal |last=O'Rourke |first=Kate |year=1997 |volume=44 |title=Ontario Society of Artists: 125 years |journal=Archivaria |pages=181–182 }}</ref> The institution's founders included [[George Albertus Cox|George A. Cox]], [[Flora Eaton|Lady Eaton]], [[Joseph Flavelle|Sir Joseph W. Flavelle]], [[John Wycliffe Lowes Forster|J. W. L. Forster]], E. F. B. Johnston, [[William Mackenzie (railway entrepreneur)|Sir William Mackenzie]], Hart A. [[Massey family|Massey]], Professor [[James Mavor]], [[Frederic Thomas Nicholls|F. Nicholls]], [[Edmund Boyd Osler (Ontario politician)|Sir Edmund Osler]], [[Henry Pellatt|Sir Henry M. Pellatt]], [[George Agnew Reid]], [[Byron Edmund Walker]], [[Mrs. H. D. Warren]], [[Edward Rogers Wood|E.R. Wood]], and [[Frank Porter Wood|Frank P. Wood]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ago.net/assets/files/pdf/AGO-Year-in-Review-2016-17.pdf |title=AGO Year in Review – List of First Founders |website=AGO |page=14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904052804/https://www.ago.net/assets/files/pdf/AGO-Year-in-Review-2016-17.pdf |archive-date=September 4, 2018 |url-status=dead |access-date=September 3, 2018 }}</ref>

The museum's incorporation was confirmed by the [[Government of Ontario]] three years later by legislation,<ref name="osa"/> in ''An Act respecting the Art Museum of Toronto'' in 1903. The legislation provided the museum with expropriation powers in order to acquire land for the museum.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=185}} Before the museum moved into a permanent location, it held exhibitions in rented spaces belonging to the [[Toronto Public Library]] near the intersection of Brunswick Avenue and [[College Street (Toronto)|College Street]].<ref name="grangeh">{{cite web |url=https://www.ourwindsor.ca/whatson-story/6243795-once-upon-a-city-art-finds-a-home-on-the-grange/ |title=Once Upon A City: Art finds a home on The Grange |work=OurWindsor.ca |date=January 21, 2016 |last=Bradbeer |first=Janice |access-date=October 23, 2019 }}</ref>

The museum acquired the property it presently occupies shortly after the death of Harriet Boulton Smith in 1909, when she bequeathed her historic 1817 [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] manor, [[The Grange (Toronto)|The Grange]], to the gallery upon her death.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Last Will and Testament of Harriet Goldwin Smith |publisher=Archives of Ontario, estate file no. 22382-1909, microfilm MS584, Reel 1822 |year=1909 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ago.net/the-grange-national-historic-site |title=The Grange: Overview {{!}} AGO Art Gallery of Ontario |website=www.ago.net |access-date=August 29, 2018 }}</ref> However, exhibitions continued to be held in the rented spaces at the Toronto Public Library branch until June 1913, when The Grange was formally opened as the art museum.<ref name="grangeh"/> In 1911, ownership of The Grange, and the surrounding property was formally transferred to the museum.<ref name="grange3">{{cite web |url=https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/pb/bgrd/backgroundfile-78872.pdf |title=Heritage Property Research and Evaluation Report: The Grange and Grange Park |publisher=City of Toronto |work=Heritage Preservation Services |date=March 2015 |access-date=October 23, 2019 }}</ref> Shortly afterwards, the museum signed an agreement with the [[municipal government of Toronto]] to maintain the grounds south of The Grange as a [[Grange Park (Toronto)|municipal park]].<ref name="grange3"/>

In 1916, the museum drafted plans to construct a small portion of a new gallery building designed by [[Darling and Pearson]] in the [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts]] style.<ref name="grangeh"/> Excavation of the new facility began in 1916. The first galleries adjacent to The Grange were opened in 1918. In the next year, the museum was renamed the Art Gallery of Toronto, in an effort to avoid confusion with the [[Royal Ontario Museum]], itself also an art museum.<ref name="histbu">{{cite journal |last1=McKenzie |first1=Karen |last2=Pfaff |first2=Larry |title=The Art Gallery of Ontario Sixty Years of Exhibitions, 1906-1966 |journal=RACAR: Revue d'art canadienne / Canadian Art Review |year=1980 |volume=7 |issue=1–2 |page=62 |doi=10.7202/1076877ar |doi-access=free }}</ref> In 1920, the museum also allowed the [[OCAD University|Ontario College of Art]] to construct a building on the grounds. The museum was expanded again in 1924, with the opening of the museum's sculpture court, its two adjacent galleries, and its main entrance on [[Dundas Street]].<ref name="histbu"/> The museum was expanded again in 1935 with the construction of two additional galleries.<ref name="histbu"/> Portions of the 1935 expansions were financed by department store chain [[Eaton's]].<ref name="grange3"/>

In 1965, the museum saw its collection of European and Canadian artworks expand, with the acquisition of 340 works from the [[Canadian National Exhibition]]'s operators.{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=423}} During the mid-1960s, the director of the museum, William J. Withrow, pushed to have the museum designated as a [[Provincial and territorial museums of Canada|provincial museum]], in an effort to gain further provincial funding for the institution.<ref name="willwith">{{cite web |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/william-withrow-91-oversaw-ambitious-expansion-of-art-gallery-ofontario/article37763310/ |title='A man of elegance, grace and good judgment' |publisher=The Woodbridge Company |work=The Globe and Mail |last=Stoffman |first=Judy |date=January 28, 2018 |access-date=February 6, 2020 }}</ref> In 1966, the museum changed its name to the Art Gallery of Ontario, in order to reflect its new mandate to serve as the provincial art museum.{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=421}} [[File:The Art Gallery of Toronto (I0005724).tif|thumb|The museum's exterior façade in 1960 promoting the Soviet Painting temporary exhibit]] In the 1970s, the museum embarked on another expansion of its gallery space,<ref name="histbu"/> with its first phase completed with the opening of the [[Henry Moore]] Sculpture Centre on October 26, 1974. Although the museum planned on expanding its Canadian exhibits in its second phase of expansions, the creation of a centre dedicated to non-Canadian artists drew criticism from [[Canadian Artists' Representation]], who threatened to protest the opening of the centre.{{sfn|Marshall|2017|p=83}}

The museum was expanded again in 1993, creating {{convert|9290.3|m2|sqft}} of new space and {{convert|17651.6|m2|sqft}} of renovated space, increasing the preexisting floorspace by 30 %. The expansion saw the renovation of 20 galleries and the construction of 30 galleries.<ref name="Canadian Architect">{{Cite journal |date=September 1993 |title=Canadian Architect |journal=Canadian Architect |volume=38 |issue=9 |pages=24 }}</ref> In 1978, the museum's staff unionized under the [[Ontario Public Service Employees Union]].<ref name="willwith"/>

During the 1990s, the museum drafted plans that would have seen the development of a [[Pedestrian zone|pedestrian mall]] from [[University Avenue (Toronto)|University Avenue]] to the art gallery.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=190}} However, conflicting developments on adjacent properties, lack of support from the [[Municipal government of Toronto|City of Toronto government]], and the eventual development of another renovation plan by architect [[Frank Gehry]] saw the museum's plans for a pedestrian mall abandoned in the early 2000s.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=190}}

In 1996, Canadian multi-media artist [[Jubal Brown]] [[Vandalism of art|vandalized]] [[Raoul Dufy]]'s ''Harbor at le Havre'' in the Art Gallery of Ontario by deliberately vomiting [[Primary color|primary colours]] on it.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/08/weekinreview/no-stomach-for-art.html |title=No Stomach for Art |date=December 8, 1996 |last=DePalma |first=Anthony |work=[[The New York Times]] }}</ref>

Under the direction of then-CEO [[Matthew Teitelbaum]], the museum embarked on a {{CAD|254 million|link=yes}} (later increased to {{CAD|276 million}}) redevelopment plan by [[Frank Gehry]] in 2004, called ''Transformation AGO''. Although Gehry was born in Toronto, the redevelopment of the museum complex would be his first work in Canada. The project initially drew some criticism. As an expansion, rather than a new creation, concerns were raised that the structure would not look like a Gehry signature building,<ref name="Kennicott">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/25/AR2008112502140.html?sub=AR |title=A Complex Legacy |last=Kennicott |first=Philip |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=November 30, 2008 |access-date=February 2, 2009 }}</ref> and that the opportunity to build an entirely new gallery, perhaps on [[Toronto waterfront|Toronto's waterfront]], was being squandered. During the course of the redevelopment planning, board member and patron Joey Tanenbaum temporarily resigned his position over concerns about donor recognition, design issues surrounding the new building, as well as the cost of the project. The public rift was subsequently healed.<ref name="Hume2">{{cite news |last=Hume |first=Christopher |url=https://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/591251 |title=Art in his blood and steel in his bones |work=[[Toronto Star]] |date=February 22, 2009 |access-date=April 13, 2009 }}</ref> [[File:AGO Construction.jpg|thumb|left|Construction for the [[Frank Gehry]] redesign of the museum complex in February 2008]] [[Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet|Kenneth Thomson]] was a major benefactor of Transformation AGO, donating much of his art collection to the gallery (providing large contributions to the European and Canadian collections), in addition to providing {{CAD|50 million|link=yes}} towards the renovation, as well as a {{CAD|20 million}} endowment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://artmatters.ca/wp/2006/06/kenneth-thomson-a-great-canadian/ |title=Kenneth Thomson – a "Great Canadian" |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |work=Art Matters blog |date=June 12, 2006 |access-date=September 21, 2015 }}</ref> Thomson died in 2006, two years before the project was complete.

In 2015, the ''[[Canadian Jewish News]]'' reported 46 paintings and sculptures in the museum's possession held "a gap in provenance," with the history of their ownership from the years 1933 and 1945 having disappeared, coinciding with the [[Third Reich]]'s existence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Returning Nazi-looted art in Canada |url=https://www.lootedart.com/news.php?r=RDDU5D744481 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224210650/https://www.lootedart.com/news.php?r=RDDU5D744481 |archive-date=December 24, 2015 |access-date=May 22, 2021 |website=www.lootedart.com |publisher=Canadian Jewish News |quote=The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) has 46 paintings and sculptures with what curators call “a gap in provenance,” meaning the history of ownership, in this case between 1933 and 1945, has disappeared. Across the country, in public galleries large and small, there are similar mysteries. To date, three Canadian galleries (the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the National Art Gallery in Ottawa and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts) have returned looted Holocaust-era paintings to heirs. }}</ref> The museum publishes spoliation research on its public website.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Spoliation Research |url=https://ago.ca/artists-collections/spoliation-research |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028003243/https://ago.ca/artists-collections/spoliation-research |archive-date=October 28, 2020 |access-date=May 22, 2021 |website=Art Gallery of Ontario }}</ref>

In 2018, the museum formally changed the name of [[Emily Carr]]'s 1929 ''[[The Indian Church (painting)|The Indian Church]]'' painting to ''Church at Yuquot Village'' in an effort to remove culturally insensitive language from the title of works in its collection.<ref name="rename">{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/renaming-emily-carr-painting-reconciliation-art-church-1.4674175 |title=Renaming of Emily Carr painting spurs debate about reconciliation in art |work=CBC News |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=May 23, 2018 |access-date=October 3, 2019 }}</ref> A note next to the painting provides the original name of the piece and explains Carr's use of the term was in keeping with "the language of her era".<ref name="rename"/> The museum has also reviewed the titles of several other works on a case-by-case basis, as items from the Canadian collection are rotated from storage to exhibition or vice versa.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/canadian-museum-removes-the-word-indian-from-a-1929-emily-carr-painting-1291001 |title='That Is a Word That Causes Pain': A Toronto Museum Takes 'Indian' Out of the Title of an Emily Carr Painting |date=May 23, 2018 |access-date=October 3, 2019 |publisher=Artnet Worldwide Corporation |work=Artnet News }}</ref>

In May 2019, the museum revised its admission model, offering free entry to visitors 25 years of age and under and a {{CAD|35}} pass for all others, which provides admission to the museum for the entire year.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/the-kids-are-alright-art-gallery-of-ontario-offers-free-admission-for-visitors-under-25-and-significantly-reduced-membership-for-all |title=The kids are alright: Art Gallery of Ontario offers free admission for visitors 25 and under, and reduced yearly passes for all |website=www.theartnewspaper.com |date=May 9, 2019 |access-date=October 23, 2019 }}</ref>

The painting, ''Still Life with Flowers'' by [[Jan van Kessel the Elder]], was restituted to the heirs of Dagobert and Martha David in 2020, after the museum confirmed the item's provenance and that the David family was forced to sell the item during the Second World War. Following its forced sale, the painting was resold to a Canadian, who later donated the piece to the Art Gallery of Ontario in 1995.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Looted Art Commission - CLAE News |url=https://www.lootedartcommission.com/news |url-status=live |access-date=May 22, 2021 |website=www.lootedartcommission.com |quote=n 18 November 2020 the Commission jointly with the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada (AGO) announced the restitution of Still Life with Flowers by Jan van Kessel the Elder to the heirs of Dagobert and Martha David. In March 2020, the Commission made the restitution claim on behalf of the family, providing compelling evidence that the painting had formerly belonged to the family who had fled Germany to Belgium in 1939 only to be trapped there, forced to live in hiding under the German occupation and to sell their possessions in order to survive. Following the painting's forced sale in Brussels, it was traded through Amsterdam and Berlin before it was acquired by the dealer Wildenstein & Co. in London, England. A Canadian purchased the painting from Wildenstein in the early 1950s and donated it to the AGO in 1995. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514211624/http://www.lootedartcommission.com/news |archive-date=May 14, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=AGO returns painting to family following claim by the Commission for Looted Art in Europe |url=https://www.lootedartcommission.com/web_images/documents/Restitution%20of%20Still%20Life%20With%20Flowers%20press%20release.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124143250/https://www.lootedartcommission.com/web_images/documents/Restitution%20of%20Still%20Life%20With%20Flowers%20press%20release.pdf |archive-date=November 24, 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=AGO returns painting to family following claim by the Commission for Looted Art in Europe |url=https://ago.ca/press-release/ago-returns-painting-family-following-claim-commission-looted-art-europe |access-date=May 22, 2021 |website=Art Gallery of Ontario |date=November 18, 2020 }}</ref>

In 2022, [[Selldorf Architects]], [[Diamond Schmitt Architects]] and Two Row Architects were contracted by the museum to design a new gallery space for contemporary art.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 27, 2022 |title=AGO selects team to lead the design of its expansion project |url=https://www.canadianarchitect.com/ago-selects-team-to-lead-the-design-of-its-expansion-project/ |access-date=April 29, 2022 |website=Canadian Architect |language=en-US }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bozikovic |first=Alex |date=April 27, 2022 |title=The Art Gallery of Ontario launches a major expansion with 'super-subtle' architecture |language=en-CA |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-the-art-gallery-of-ontario-launches-a-major-expansion-with-super/ |access-date=April 28, 2022 }}</ref> The proposed expansion, later named the Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery, will be built above the museum's existing loading dock and will connect to the rest of the complex at four points. Spanning five floors, the addition will feature a column-free gallery design,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.canadianarchitect.com/ago-reveals-dani-reiss-modern-and-contemporary-gallery/|website=www.canadianarchitect.com|date=2 March 2023|publisher=iQ Business Media|access-date=12 June 2025|title=AGO reveals Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery}}</ref> and would add {{convert|40000|sqft|m2|order=flip}} to the building, and would be the building's seventh major expansion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/article/ago-reveals-what-its-major-expansion-will-look-like/ |website=toronto.ctvnews.ca |publisher=Bell Media |title=AGO reveals what its major expansion will look like |last=Alberga |first=Hannah |date=March 3, 2023 |access-date=March 29, 2023 }}</ref>

=== Selected exhibitions from 1994 to 2019 === [[File:AGO Toronto King Tut.JPG|thumb|Advertisement for [[Tutankhamun|King Tut]]: The Golden King and the Great [[Pharaoh]]s exhibition hosted in 2009.]] [[File:Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) (9162209020).jpg|thumb|Advertisement on a structural pillar for the last week of the [[Pablo Picasso|Picasso]]: Masterpieces from the [[Musée Picasso]] Paris exhibition hosted in 2012.]] The Art Gallery of Ontario has hosted and organized a number of temporary and [[travelling exhibition]]s in its galleries. A select list of exhibitions from 1994 to 2019 include: {{col div|colwidth=22em}} * From [[Paul Cézanne|Cézanne]] to [[Henri Matisse|Matisse]]: Great French Paintings from The Barnes Foundation (1994) * The OH!Canada Project (1996) * The Courtauld Collection (1998) * Treasures from the [[Hermitage Museum]], Russia: Rubens and His Age (2001) * Voyage into Myth: French Painting from [[Paul Gauguin|Gauguin]] to Matisse, from the Hermitage Museum (2002) * Turner, Whistler, Monet: Impressionist Visions (2004) * [[Catherine the Great]]: Arts for the Empire – Masterpieces from the Hermitage Museum, Russia (2005) * [[Emily Carr]]: New Perspectives on a Canadian Icon (2007) * Drawing Attention: Selected Works on Paper from the Renaissance to Modernism (2009) * [[Tutankhamun|King Tut]]: The Golden King and the Great [[Pharaoh]]s (2009) * [[Rembrandt]]/[[Sigmund Freud|Freud]]: Etchings from Life (2010) * [[Julian Schnabel]]: Art and Film (2010) * [[Maharaja]]: The Splendour of India's Royal Courts (2010) * Drama and Desire: Artists and the Theatre (2010) * At Work: Hesse, Goodwin, Martin (2010) * The Shape of Anxiety: Henry Moore in the 1930s (2010) * Black Ice: David Blackwood Prints of Newfoundland (2011) * Abstract Expressionist New York (2011) * Haute Culture: General Idea (2011) * [[Marc Chagall|Chagall]] and the Russian Avant-Garde: Masterpieces from the Collection of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2011) * [[Jack Chambers (artist)|Jack Chambers]]: Light, Spirit, Time, Place and Life (2012) * [[Iain Baxter&]]: Works 1958–2011 (2012) * [[Pablo Picasso|Picasso]]: Masterpieces from the Musée Picasso Paris (2012) * Berenice Abbott: Photographs (2012) * Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting (2012) * [[Francis Bacon]] and [[Henry Moore]]: Terror and Beauty (2014) * Jean-Michel Basquiat: Now's The Time (2015) * [[J. M. W. Turner]]: Painting Set Free (2015) * Outsiders: American Photography and Film, 1950s–1980s (2016) * The Idea of North: The Paintings of Lawren Harris (2016) * Theaster Gates: How to Build a House Museum (2016) * Small Wonders: [[Gothic boxwood miniature|Gothic Boxwood Miniatures]] (2016) * Mystical Landscapes: Masterpieces from Monet, Van Gogh and More (2016) * Toronto: Tributes + Tributaries, 1971–1989 (2016) * Every. Now. Then. Reframing Nationhood (2017) * Rita Letendre: Fire & Light (2017) * Free Black North (2017) * [[Guillermo del Toro]]: At Home with Monsters (2017) * [[Yayoi Kusama]]: Infinity Mirrors (2018) * Mitchell/Riopelle: Nothing in Moderation (2018) * Tunirrusiangit: Kenojuak Ashevak and Tim Pitsiulak (2018) * Mickalene Thomas: Femmes Noires (2018) * Rebecca Belmore: Facing the Monumental (2018) * Anthropocene (2018) * Vija Celmins: To Fix the Image in Memory (2019) * Impressionism in the Age of Industry: Monet, Pissarro and more (2019) * Brian Jungen Friendship Centre (2019) * Early Rubens (2019) * Hito Steyerl: This is the future (2019) {{col div end}}

==Museum complex== [[File:AGO Grange.jpg|thumb|The museum complex includes two buildings, [[The Grange (Toronto)|The Grange]] (right foreground), and the main building expansion to the north and west of it]] The museum's property was acquired in 1911 when The Grange and the surrounding property south of Dundas Street were bequeathed to the institution by Harriet Boulton Smith. The Grange manor was reopened to serve as the museum's building in 1913. Since its opening, the museum underwent several expansions to the north, and west of The Grange. Expansions to the museum were opened in 1918, 1926, 1935, 1974, 1977, 1993, and 2008.<ref name="grangeh"/>

The museum complex takes up {{convert|45,000 |m2|sqft}} of physical space,<ref name="grangeh"/> and is made up of two buildings, The Grange, and the main building expansion, built to the north, and west of The Grange. After the main building's redevelopment in 2008, the museum complex has {{convert|129000|sqft|m2|order=flip}} of dedicated gallery space.<ref name="galspace">{{cite web |url=https://ago.ca/transformation-ago-project-fact-sheet |title=Transformation AGO: Project Factsheet |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |website=ago.ca |access-date=March 3, 2020 }}</ref>

In addition to the complex, the museum also owns a {{convert|1.8|ha|acre}} park directly south of The Grange, [[Grange Park (Toronto)|Grange Park]]. The land is maintained as a municipal park in perpetuity by the [[Toronto Parks and Recreation Division]], as a result of an agreement between the museum and the City of Toronto.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.toronto.ca/data/parks/prd/facilities/complex/1431/index.html |title=Grange Park |website=toronto.ca |date=March 6, 2017 |publisher=[[Municipal government of Toronto|City of Toronto]] |access-date=September 6, 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/pb/bgrd/backgroundfile-78872.pdf |title=Heritage Property Research and Evaluation Report: The Grange and Grange Park |publisher=City of Toronto |work=Heritage Preservation Services |date=March 2015 |access-date=September 6, 2022 }}</ref>

===The Grange=== {{main|The Grange (Toronto)|l1 = The Grange}}

[[File:Grange Park - Toronto (39630871354).jpg|thumb|The Grange and its western wings]] The Grange is a historic manor built in 1817 and is the oldest portion of the museum complex. The building is two-and-a-half storeys tall, and built from stone, brick-on-brick cladding, and wood and glass detailing.<ref name="grange3"/> Although it was designed in a [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical style]], it retains the symmetrical features of [[Georgian architecture|Georgian-styled]] buildings, found in [[Upper Canada]] before the [[War of 1812]].<ref name="grange3"/> This makes the building among the oldest surviving buildings in Toronto. The building was initially used as a private residence, with its previous owners having altered the property several times before its re-purposing into an art museum. This includes the addition of a west wing in the 1840s and another wing to the west in 1885.<ref name="grange3"/> Although the museum expanded the complex in the decades after acquiring the property, The Grange itself saw little work done to it for the next half-century. As a part of its 1967–1973 expansion project, the museum restored The Grange to its 1830s configuration and repurposed the building into a [[historic house]].<ref name="grange3"/> The Grange was operated as a historic house until it was later repurposed by the museum as an exhibition space and members' lounge. [[File:Norma Ridley Members' Lounge.jpg|thumb|left|The Norma Ridley Members' Lounge inside The Grange]] The building was designated a [[National Historic Sites of Canada|National Historic Site of Canada]] in 1970.<ref name="grangeh"/> The building was later designated by the City of Toronto government as "The Grange and Grange Park" in 1991 under the ''[[Ontario Heritage Act]]''.<ref name="grangeh"/> In 2005, the City of Toronto government, and the museum entered a heritage easement agreement,<ref name="grangeh"/> which requires designated interior and exterior elements of The Grange to be retained for perpetuity.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.toronto.ca/311/knowledgebase/kb/docs/articles/city-planning/urban-design/heritage-easement-agreement.html |title=Heritage easement agreement |publisher=City of Toronto |year=2018 |access-date=October 23, 2019 }}</ref>

===Main building=== Situated directly north and west of The Grange, the main building was opened to the public in 1918 and has undergone several expansions and renovations since opening.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=188}} Plans for the "main building" to the north of The Grange originated in 1912 when the architectural firm Darling and Pearson submitted their expansion plans for the north of The Grange.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/architecture-of-art-galleries-in-canada |title=Architecture of Art Galleries in Canada |last=Carr |first=Angela |date=October 23, 2011 |access-date=October 24, 2019 |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada }}</ref> Due to The Grange's location, and historic value, the expansion plans were limited along the southern portions of the museum's property; as the museum wanted to preserve The Grange's southern façade and the municipal park south of the building.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=188}} [[File:Art Gallery of Ontario sculpture court.jpg|thumb|Walker Court in 1929. The sculpture court was opened three years earlier in 1926.]] The expanded plan featured 30 viewing halls, all of which would surround one of three open courtyards, an [[English landscape garden]], an [[Italian garden]], and a sculpture courtyard.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=188}} The design was largely modelled after another building designed by Darling and Pearson, the Royal Ontario Museum.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=188}} The designs by Darling and Pearson were intended to be implemented in three phases, although the plans for the final design phase were abandoned by the mid-20th century.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=188}} Construction for the first phase began in 1916 and was completed in 1918.<ref name="grangeh"/>{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=188}} The first phase featured an expansion wing adjacent to The Grange, that had three galleries.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=188}}

The second phase of the design was opened in 1926. It included half of the sculpture court (later named Walker Court) to the north of the 1918 wing, two additional galleries flanking the sculpture court, and an entrance to the north.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=188}} The exterior façade of the 1926 expansion was only made of bricks and [[stucco]]. No serious designs were planned for the exterior façade of the 1926 expansion, as the museum envisioned that the exterior facade would eventually be enclosed in stone by future expansions.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=189}} Further expansions to the east and the west of the building was completed in 1935.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=189}} However, as the third phase of expansion was never embarked on, the "temporary façade" to the north remained the same until the early 1990s.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=189}}

====Late-20th century expansions==== [[File:Art Gallery of Ontario (22 April 2005).jpg|thumb|Western façade of the main building from [[Beverley Street]], prior to the 2004–2008 redevelopment. The western portion of the building opened in 1977.]] Another series of expansion was undertaken by the museum during the 1970s, as a part of a new three-phased expansion plan; with its first two phases designed by [[John C. Parkin]].{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=189}} The first phase of the expansion was completed in 1974, which saw the restoration of the Grange, and the opening of the [[Henry Moore]] Sculpture Centre,{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=189}} a centre that Moore helped design.{{sfn|Marshall|2017|p=83}} Moore choose the dimensions for the centre, the colour of the floor and the walls, and saw the installation of a [[skylight]] in the centre, in order to allow more natural light into the gallery.{{sfn|Marshall|2017|p=83}} The centre saw little alteration to its design during the museum's expansion in the early 2000s, with the exception of a {{convert|7|m|ft|adj=on}} opening, providing access to the Galleria Italia.{{sfn|Marshall|2017|p=86}}

The second phase saw the opening of several new galleries adjacent to [[Beverley Street]] in 1977.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=189}} The third phase of expansion planned by the museum was delayed until August 1986, when it announced a competition for Ontario-based architects to design the museum's southwest, and northern extension on [[Dundas Street]] to cover the "temporary façade".{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=189}} A seven-member panel eventually selected a design by [[Barton Myers]].{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=190}} The architectural firm [[KPMB Architects]] was contracted to complete the expansion, which opened in 1993.{{sfn|Osbaldeston|2011|p=189}} The expansion in 1993 saw {{convert|9290|m2|sqft||abbr=on}} of new space built, and the construction of 30 new galleries.<ref name="Canadian Architect"/> After the expansion and renovations in 1993, the museum complex had approximately {{convert|38,400|m2|sqft|abbr=on}} of interior space.<ref name="grangeh"/>

====2004–2008 redevelopment==== [[File:Art Museum Toronto 3 (7910295296).jpg|thumb|The South Gallery Block from Grange Park]] From 2004 to 2008, the museum's building underwent a {{CAD|276 million}} redevelopment, led by Canadian-born architect [[Frank Gehry]] with local associate architect [[Adamson_Associates|Adamson Associates Architects]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=McMinn |first1=John |title="Transformers" |url=https://www.canadianarchitect.com/transformers/ |website=Canadian Architect |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> Gehry was commissioned to expand and revitalize the museum, not to design a new building; as such, one of the challenges he faced was to unite the disparate areas of the building that had become "a bit of a hodgepodge" after six previous expansions dating back to the 1920s.<ref name="boom">{{cite web |title=The Art Gallery of Ontario |url=http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/art_gallery_of_ontario.html |author=Frank Gehry |publisher=designboom.com |access-date=October 12, 2012 |date=December 7, 2008 }}</ref> The redevelopment plans was the first design by Gehry to not feature a highly contorted structural steel frame for the building's support system.<ref name="steel">{{cite book |title=Understanding Steel Design: An Architectural Design Manual |year=2013 |publisher=Walter de Greyter |last=Boake |first=Terri Meyer |pages=208–210 |isbn=978-3-0346-1048-3 }}</ref>

The exterior fronting on Dundas Street was changed as a part of the redevelopment; with the front entrance moved to the north, aligning with Walker Court, and the installation of a {{convert|200|m|ft|abbr=on}} glass and wood projecting canopy known as the "Galleria Italia".<ref name="wood5">{{cite book |title=Art Gallery of Ontario: Renovation and Addition |publisher=Canadian Wood Council |year=2009 |page=5 }}</ref> The roof of Walker's Court was also redeveloped, with steel truss girders installed, and [[glued laminated timber]] used to support the glass-panelled roof, which provides {{convert|325|m2|sqft}} of skylight for the courtyard. The southern portion of the museum building also saw redevelopment, with the construction of a five-storey South Gallery block, and a protruding spiral staircase that connects the fourth and fifth levels of the block.<ref name="wood5"/> The exterior facade of the South Gallery Block includes glass and custom-made titanium panels, and like the Dundas Street fronting, is supported by glued laminated timber.<ref name="wood5"/> The new addition required the demolition of the [[Postmodernism|postmodernist]] wing by Myers and KPMB Architects. {{multiple image | align = left | total_width = 330 | image1 = AGO Toronto Stairs.jpg | image2 = Art Museum Toronto 4 (7910294528).jpg | caption1 = Interior | caption2 = Exterior | footer = The titanium and glass staircase protruding from the South Gallery Block }} Wood was used extensively during the redevelopment, with woodwork needing to be done for the museum's hardwood floor, information kiosk, ticket booth, security booth, and the stairs inside the building, including a spiral staircase in Walker Court.<ref name="wood5"/> The facings of the booths, staircases, and the hardwood floor is made from [[Douglas fir]] wood.<ref name="wood8"/>

The redeveloped building opened in November 2008, with the transformation increasing the museum's total floor area by 20 % for a total of {{convert|45,000|m2|sqft}}; as well as increasing the art viewing space by 47%.<ref name=steel/><ref name="grangeh"/> An event space called Baillie Court occupies the entirety of the third floor of the south tower block.

=====Galleria Italia===== The Galleria Italia is a {{convert|200|m|ft|abbr=on}} glass, steel, and wood projecting canopy at the fronting of Dundas Street, also acting as a viewing hall on the second level of the building. The galleria was named in recognition of a C$13 million contribution by 26 [[Italian Canadians|Italian-Canadian]] families of Toronto, a funding consortium led by [[Tony Gagliano]], a past President of the museum's Board of Trustees. [[File:Art gallery of ontario 01816.jpg|thumb|One of two "tears" on the canopy, which make it appear like the building's façade is being torn off]] Both ends of the glass and wood canopy extend past the building forming "tears", providing the appearance that the building's façade has been pulled off the building. The Galleria Italia is made out of {{convert|200|m|ft|abbr=on}} glued laminated timber and glass gallery space atop the Dundas Street walkway.<ref name=wood5/> Approximately 1,800 glued laminated timber pieces were used on the facade of the Galleria Italia; and 2,500 timber connectors.<ref name=wood6>{{cite book |title=Art Gallery of Ontario: Renovation and Addition |publisher=Canadian Wood Council |year=2009 |page=6 }}</ref> [[File:AGO Galleria Italia 2021.jpg|thumb|The interior of the Galleria Italia, where its extensive use of timber as a building material is prominent]] The galleria is composed of two layers, with the inner layer formed by 47 vertical radial arches, each of which increases in spacing between one another as it approaches the main entrance.<ref name=wood6/> The radials provide lateral support against the wind for the outer layer, a glued laminated timber [[mullion]] grid, as it transfers the weight to the floor. Both of these sit on a steel frame, which supports the galleria.<ref name=wood6/> The mullion grid itself is attached to sliding bearings that allow its curtain wall to adjust to changes in temperature, without compromising the integrity of the wood.<ref name=wood6/> Most of the timber was made of Douglas fir trees, from a manufacturer based in [[Penticton]], British Columbia.<ref name=wood8>{{cite book |title=Art Gallery of Ontario: Renovation and Addition |publisher=Canadian Wood Council |year=2009 |page=8 }}</ref> Each piece of timber is unique, given that the galleria's design featured slants that increased in width incrementally, and whose curvatures were changing throughout its length.<ref name=wood7/>

The galleria uses 128 steel horizontal beams to prevent the radials from contorting.<ref name=wood7>{{cite book |title=Art Gallery of Ontario: Renovation and Addition |publisher=Canadian Wood Council |year=2009 |page=7 }}</ref> Given that the museum is typically maintained at 50 % [[relative humidity]], the steel used to support the glued laminated timber required a [[Galvanization|galvanized]] finish to prevent corrosion.<ref name=steel/>

=====Reception for 2000s redevelopment===== [[File:AGO Walker Court 2022.jpg|thumb|Walker Court after the 2004 to 2008 redevelopment. The redevelopment saw walkways and staircases "threaded" through the courtyard.]] The completed expansion received wide acclaim, notably for the restraint of its design. An editorial in ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' called it a "restrained masterpiece", noting: "The proof of Mr. Gehry's genius lies in his deft adaptation to unusual circumstances. By his standards, it was to be done on the cheap, for a mere C$276 million. The museum's administrators and neighbours were adamant that the architect, who is used to being handed whole city blocks for over-the-top titanium confections, produce a lower-key design, sensitive to its context and the gallery's long history."<ref>{{cite news |title=Finished AGO puts Gehry's fears to rest |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/finished-ago-puts-gehrys-fears-to-rest/article663204/ |last=Bradshaw |first=James |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=November 14, 2008 |access-date=September 21, 2015 }}</ref> The ''[[Toronto Star]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Christopher Hume called it "the easiest, most effortless and relaxed architectural masterpiece this city has seen".<ref name=Hume>{{cite news |last=Hume |first=Christopher |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/535107 |title=Revamped AGO a modest masterpiece |work=Toronto Star |date=November 13, 2008 |access-date=February 2, 2009 }}</ref>

Critics also noted Gehry's ability to reinvigorate older structures, with ''[[The Washington Post]]'' commenting "Gehry's real accomplishment in Toronto is the reprogramming of a complicated amalgam of old spaces. That's not sexy, like titanium curves, but it's essential to the project."<ref name="Kennicott"/> The architecture critic of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote: "Rather than a tumultuous creation, this may be one of Mr. Gehry's most gentle and self-possessed designs. It is not a perfect building, yet its billowing glass facade, which evokes a crystal ship drifting through the city, is a masterly example of how to breathe life into a staid old structure. And its interiors underscore one of the most underrated dimensions of Mr. Gehry's immense talent: a supple feel for context and an ability to balance exuberance with delicious moments of restraint. Instead of tearing apart the old museum, Mr. Gehry carefully threaded new ramps, walkways and stairs through the original."<ref name=Ouroussoff>{{cite news |last=Ouroussoff |first=Nicolai |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/arts/design/15gehr.html |title=Gehry Puts a Very Different Signature on His Old Hometown's Museum |work=The New York Times |page=C1 |date=November 14, 2008 |access-date=February 2, 2009 }}</ref>

====2010s renovations and 2020s expansion ==== [[File:Modern entrance to Art Gallery of Ontario.jpg|thumb|Entrance to the Weston Family Learning Centre at the northeast corner of the complex, August 2024]] The museum opened the [[Weston family|Weston Family]] Learning Centre in October 2011, designed by [[Hariri Pontarini Architects]] with executive architect [[Adamson Associates]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Art Gallery of Ontario, The Weston Family Learning Centre |url=https://www.v2com-newswire.com/en/newsroom/categories/institutional-architecture/press-kits/907-01/art-gallery-of-ontario-the-weston-family-learning-centre |website=V2COM Newswire |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> The {{convert|3252|m2|sqft|abbr=on|adj=}} space is an exploration art centre, featuring a hands-on centre for children, a youth centre, and an art workshop and studio.<ref>{{cite book |title=Manual of Museum Exhibitions |last1=Piacente |first1=Maria |last2=Lord |first2=Barry |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-7591-2271-0 |page=137 }}</ref> Several months later, in April 2012, the museum opened the David Milne Study Centre, which was designed by [[KPMB Architects]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ago.net/agos-new-david-milne-centre |title=New David Milne Centre - AGO Press Release |date=April 3, 2012 |website=AGO.ca |access-date=October 2, 2018 }}</ref><ref name="general">{{cite web |url=http://www.ago.net/fact-sheet |title=General Information Fact Sheet |date=September 14, 2012 |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |access-date=October 16, 2012 }}</ref><ref name="milne">{{cite press release |title=Art, technology and archives unite at the AGO's new David Milne Centre |url=http://www.ago.net/agos-new-david-milne-centre |date=April 13, 2012 |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |access-date=October 16, 2012 }}</ref> The cost to build the [[David Milne (artist)|David Milne]] Study Centre cost the museum approximately C$1 million.<ref name=milneglobe>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/ago-study-centre-to-highlight-david-milne/article4098892/ |title=AGO study centre to highlight David Milne |work=The Globe and Mail |publisher=The Globe and Mail Inc. |date=April 9, 2012 |access-date=October 4, 2019 |last=Adams |first=James }}</ref> The South Entrance and lounge outside the library, also designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects, was opened in July 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://artmatters.ca/wp/2017/07/come-and-knock-on-our-new-door/ |title=Come and knock on our (new) door |website=AGO Art Matters blog |access-date=October 1, 2018 }}</ref> The renovated and renamed J. S. McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art<ref>{{cite web |url=https://canadianart.ca/agenda/the-j-s-mclean-centre-for-indigenous-and-canadian-art/ |title=The J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous and Canadian Art }}</ref> opened in July 2018.

Work on the museum's seventh major expansion began in 2024, a six-storey tower, measuring {{convert|48.35|m|ft|abbr=on}} in height, located above the main building's loading dock. Designed by [[Selldorf Architects]], [[Diamond Schmitt Architects]], and Two Row Architects, the addition will provide {{convert|40000|sqft|m2|abbr=on|order=flip}} of gallery space. The tower will be clad in glazed terracotta, and a bridge will connect its sixth floor to the fifth floor of the adjacent Gehry-designed tower.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2025/02/ago-dani-reiss-modern-and-contemporary-gallery-expansion-underway.57952|last2=White|first2=Criag|last1=Teles|first1=Anthony|title=AGO Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery Expansion Underway|publisher=Urban Toronto|website=urbantoronto.ca|date=11 February 2025|access-date=14 September 2025}}</ref>

==Permanent collection== [[File:Art Gallery of Ontario (23782351913).jpg|thumb|The Tannenbaum Centre for European Art viewing hall, one of several areas used to exhibit's the museum's European art]] AGO's permanent collection saw significant growth in the late 20th and early 21st century. The museum's permanent collection grew from 3,400 works in 1960 to 10,700 in 1985.<ref name=willwith/> As of March 2021, the AGO's permanent collection holds over 120,000 pieces, representing many artistic movements and eras of art history.<ref name="AGO 2021 " /> The museum's collection is organized into several "collection areas," which typically encompass works from a specific art form, artist, benefactor, chronological era, or geographic locale. Until the early 1980s, works collected for the museum's collection were primarily Canadian or European artists.{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=422}} Its collection has since expanded to include artworks from the [[Indigenous peoples in Canada]], and other cultures from around the world.

The museum's African collection includes 95 artworks, most of which originate from the 19th century [[Sahara]].<ref name=agoafr>{{cite web |url=https://ago.ca/collection/african |title=The African Collection |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |website=ago.ca |access-date=September 30, 2019 }}</ref> Exhibited at a permanent gallery on the second floor of the museum,<ref name=agoafr/> most of the pieces in the African collection were gifted to the museum by [[Murray Frum]], with the first pieces donated to the museum in 1972.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/murray-frum-developer-and-art-collector-dies-at-81/article12217905/ |title=Murray Frum, developer and art collector, dies at 81 |date=May 28, 2013 |access-date=February 6, 2020 |publisher=The Woodbridge Company |work=The Globe and Mail |last=Martin |first=Sandra }}</ref> The museum also has several Ethiopian Orthodox manuscripts and artworks, although these works form a part Thomson Collection of boxwoods and ivories.<ref>{{cite book |title=Toward a Global Middle Ages: Encountering the World through Illuminated Manuscripts |publisher=Getty Publications |year=2019 |page=91 |isbn=978-1-6060-6598-3 |last=Keene |first=Bryan C. }}</ref> [[File:Art Gallery of Ontario (24409138225).jpg|thumb|[[Snuff bottle]]s from the museum's [[Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet|Kenneth Thomson]] collection]] In 2002, the museum was bequeathed 1,000 works by [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal Australian]] and [[Torres Strait Islanders]] artists.<ref name=agoind>{{cite web |url=https://ago.ca/collection/indigenous |title=The Indigenous Collection |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |website=ago.ca |access-date=September 30, 2019 }}</ref> Some of these items are exhibited at a gallery on the second floor of the museum. In 2004, [[Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet|Kenneth Thomson]] donated over 2,000 works from his collection to the museum.<ref name=agothom>{{cite web |url=https://ago.ca/collection/thomson |title=The Thomson Collection |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |website=ago.ca |access-date=October 1, 2019 }}</ref> Although the majority of the Thomson collection is made up of works by Canadian or European artists, the collection also includes works created by artists in other parts of the world.

===Canadian=== The museum includes an extensive collection of [[Canadian art]], from pre-[[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]] to the 1990s.<ref name=agocan>{{cite web |url=https://ago.ca/collection/canadian |title=The Canadian Collection |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |website=ago.ca |access-date=September 30, 2019 }}</ref> Most of the museum's Canadian art is exhibited on the second floor, with 39 viewing halls dedicated to exhibiting 1,447 pieces from the museum's Canadian collection.{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=430}} The wing includes the 23 viewing halls of the Thomson Collection of Canadian Art, and the 14 viewing halls of J.S. Mclean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art.{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=428}} Canadian works are also exhibited in the David Milne Centre and the visible storage area in the museum's concourse. [[File:Mail Boat Landing at Quebec by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1860.jpg|thumb|''Mail Boat Landing at Quebec'' by [[Cornelius Krieghoff]] (1860). It is one of 145 works by Krieghoff in the Thomson Collection of Canadian Art.]] The galleries of the Thomson Collection of Canadian Art provide an in-depth look at the works of individual artists, whereas the other viewing halls of organized around later thematic issues.{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=428}} The Thomson Collection was donated to the museum by [[Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet|Kenneth Thomson]] in January 2004.<ref name=thom>{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Canadian Art History |volume=35 |issue=2 |year=2014 |page=141142 |last=Humeniuk |first=Gregory |title=Reframing Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven in the Thomson Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario: From Principles to Practice/Recadrage des oeuvres de Tom Thomson et du Groupe des sept figurant dans la collection Thomson du Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario: des principes à la pratique }}</ref> The collections features nearly 650 paintings and works by Canadian artists; 250 of which were created by [[Tom Thomson]] (no relation to Kenneth);<ref name=thom/> 145 works by [[Cornelius Krieghoff]];<ref name=agothom/> 168 works by [[David Milne (artist)|David Milne]],<ref name=milneglobe/> and others by the [[Group of Seven (artists)|Group of Seven]]. Nearly two-thirds of the collection was re-framed in preparation for their installation into the viewing halls.<ref name=thom/>

In addition to the Thomson Collection of Canadian Art, works by David Milne are also housed in the David Milne Study Centre.<ref name=milneglobe/> The centre was opened in 2012, and features computer terminals linked to the Milne Digital Archives and televisions which play films on Milne's life.<ref name=milneglobe/> The centre houses works and 230 other artifacts belonging to Milne, including diaries, journal, and paint boxes. Most of the Milne artifacts were gifted to the museum by Milne's son in 2009.<ref name=milneglobe/>

The J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art exhibits 132 from Canadian and indigenous artists.<ref name=jsna>{{cite news |url=https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/ago-to-unveil-cross-cultural-indigenous-and-canadian-art-centre-curators |title=Toronto gallery to unveil cross-cultural Canadian and Indigenous art centre |work=The National Post |access-date=September 30, 2019 |date=June 28, 2018 |last=Bresge |first=Adina }}</ref> Approximately 40 percent of works presented in the centre were created by Indigenous artists.<ref name=jsna/> The McLean Centre for Indigenous and Canadian Art is {{convert|13,000|sqft|m2|order=flip}},<ref name=mcleanart>{{cite web |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/indigenous-art-leads-the-conversation-at-canadian-gallery |title=Indigenous art comes first in Art Gallery of Ontario's new Canadian galleries |work=The Art Newspaper |date=June 29, 2018 |access-date=October 6, 2019 |last=Dobrzynski |first=Judith H. }}</ref> with 14 viewing halls.{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=428}} Three of these galleries are dedicated to exhibiting Inuit art, whereas one is dedicated to exhibiting contemporary First Nations art.<ref name=mcleanart/> [[File:Tom Thomson - The West Wind - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|''[[The West Wind (painting)|The West Wind]]'' by [[Tom Thomson]] (1917). The Canadian collection includes several works by Thomson.]] Works in the Mclean Centre are organized around larger thematic issues relating to [[History of Canada|Canadian history]], as opposed to chronologically.{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=428}}{{sfn|McMaster|2009|p=216}} As a result, works from indigenous and Canadian artists are presented together to showcase the reciprocal influences and conflict between the two.<ref name=jsna/> An example of such thematic presentation is evident in how the museum exhibits Tom Thomson's ''[[The West Wind (painting)|The West Wind]]''. When the painting was exhibited at the Mclean Centre, it was presented with [[Anishinaabe]] pouches adjacent to it, showcasing how two peoples viewed [[northern Ontario]] at that time.{{sfn|McMaster|2009|p=220}} Text that accompanies works in the centre are presented in three languages, English, French, and either [[Ojibwe language|Anishinaabemowin]] or [[Inuktitut]].<ref name=jsna/> The walls along the primary entry point into the McLean Centre are marked by small projectile points from arrows, spears, and knives from 9,000 BCE to 1,000 CE. The projectiles form a part of an art installation instead of an ethnographic or archeological display.{{sfn|McMaster|2009|p=217}}

Landscape paintings from Canadian artists were among the first to be acquired for the museum's collection.{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=423}} The museum's Canadian collection has works from several Canadian artists, including [[Jack Bush]], [[Paul-Émile Borduas]], [[Kazuo Nakamura]], and members of the Group of Seven.<ref name=agocan/> The museum has more than 300 works by David Milne; 168 of which were donated to the museum as a part of the Thomson Collection of Canadian Art.<ref name=milneglobe/> The museum also has nearly 150 works from [[A. Y. Jackson]], although most of it is in storage.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ago-remove-sell-ay-jackson-paintings-1.4977083 |title=AGO to sell up to 20 A.Y. Jackson paintings to make room for underrepresented artists |date=January 14, 2019 |access-date=October 9, 2019 |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |work=CBC News }}</ref> The collection also features works from Canadian sculptors [[Frances Loring]], [[Esmaa Mohamoud]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Please be seated |url=https://ago.ca/agoinsider/please-be-seated |website=Art Gallery of Ontario |language=en |access-date=May 23, 2020 }}</ref> and [[Florence Wyle]].<ref name=agocan/>

The museum also has a large collection of [[Inuit]] artworks. The 1970s saw the first Inuit artwork added to the museum's collection; with the Art Gallery of Ontario acquiring the Sarick Collection, the Isaacs Reference Collection, and the Klamer Collection during the 1970s and early 1980s.{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=423}} In 1988, the museum formed the Inuit Collections Committee to maintain and grow the collection.{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=423}} The collection includes 2,800 sculptures, 1,300 prints, 700 drawings and wall hangings from Inuit artists.<ref name=agoind/> 500 of these works are exhibited at the Inuit Visible Storage Gallery,{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=424}} opened in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://canadianart.ca/agenda/the-j-s-mclean-centre-for-indigenous-and-canadian-art/ |title=The J. S. McLean Centre for Indigenous and Canadian Art |date=July 1, 2018 |website=Canadian Art |access-date=August 29, 2018 }}</ref>

Conversely, the museum did not acquire its first [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] artwork until 1979, acquiring a piece by [[Norval Morrisseau]] for its contemporary collection.{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=423}} The Art Gallery of Ontario did not acquire First Nations art until the late 1970s, to prevent overlap between the AGO's permanent collection and the permanent collections of the [[Royal Ontario Museum]], which already had a collection of First Nations art.{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=423}} The early 21st century saw the museum increase the representation of First Nations art in its Canadian-centred galleries, including the [[Samuel McLaughlin|R. Samuel McLaughlin]] Gallery.{{sfn|Nakamura|2012|p=426}} First Nations artists whose works are featured in the museum's collection include [[Charles Edenshaw]] and [[Shelley Niro]].<ref name=agoind/>

===Contemporary=== [[File:AGO Level 4 exhibit 2022.jpg|thumb|An exhibit hall on the fourth floor of the south gallery block. Exhibits on the upper three levels of the block house contemporary art exhibits.]] The museum's contemporary art collection contains works from international artists from the 1960s to the present and Canadians from the 1990s to the present.<ref name=contcol>{{cite web |url=https://ago.ca/collection/contemporary |title=The Contemporary Collection |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |website=ago.ca |access-date=September 30, 2019 }}</ref> The collection also extends to installations, photography, graphic art (such as concert, film, and historic posters), film and video art, and even [[minimal music]] used as ambient music. Works from these collections are exhibited in several centres and galleries throughout the museum, including the Vivian & David Campbell Centre for Contemporary Art, which comprise the upper three levels of the south gallery block, and the Galleria Italia.

The museum's contemporary collection includes several works by Canadian artists: [[General Idea]], [[Brian Jungen]], [[Liz Magor]], [[Michael Snow]], and [[Jeff Wall]].<ref name=contcol/> The museum's contemporary collection also has works by international artists in the [[Arte Povera]], [[conceptualism]] [[Minimalism (visual arts)|minimalism]], [[neo-expressionism]], [[pop art]], and [[postminimalism]] movements.<ref name=contcol/> Artists from these movements whose works are included in the museum's collection include [[Jim Dine]], [[Donald Judd]], [[Mona Hatoum]], [[Pierre Huyghe]], [[John McCracken (artist)|John McCracken]], [[Claes Oldenburg]], [[Michelangelo Pistoletto]], [[Gerhard Richter]], [[Richard Serra]], [[Robert Smithson]], [[Andy Warhol]], and [[Lawrence Weiner]].<ref name=contcol/>

The museum also features a permanent exhibition of [[Yayoi Kusama]]'s ''Infinity Mirror Room – Let's Survive Forever'' in one of the viewing halls of the Signy Eaton Gallery.<ref name=infini>{{cite news |url=http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2019/04/04/ready-for-your-selfie-agos-permanent-kusama-infinity-mirrored-room-now-open.html |last=Mudhar |first=Raju |work=The Toronto Star |access-date=October 4, 2019 |publisher=Torstar Corporation |title=Ready for your selfie? AGO's permanent Kusama Infinity Mirrored Room now open |date=April 4, 2019 }}</ref> The permanent ''Infinity Room'' was purchased in 2018 for C$2 million and opened in May 2019 due to popular demand, after the success of a larger multi-room Kusama and ''Infinity Mirror Room'' travelling exhibit held in the same year.<ref name=infini/>

===European=== [[File:Scale model of HMS Hogue-AGO-IMG 7814.JPG|thumb|Scale model of {{HMS|Hogue|1900|6}} on display in the museum's concourse]] The museum has a large collection of European art ranging from 1000 CE to 1900 CE,<ref name=euroc>{{cite web |url=https://ago.ca/collection/european |title=The European Collection |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |access-date=September 30, 2019 |website=ago.ca }}</ref> Items from the museum's European collection are exhibited in several viewing halls throughout the museum. The Tannenbaum Centre for European Art and its viewing halls are located on the ground floor. Paintings and sculptures from the Thomson Collection of European Art are exhibited on the ground floor, while the ship models from the Thomson collection are exhibited in the museum's concourse.

The European Collection includes the Margaret and Ian Ross Collection, which features several bronze sculptures and medals, with a particular emphasis on [[Baroque]] art from Italy.<ref name=euroc/> The museum's collection of European paintings and sculptures was further bolstered in January 2004, after the museum acquired the Thomson Collection of European Art.<ref name=thom/> The Thomson Collection of European Art includes over 900 objects, including 130 ship models.<ref name=agothom/> [[File:Rubens - Massacre of the Innocents - Art Gallery of Ontario 2.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Massacre of the Innocents (Rubens)|Massacre of the Innocents]]'' by [[Peter Paul Rubens]] (1611). The painting, which was the [[List of most expensive paintings|most expensive painting]] when it was purchased in 2002, was donated to the museum in 2004.]] The Thomson Collection of European Art includes the world's largest holding of the [[Gothic boxwood miniature]]s, featuring ten carved beads and two altarpieces.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/mystery-of-the-boxwood-miniatures/index.html |title=500-year-old secrets of boxwood miniatures unlocked |date=December 9, 2016 |access-date=October 1, 2016 |last=Alleyne |first=Allyssia |work=CNN |publisher=Turner Broadcasting Systems, Inc. }}</ref><ref name=boxexhib>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/ago-exhibit-raises-profound-questions-about-ancient-handmadeobjects/article32682945/ |title=AGO exhibit raises profound questions about ancient handmade objects |publisher=The Globe and Mail Inc. |work=The Globe and Mail |access-date=October 1, 2019 |date=November 4, 2016 |last=Brown |first=Ian }}</ref> Other works featured in the Thomson Collection for European Art includes ''[[Massacre of the Innocents (Rubens)|Massacre of the Innocents]]'' by [[Peter Paul Rubens]].<ref name=rubensstar>{{cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2018/08/10/too-naked-too-violent-the-art-gallery-of-ontarios-troubling-100m-masterpiece-hits-the-road.html |title='Too naked, too violent': The Art Gallery of Ontario's troubling $100M masterpiece hits the road |work=The Toronto Star |access-date=October 4, 2019 |publisher=Torstar Corporation |date=August 10, 2018 }}</ref> The painting was acquired by [[Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet|Ken Thomson]] in 2002 for C$115 million,<ref name=rubensstar/> at the time the [[List of most expensive paintings|most expensive]] [[Old Master]] work sold at an [[art auction]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.artnet.com/market/last-known-leonardo-da-vinci-painting-just-sold-1149032 |title=The Last Known Painting by Leonardo da Vinci Just Sold for $450.3 Million |publisher=Art Media Holdings |work=ARTnews |date=November 15, 2017 |access-date=December 16, 2019 |last=Kinsella |first=Eilseen }}</ref>{{notetag|In November 2017, a painting by [[Leonardo da Vinci]], ''[[Salvator Mundi (Leonardo)|Salvator Mundi]]'' sold for [[United States dollar|US$]]450.1 million, breaking the previous record set by the sale of Ruben's ''Massacre of the Innocents'' in 2002 (US$106 million, adjusted for inflation in 2017).}} Thomson intended for the work to serve as the centrepiece for the collections he donated to the museum in 2004.<ref name=rubensstar/> When the museum reopened in 2008, the painting was installed in a blood-red, low-lit room in the Thomson Collection for European Art.<ref name=rubensstar/> The room featured no other paintings, with the only lighting in the room directed towards the work.<ref name=rubensstar/> The painting remained at that location until 2017 when it was placed in a gallery with other works from the European collection.<ref name=rubensstar/> In 2019, the museum acquired the painting ''Iris Bleus, Jardin du Petit Gennevilliers'' by [[Gustave Caillebotte]] for more than C$1 million.<ref name="cail">{{cite web |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/art-gallery-of-ontario-acquires-a-caillebotte-after-long-legal-struggle |title=Art Gallery of Ontario acquires a Caillebotte after long legal struggle |publisher=Umberto Allemandi & Co. Publishing Ltd |work=The Art Newspaper |last=Ditmars |first=Hadani |access-date=October 26, 2019 |date=August 23, 2019 }}</ref> The painting is the second work by Caillebotte to enter the permanent collections of a Canadian art museum.<ref name="cail" />

The museum's European collection also includes major works by [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]], [[Giovanni del Biondo]], [[Edgar Degas]], [[Thomas Gainsborough]], [[Paul Gauguin]], [[Frans Hals]], [[Claude Monet]], [[Angelo Piò]], [[Nino Pisano]], [[Rembrandt]], [[Auguste Rodin]], [[Jeremias Schultz]], and [[James Tissot]].<ref name=euroc/>

===Modern=== [[File:Art Gallery of Ontario (38694091041).jpg|thumb|Sculptures on display in the Joey & Toby Tanenbaum Sculpture Atrium]] The museum's modern art collection includes works from Americans, and Europeans from the 1900s to the 1960s,<ref name=agomod>{{cite web |url=https://ago.ca/collection/modern |title=The Modern Collection |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |website=ago.ca |access-date=September 30, 2019 }}</ref> Works by Canadian artists during that period are typically exhibited as a part of its Canadian collection, as opposed to the museum's modern art collection. Works from the modern art collection are exhibited in several centres and galleries throughout the museum, including the Joey & Toby Tanenbaum Sculpture Atrium, the Henry Moore Sculpture Centre, and several other galleries on the ground floor of the museum. [[File:AGO Henry Moore Sculpture Centre Room 251 2022.jpg|thumb|Sculptures on display in the Henry Moore Sculpture Centre, which exhibits several works by [[Henry Moore]] ]] The museum is home to the largest public collection of works by English sculptor [[Henry Moore]], most of which is held in the Henry Moore Sculpture Centre.<ref>{{cite book |title=DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Canada |publisher=Penguin |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4654-7778-1 |page=182 }}</ref> The museum dedicated approximately {{convert|3000|m2|sqft|abbr=on}} of space to the sculptor, which includes the Henry Moore Sculpture Centre, and related galleries including the Irina Moore Gallery.{{sfn|Marshall|2017|page=82}} Moore donated 300 pieces,<ref name=willwith/> nearly his entire personal collection, to the museum in 1974.<ref name=agomod/> The donation originated from a commitment made by Moore on December 9, 1968, to donate a significant portion of his work to the Art Gallery of Ontario, contingent that the museum builds a dedicated gallery to exhibit his works.{{sfn|Marshall|2017|p=81–82}} In addition to the works donated by Moore, the museum also purchased another piece, ''Two Large Forms'', from the sculptor in 1973.{{sfn|Marshall|2017|page=83}} The sculpture was originally placed at the museum's northeast façade, near the intersection of Dundas and McCaul streets.{{sfn|Marshall|2017|page=83}} However, the museum later relocated the sculpture to Grange Park nearby in 2017 as part of the park's renovation. [[Brian Jungen]]'s ''Couch Monster'' replaced the sculpture at the original site in 2022.

The museum's modern collection also includes works by [[Pierre Bonnard]], [[Constantin Brâncuși]], [[Marc Chagall]], [[Otto Dix]], [[Jean Dubuffet]], [[Jacob Epstein]], [[Helen Frankenthaler]], [[Alberto Giacometti]], [[Natalia Goncharova]], [[Arshile Gorky]], [[Barbara Hepworth]], [[Hans Hofmann]], [[Franz Kline]], [[Henri Matisse]], [[Fernand Léger]], [[Joan Miró]], [[Amedeo Modigliani]], [[Claude Monet]], [[Ben Nicholson]], [[Pablo Picasso]], [[Gino Severini]], and [[Yves Tanguy]].<ref name=agomod/>

===Photography=== [[File:Linnaeus Tripe - Madura. The Great Pagoda, Mootoo Alaghur and East Gopurum from Tank - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''[[Madurai|Madura]] {{sic}}. [[Meenakshi Temple|The Great Pagoda]], Mootoo Alaghur and East [[Gopuram|Gopurum]] from Tank'', by [[Linnaeus Tripe]] (1858), part of the museum's photography collection.]] In 2019, the Art Gallery of Ontario had a photography collection of 70,000 photographs dating from the 1840s to the present.<ref name=agopho>{{cite web |url=https://ago.ca/collection/photography |title=The Photography Collection |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |website=ago.ca |access-date=September 30, 2019 }}</ref> The photograph collection includes 495 photo albums from the [[First World War]].<ref name=agopho/> Items from this collection are exhibited in two viewing halls on the ground floor.

In 2017, the museum acquired 522 photographs by [[Diane Arbus]], providing the museum with the largest collection of Arbus's photographs outside the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in New York City.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/analysis/the-top-ten-museum-acquisitions-of-2017 |title=The top ten museum acquisitions of 2017 |first=Aimee |last=Dawson |work=The Art Newspaper |date=December 18, 2017 }}</ref> In June 2019, the museum acquired the Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photos, which includes 3,500 historic photographs of the Caribbean from the 1840s to 1940s.<ref name=carpho>{{cite web |first=Tashauna |last=Reid |date=June 6, 2019 |access-date=October 4, 2019 |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |work=CBC News |title=AGO acquires large collection of historical Caribbean photographs |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/ago-caribbean-photography-exhibit-1.5161645 }}</ref> The collection was acquired by the museum for C$300,000, most if which was provided by 27 donors from Toronto's Caribbean community.<ref name=carpho/> The Montgomery Collection is the largest collection of its kind outside the Caribbean.<ref name=carpho/> Other photographers whose works are featured in the collection include [[Edward Burtynsky]], [[Alfred Eisenstaedt]], [[Robert J. Flaherty]], [[Suzy Lake]], [[Arnold Newman]], [[Henryk Ross]], [[Josef Sudek]], [[Linnaeus Tripe]], and [[Garry Winogrand]].<ref name=agopho/>

===Prints and drawings=== [[File:Dog Cariole Rindisbacher 1825.png|thumb|A drawing by [[Peter Rindisbacher]] (1825), part of the museum's prints and drawings collection]] The museum's prints and drawings collection includes more than 20,000 prints, drawings, and other works on paper, from the 1400s to the present day. This collection usually is displayed little at a time with revolving exhibitions. However, the collection is viewable by appointment at the museum's Marvin Gelber Print and Drawing Study Centre.<ref name=agoprt>{{cite web |url=https://ago.ca/collection/prints-and-drawing |title=The Prints and Drawings Collection |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |website=ago.ca |access-date=September 30, 2019 }}</ref>

The collection includes the largest and most significant body of works from [[Betty Goodwin]], with a bulk of the works given to the gallery by the artist.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=1027152&sponsor= |title=Betty Goodwin was a giant in Canadian art |publisher=Postmedia Network Inc. |work=Vancouver Sun |date=December 3, 2008 |access-date=October 5, 2019 |last=Hustak |first=Brian }}</ref> In 2015, the museum was bequeathed 170 drawings, prints, and sculptures by [[Käthe Kollwitz]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tvo.org/article/the-bleak-but-compassionate-art-of-kathe-kollwitz |title=The bleak but compassionate art of Käthe Kollwitz |work=TVO Current Affairs |publisher=The Ontario Educational Communications Authority |date=November 1, 2018 |access-date=October 23, 2019 }}</ref> The prints and drawings collection also includes drawings by [[David Blackwood]], [[François Boucher]], [[John Constable]], [[Greg Curnoe]], [[Jean-Honoré Fragonard]], [[Thomas Gainsborough]], [[Paul Gauguin]], [[Wassily Kandinsky]], [[Michelangelo]], [[David Milne (artist)|David Milne]], [[Pablo Picasso]], [[Egon Schiele]], [[Michael Snow]], [[Walter Trier]], [[Vincent van Gogh]], and [[Frederick Varley]]; and prints by [[Ernst Barlach]], [[James Gillray]], [[Francisco Goya]], Käthe Kollwitz, [[Henry Moore]], [[Robert Motherwell]], [[Rembrandt]], [[Thomas Rowlandson]], [[Stanley Spencer]], [[James Tissot]], [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]], and [[James McNeill Whistler]].<ref name=agoprt/>

==Library and archives== The Art Gallery of Ontario also houses the [[E. P. Taylor|Edward P. Taylor]] Library & Archives. The library and archives are open to the public and require no entrance fee.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ago.net/research-library-archives |title=The AGO's Edward P. Taylor Library & Archives |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario }}</ref> However, access to the museum's archives, and its special collections requires a scheduled appointment.<ref name="Edward P. Taylor Library & Archives | Art Gallery of Ontario" /> The library also serves as the adjunct art history library for [[OCAD University]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ocadu.ca/services/Library/about-the-library/other-libraries.htm |title=Other Libraries |publisher=OCAD University |year=2019 |access-date=December 3, 2019 |website=ocadu.ca }}</ref>

===Library=== [[File:Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon at AGO, Toronto 10.jpg|thumb|Work tables at the Edward P. Taylor Library & Archives, the art gallery's library and archives]] The general collections of the library reflect the permanent collection of works of art and the public programs of the Art Gallery of Ontario, containing over 300,000 volumes for general art information and academic research in the history of art.<ref name="Edward P. Taylor Library & Archives | Art Gallery of Ontario">{{cite web |title=Edward P. Taylor Library & Archives |url=http://ago.ca/research/library-and-archives |website=Art Gallery of Ontario |access-date=February 27, 2019 }}</ref> The library serves as a reference library; materials in the collections do not circulate. Holdings encompass Western art in all media from the medieval period to the 21st century; the art of Canada's [[Indigenous peoples in Canada|indigenous peoples]] including [[Inuit art]]; and [[African art|African]] and [[Oceanian art]].

The library additionally comprises Canadian, American and European art journals and newspapers; over 50,000 [[Art auction|art sales and auction]] catalogues (late 18th century to current); 40,000 documentation files on Canadian art and artists, and international contemporary artists; and [[multimedia]], [[Digital library|digital]] and [[microform]] collections. Materials may be searched on the online catalogue.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://library.ago.net/ipac20/ipac.jsp?profile=#focus |title=Horizon Information Portal |work=ago.net }}</ref> The Library & Archives also produces [[pathfinder (library science)|pathfinders]] and bibliographies for collections research, such as the Thomson Collection Resource Guide to the large collection of works of art donated by benefactor and collector [[Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet|Kenneth Thomson]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Edward P. Taylor Research Library: Thomson Collection Resource Guide |url=http://www.ago.net/assets/files/pdf/pathfinders/Thompson-Collection-Resource-Guide-2011.pdf |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |year=2011 }}</ref>

The library's [[Book collecting|rare books]] collection includes [[Art history|art historical]] sourcebooks from the 17th century to the present; British Neoclassical [[folio]]s of the 18th century; [[Catalogue raisonné|catalogues raisonnés]]; British and Canadian [[Illustration|illustrated books]] and magazines; travel guides, particularly [[Baedeker]]s, [[Murray's Handbooks for Travellers|Murrays]], and [[Blue Guides]]; French art sales catalogues from the late 18th century to the mid-20th century; and [[Artist's book|artists' books]].

===Archives=== The museum's archives document the history of the institution since its establishment in 1900, as well as The Grange since 1820. Series include exhibition files, publicity scrapbooks (documenting Gallery exhibitions and all other activity), architectural plans, photographs, records of the Gallery School, and correspondence (with art dealers, artists, collectors, and scholars). Because of the regularity with which artists' groups held exhibitions at the Gallery, the archives are a resource for research into the activities of the [[Group of Seven (artists)|Group of Seven]], the [[Canadian Group of Painters]], the [[Ontario Society of Artists]], and others.

The Art Gallery of Ontario's special collections are one of the most important concentrations of [[Archive|archival material]] on the visual arts in Canada. In over 150 individual [[fonds]] and collections, ranging in date from the early 19th century to the present day, the Special Collections document with [[primary source]] material artists, [[art dealer]]s and [[Private collection|collectors]], [[Artist-run space|artist-run galleries]], and other people and organizations that have shaped the Canadian art world, as well as the [[Tom Thomson]] Catalogue Raisonné files.<ref>{{cite web |title=Library & Archives Collection |url=http://ago.ca/collection/library-and-archives |website=Art Gallery of Ontario |access-date=February 27, 2019 }}</ref>

==Programs== ===Artist-in-residence=== AGO operates an [[artist-in-residence]] program, granting selected artists access to its facilities, a stipend covering materials and living costs, and a dedicated studio, the Anne Lind AiR Studio in the Weston Family Learning Centre.<ref name="thestar">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/visualarts/2012/03/22/margaux_williamson_is_the_art_gallery_of_ontarios_current_artistinresidence.html |title=Margaux Williamson is the Art Gallery of Ontario's current artist-in-residence |date=March 22, 2012 |work=[[Toronto Star]] }}</ref><ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/25k-mocca-award-honours-arts-patrons-partners-in-art-1.1204910 25k Mocca Award honours arts patrons partners in art]. ''[[CBC News]]''.</ref> Artists-in-residence are invited to create new work and ideas, and to use all media, including painting, drawing, photography, film, video, installation, architecture and sound.<ref name="newz4u">[https://archive.today/20140305132032/http://newz4u.net/archives/19339 AGO Launches Artist-in-Residence Program with Winnipeg-born Artist Paul Butler | newz4u.net]</ref> The program is the first of its kind to be established at a major Canadian art gallery.<ref name="thestar"/>

Past artists-in-residences have included:

{{div col|colwidth=22em}} * [[Gauri Gill]] (September 2011)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ago.net/5605 |title=Indian artist Gauri Gill wins $50,000 Grange Prize :: AIMIA {{!}} AGO Photography Prize |last=Ontario |first=Art Gallery of |website=www.ago.net |access-date=March 7, 2016 }}</ref> * [[Paul Butler (artist)|Paul Butler]] (October–November 2011)<ref name="newz4u"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.torontolife.com/informer/features/2012/03/19/reason-to-love-toronto-march-2012/ |title=Reason to Love Toronto: yoga classes at the Art Gallery of Ontario |work=[[Toronto Life]] |access-date=March 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407061055/http://www.torontolife.com/informer/features/2012/03/19/reason-to-love-toronto-march-2012/ |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalpost.com/posted-toronto/why-the-art-gallery-of-ontario-wants-you-to-stretch-among-the-sculptures |title=Why the Art Gallery of Ontario wants you to stretch among the sculptures |author=Sarah Lazarovic |date=November 12, 2011 |work=National Post }}</ref><ref>[http://www.thedailyplanet.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7661:yoga-offered-at-the-art-gallery-of-ontario&catid=34:food-and-drink&Itemid=259 Art Gallery of Ontario offers yoga] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305151315/http://www.thedailyplanet.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7661%3Ayoga-offered-at-the-art-gallery-of-ontario&catid=34%3Afood-and-drink&Itemid=259 |date=March 5, 2014 }}</ref> * [[Margaux Williamson]] (January–March 2012)<ref name="thestar"/> * Hiraki Sawa (April–July 2012)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ca.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/804612/ago-announces-new-artist-in-residence-the-celebrated-hiraki-sawa |title=AGO Announces New Artist-in-Residence, the Celebrated Hiraki Sawa |author=Sky Goodden, ARTINFO Canada |work=Artinfo }}</ref> * [[Heather Goodchild]] (July–August 2012)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=https://ago.ca/artist-in-residence/ |title=Artist-in-Residence {{!}} AGO Art Gallery of Ontario |website=www.ago.net |access-date=March 11, 2017 }}</ref> * [[Mark Titchner]] (September–October 2012)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/a-graffitist-who-works-on-the-citys-dime/article4546587/ |title=A graffitist who works on the city's dime |work=The Globe and Mail |last=Lorinc |first=John |date=September 14, 2012 }}</ref> * [[Jo Longhurst]] (November–December 2012)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/838357/qatari-sheikhs-unpaid-auction-tab-corcoran-seeks-visionary |title=Qatari Sheikh's Unpaid Auction Tab, Corcoran Seeks 'Visionary Leader', and More |work=Artinfo }}</ref> * [[Life of a Craphead]] (January–March 2013)<ref name=":0"/> * [[Jason Evans (photographer)|Jason Evans]] (April–May 2013)<ref name=":0"/> * Mohamed Bourouissa (June–August 2013)<ref name=":0"/> * [[Diane Borsato]] (September–November 2013)<ref name=":0" /> * [[Sara Angelucci]] (November 2013 – January 2014)<ref name=":0"/> * [[Jim Munroe]] (January–April 2014)<ref name=":0"/> * [[Ame Henderson]] (August–October 2014)<ref name="Artist-in-Residence">{{cite web |title=Artist-in-Residence |url=http://www.ago.net/artist-in-residence/ |publisher=Art Gallery of Ontario |access-date=July 18, 2014 }}</ref> * Greg Staats (October – December 2014)<ref name=":0"/> * Mammalian Diving Reflex (December 2014 – February 2015)<ref name=":0"/> * FAG [[Feminist Art Gallery]] (February–April 2015)<ref name=":0"/> * Meera Margaret Singh (June–August 2015)<ref name=":0"/> * Lisa Myers (September–November 2015)<ref name=":0"/> * [[Jérôme Havre]] (December–March 2016)<ref name=":0"/> * Public Studio (May–July 2016)<ref name=":0"/> * Walter Scott (September–November 2016)<ref name=":0"/> * Will Kwan (January–April 2017)<ref name=":0"/> * EMILIA-AMALIA (May – August 2017)<ref name=":0"/> * [[Tanya Lukin Linklater]] (August 2017)<ref name=":0"/> * Zun Lee (September 2017 – January 2018)<ref name=":0"/> * [[Sara Cwynar]] (February–April 2018)<ref name=":0"/> * Seika Boye and [[Sandra Brewster]] (August 2018 – February 2019)<ref name=":0"/> * Natalie Ferguson and Toby Gillies (February 4 – March 31, 2019)<ref name=":0"/> * [[Haegue Yang]] (July 14–28, 2019)<ref name=":0"/> * Ness Lee (October 29, 2019 - January 6, 2020)<ref name=":0"/> * Alicia Nauta (January 20 – March 30, 2020)<ref name=":0"/> * Alvin Luong (April 7 – September 10, 2021)<ref name=":0"/> * Nada El-Omari and Sonya Mwambu (June 3 – September 10, 2021)<ref name=":0"/> * Timothy Yanick Hunter (August 4 – September 30, 2021)<ref name=":0"/> * Eric Chengyang and Mariam Magsi (February 1 – April 26, 2022)<ref name=":0"/> * Ivetta Sunyoung Kang (April 25 – July 19, 2022)<ref name=":0"/> * Shion Skye Carter (July 18 – October 25, 2022)<ref name=":0"/> * Lauren Prousky (January 23 – April 18, 2023)<ref name=":0"/> * Eva Grant (April 19 – July 13, 2023)<ref name=":0"/> * Clayton Lee (July 14 – October 7, 2023)<ref name=":0"/>{{div col end}}

===Online presence=== The AGO was the first Canadian museum included in the Google Art Project (later renamed [[Google Arts & Culture]]), where 166 pieces from the permanent collection are available for viewing, including works by [[Paul Gauguin]], [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]], [[Tom Thomson]], [[Emily Carr]], [[Anthony van Dyck]], and [[Gerhard Richter]]. {{As of|2016}}, there is no full "[[Google Street View|street view]]" option to tour the museum online from [[Google Maps]], only 360-degree views of certain galleries are available.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wright |first1=Matthew |title=Art Gallery of Ontario becomes the first Canadian museum to participate in the Google Art Project |url=https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/art-gallery-of-ontario-becomes-the-first-canadian-museum-to-participate-in-the-google-art-project |website=National Post |access-date=January 30, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/art-gallery-of-ontario |title=Art Gallery of Ontario |access-date=January 30, 2016 }}</ref>

==Selected works== ===Canadian collection=== * [[Tom Thomson]], ''[[The West Wind (painting)|The West Wind]]'', 1917 {{gallery |height=180 |mode=packed  |File:Kane The Surveyor.jpg|[[Paul Kane]], ''[[Scene in the Northwest: Portrait of John Henry Lefroy|Scene in the Northwest — Portrait of John Henry Lefroy]]'', 1845–46 |File:Paul Peel - The Young Biologist - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Paul Peel]], ''The Young Biologist'', 1891 |File:Mary Hiester Reid - At Twilight, Wychwood Park - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Mary Hiester Reid]], ''At Twilight, Wychwood Park'', 1911 |File:Thomson, Drowned Land.jpg|[[Tom Thomson]], ''[[Drowned Land]]'', 1912 |File:JEH MacDonald Fine Weather, Georgian Bay.jpg|[[J. E. H. MacDonald]], ''[[Fine Weather, Georgian Bay]]'', 1913 |File:Franklin Carmichael - Autumn Hillside - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Franklin Carmichael]], ''Autumn Hillside'', 1920 |File:Helen Galloway McNicoll - Picking Flowers - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Helen McNicoll]], ''Picking Flowers'', {{circa|1920}} |File:Emily Carr Indian Church.jpg|[[Emily Carr]], ''[[The Indian Church (painting)|The Indian Church]]'', 1929, retitled by the museum as ''Church at Yuquot Village'' in 2018.{{notetag|The Art Gallery of Ontario renamed the painting to ''Church at Yuquot Village'' in 2018. The painting was titled ''The Indian Church'' in 1929.}} }}

===European collection=== {{col div}} * [[Tintoretto]] – ''[[Christ Washing the Disciples' Feet (Tintoretto)|Christ Washing His Disciples' Feet]]'', {{circa|1545–1555}} * [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]], ''[[Bust of Pope Gregory XV]]'', {{circa|1621}} * Circle of [[Hans Holbein the Younger]] – ''[[Portrait of Henry VIII|Portrait of King Henry VIII]]'', {{circa|1560s}} * [[Peter Paul Rubens]] - ''[[Massacre of the Innocents (Rubens)|Massacre of the Innocents]]'', {{circa|1611–12}} * Peter Paul Rubens – ''[[The Elevation of the Cross (Rubens)|The Raising of the Cross]]'', oil on paper version, {{circa|1638}} {{col div end}}

{{gallery |height=180  |mode=packed  |File:Art Gallery of Ontario (24409145245).jpg|[[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]], ''[[Corpus (Bernini)|The Crucified Christ (Corpus)]]'', {{circa|1650}} |File:Anthony van Dyck - Daedalus and Icarus - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Anthony van Dyck]], ''Daedalus and Icarus'', {{circa|1620}} |File:Frans Hals - Isaac Abrahamsz. Massa - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Frans Hals]], ''[[Portrait of Isaak Abrahamsz. Massa|Isaak Abrahamsz. Massa]]'', 1626 |File:Vénus montrant ses armes à Énée - Nicolas Poussin - Toronto AGO.jpg|[[Nicolas Poussin]], ''Venus, Mother of Aeneas, presenting him with Arms forged by Vulcan'', {{circa|1636–37}} |File:Portrait of a Seated Woman with a Handkerchief.jpg|[[Carel Fabritius]], ''[[Portrait of a Seated Woman with a Handkerchief]]'', {{circa|1644}} |File:Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn - Portrait of a Lady with a Lap Dog - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Rembrandt]], ''[[Young Woman with a Lapdog|Portrait of a Lady with a Lap Dog]]'', {{circa|1665}} |File:Claude Lorrain Ubaldo.jpg|[[Claude Lorrain]], ''The Embarkation of Carlo and Ubaldo'', 1667 |File:Jean-Siméon Chardin - Jar of Apricots - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Jean Siméon Chardin]], ''Jar of Apricots'', 1758 |Portret van een vrouw met een oranjebloesem, door Jeremias Schultz.jpg|[[Jeremias Schultz]], ''[[Portrait of Eleonora Susette]]'', 1775 |File:Gainsborough-HarvestWagon1784.jpg|[[Thomas Gainsborough]], ''[[The Harvest Wagon]]'', 1784–85 |File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - La Seine à Chatou.jpg|[[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]], ''La Seine à Chatou'', {{circa|1871}} |File:Gérôme - Painting Breathes Life into Sculpture v1.jpg|[[Jean-Léon Gérôme]], ''The Antique Pottery Painter: Sculpturæ vitam insufflat pictura'', 1893 |File:Paul Cézanne - Interior of a forest - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Paul Cézanne]], ''Interior of a forest'', {{circa|1885}} |File:Pissarro - Pont Boieldieu in Rouen, Rainy Weather.jpg|[[Camille Pissarro]], ''[[Pont Boieldieu in Rouen, Rainy Weather]]'', 1896 }}

===Modern and contemporary collections=== {{gallery |height=180  |mode=packed  |File:James Tissot - The Shop Girl.jpg|[[James Tissot]], ''[[The Shop Girl (Tissot)|The Shop Girl]]'', 1883–1885 |File:Vincent van Gogh - Bäuerin beim Umgraben.jpg|[[Vincent van Gogh]], ''A woman with a spade, seen from behind'', {{circa|1885}} |File:Paul Gauguin - Nave Nave Fenua from the Noa Noa Series - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Paul Gauguin]], ''Nave Nave Fenua from the Noa Noa Series'', 1893–94 |File:Pablo Picasso, 1902-03, La soupe (The soup), oil on canvas, 38.5 x 46.0 cm, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada.jpg|[[Pablo Picasso]], ''La soupe'', {{circa|1902}} |File:Claude Monet - Charing Cross Bridge, Fog.jpg|[[Claude Monet]], ''[[Charing Cross Bridge (Monet series)|Charing Cross Bridge, brouillard]]'', 1902 |File:Portrait of Mrs. Hastings 1915 Amedeo Modigliani.jpg|[[Amedeo Modigliani]], ''Portrait of Mrs. Hastings'', 1915 |File:John William Waterhouse - I am half-sick of shadows, said the lady of shalott.JPG|[[John William Waterhouse|John W. Waterhouse]], ''[[I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of Shalott]]'', 1915 |File:Augustus Edwin John - The Marchesa Casati - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Augustus John]], ''[[Marchesa Casati (painting)|Marchesa Casati]]'', 1919 |File:They Will Take My Island.jpg|[[Arshile Gorky]], ''They Will Take My Island'', 1944 |File:Two Forms by Henry Moore.jpg|[[Henry Moore]], ''Large Two Forms'', 1969{{notetag|This photograph was taken in 2009 when the sculpture was situated at the southwest corner of [[Dundas Street]] and McCaul Street. The sculpture was moved to nearby Grange Park in 2017. [[Brian Jungen]]'s ''Couch Monster'' occupies the sculpture's original location since 2022.}} |File:Stretch 1.jpg|[[Evan Penny]], ''[[Stretch Number 1]]'', 2003 |File:Couch_Monster_by_Brian_Jungen_03.jpg|[[Brian Jungen]], ''Couch Monster'', 2022 }}

==See also== {{Portal|Canada|Ontario|Visual arts}} * [[Culture in Toronto]] * [[Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries]] * [[List of art museums]] * [[List of museums in Toronto]] * [[List of works by Frank Gehry]]

==Notes== {{notefoot}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== {{Refbegin}} * {{cite book |title=Sculpture and the Museum |publisher=Routledge |date=2017 |last=Marshall |first=Christopher R. |isbn=978-1-3515-4955-4}} * {{cite journal |title=Art History Through the Lens of the Present? |journal=Journal of Museum Education |year=2009 |volume=34 |first=Gerald |last=McMaster |issue=3 |pages=215–222 |doi=10.1080/10598650.2009.11510638 |s2cid=194089306}} * {{cite journal |title=The representation of First Nations art at the Art Gallery of Ontario |year=2012 |first=Naohiro |last=Nakamura |journal=International Journal of Canadian Studies |volume=45–46 |issue=45–46 |pages=417–440 |doi=10.7202/1009913ar |doi-access=free}} * {{cite book |title=Unbuilt Toronto 2: More of the City That Might Have Been |publisher=Dundurn |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4597-0093-2 |last=Osbaldeston |first=Mark}} {{Refend}}

== External links == * {{Official website}} * [https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/art-gallery-of-ontario?hl=en Art Gallery of Ontario] within [[Google Arts & Culture]] * {{commons category-inline}}

{{Museums and galleries in Toronto}} {{Toronto landmarks}} {{Provincial museums of Canada}} {{Group of Seven}} {{Frank Gehry}} {{Tom Thomson}} {{Authority control}}

[[Category:1900 establishments in Ontario]] [[Category:Art museums and galleries in Ontario]] [[Category:Art museums and galleries established in 1900]] [[Category:Barton Myers buildings]] [[Category:Darling and Pearson buildings]] [[Category:Frank Gehry buildings]] [[Category:Museums in Toronto]] [[Category:Siamak Hariri buildings]] [[Category:Archives in Ontario]]