Early Days presents more than 100 works from the McMichaelโs permanent collection spanning more than two centuries, from 18th-century regalia and trade items to Northwest coast masks, to the groundbreaking work of artists from the 1960s through the 1980s, and powerful contemporary pieces by leading voices today.
The Tree Planters is a striking photographic series by award-winning Canadian photographer Rita Leistner. Through large-scale, painterly portraits captured in real-time, Leistner documents the gruelling and heroic labour of professional tree planters in British Columbia. Her work explores themes of human endurance, environmental stewardship, and Canadaโs evolving relationship with its forests.
This selection of works from our permanent collection aims to convey something of its current breadth, taking particular pleasure in placing apparently disparate works in creative conversation with one another.ย Featuring works by Kananginak Pootoogook, Rebecca Belmore, Edward Burtynsky, Franklin Carmichael, Emily Carr, Kim Dorland, Sorel Etrog, Paterson Ewen, Lawren Harris, Prudence Heward, Gershon Iskowitz, A.Y. Jackson, Cornelius Krieghoff, Jean Paul Lemieux, Arthur Lismer, An Te Liu, Zachari Logan, Helen McNicoll, David Ruben Piqtoukun, David Milne, Michael Snow, Tom Thomson and others.
Using drawing and photo-based gel transfer techniques, Toronto based Sandra Brewsterโs site-specific installation at the McMichael depicts the Essequibo River in Guyana and its distinctive fish species, evoking the fluidity and dynamism of water as a metaphor for migration and transformation.
Anishinaabe/Ojibwa artist Bonnie Devineโs site-specific mural installation is now complete and on view in the McMichaelโs Grand Hall Alcove. Devine and her assistant, Mariah Meawasige, conducted research on the Carrying Place Trail, which historically provided an integral connection for Indigenous people between Ontarioโs Lakeshore and the Lake Simcoe-Georgian Bay Region.
