Past
Exhibitions

John Scott: Firestorm presents the work of the late Canadian artist John Scott (1950–2022), gathering paintings, drawings, and sculptures made by Scott from the 1980s through the 2010s.

The McMichael proudly presents Morrice in Venice, an exhibition celebrating James Wilson Morrice’s evocative depictions of one of Europe’s most enchanting cities. Inspired by the pioneering research of Sandra Paikowsky, this exhibition showcases a stunning selection of Morrice’s canvases, pochades, and sketches, revealing his unique vision of Venice.

Since the 1990 transfer of 90,000 works on paper from the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, new generations of Kinngait artists have emerged onto the contemporary art scene, capturing visions of their community into the new millennium.

The recent digitization of the Kinngait Drawings Archive—90,000 works strong and held by the McMichael for more than three decades—has allowed unprecedented curatorial access to the origins of this now world-renowned graphic tradition.

This solo exhibition highlights a recent body of work by the leading Toronto-based conceptual artist Derek Sullivan. The works on display were inspired by Sullivan’s twelve-month site-study of Shift, a landart work by the American sculptor Richard Serra long-hidden in a field in King, Ontario.

Among the great treasures of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection is a group of 54 jewel-like miniatures by the artist Clarence Gagnon.

Presenting recent sculptures by Anishinaabe/French artist Caroline Monnet, Pizandawatc explores language reclamation, ancestral memory, and intergenerational transmission. The title, meaning “the one who listens,” honours Monnet’s great‑grandmother and reflects a receptive way of being central to her practice. This version is 49 words, keeping it under 50 while preserving the key themes. Would you like me to also craft a shorter, 30‑word promotional blurb for visitor‑facing materials?

In the late 19th century, Quebec artists embraced Impressionism, blending European modernism with Canadian landscapes and city scenes. This exhibition highlights masterworks from Montreal to Charlevoix, enriched with archival photography and artifacts that reveal the heart of Quebec’s cultural identity.

Jackson’s Wars: A.Y. Jackson before the Group of Seven explores rarely seen works from his travels in Europe and rural Canada, including powerful First World War battlefield paintings, offering a fresh perspective on the legacy of one of Canada’s most significant artists.

This exhibition includes more than 100 photographs taken by John Macfie (1925–2018), a settler trapline manager who worked in Northern Ontario in the 1950s and 1960s. Macfie travelled with a camera, recording life in Anishinaabe, Cree, and Anisininew communities during a period of intense and rapid change. The people and places of Attawapiskat, Sandy Lake, Mattagami, and other communities across the Hudson's Bay watershed are revealed through his lens in ways that emphasize the warmth and continuity of community life. Curated by nîpisîhkopâwiyiniw (Willow Cree) curator, writer, journalist, cultural advocate, and commentator Paul Seesequasis, the exhibition centers the lives and resiliency of the Indigenous people represented, many of whom have been identified by Macfie and Seesequasis.

Highlighting a recent gift from Salah Bachir and Jacob Yerex, this exhibition pairs Betty Goodwin with David Altmejd. Both artists explore memory, loss, and life’s ephemerality through inventive materials and imagery, with works spanning Goodwin’s career and Altmejd’s major 2007 sculpture.

Bertram Brooker: When We Awake! February 10 to June 2, 2024 About the Exhibition Bertram Brooker: When We Awake! examines the career of Bertram Brooker (1888–1955), the first Canadian artist...

Ghosts of Canoe Lake: New Work by Marcel Dzama https://mcmichael.com/wp-content/uploads/DZAMA5380_WEB.jpg December 9, 2023 – June 9, 2024 About the Exhibition Marcel Dzama's delicate and fantastical drawings made with ink, watercolour...

Cobalt: A Mining Town and the Canadian Imagination November 18 to April 21, 2024 About the Exhibition Cobalt, Ontario—some 500 kilometres north of Toronto—was established in 1904 following the discovery...

Moridja Kitenge Banza: Topographies Nov 18, 2023 – April 21, 2024 About the Exhibition Using gestural brushwork, bold colour, and the contours observed in the palm of his own hand,...

Ann MacIntosh Duff July 1, 2023 - February 11, 2024 Artworks from the Exhibition For over 70 years, Ann MacIntosh Duff (1925–2022) painted the landscapes and everyday moments of her...

Tom Thomson (1877–1917) is indisputably Canada’s preeminent modern painter, and his catalytic achievement changed the face of Canadian painting forever. This exhibition will offer a close look at Thomson’s legacy, focusing on the small en plein air oil sketch, of which he is the supreme master.