The Magazine

McMichael Director Sarah Milroy reflects on the gallery’s extraordinary holdings of works by Jean Paul Riopelle — paintings packed with gestural force that tell the story of Riopelle’s radical defiance in the face of social conformity and religious repression.

Elizabeth Wyn Wood (1903–1966) transformed what sculpture in Canada could be — rendering islands, rocks, and trees in three dimensions through clean, curving lines drawn from nature rather than imitating it.

Anne Savage painted landscapes full of rhythm, jewel-toned colour, and an intimate sense of place — from the hills of the Laurentians to the mountains of British Columbia — in whatever spare hours her teaching career allowed. Discover the life and practice of one of Canada’s most distinctive landscape painters in this artist spotlight by McMichael curator John Geoghegan.

As part of a national series marking the twentieth anniversary of Beyond Wilderness, the McMichael hosted a panel discussion examining the evolving role of landscape in contemporary Canadian art. Artists Sky Glabush, Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka, and Michelle Sound reflected on how place, nature, and personal history continue to shape artistic practice today.

Join us in celebrating the recent achievements of Congolese-born, Montreal-based artist Moridja Kitenge Banza, from the launch of his first monograph to the debut of the inaugural Congo Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Plus, enjoy a newly released short film on his practice.

In this Director’s Choice essay, Sarah Milroy explores David Milne’s Passing Car, 1913, a vibrant depiction of modern New York painted at the height of the artist’s early career. The article considers Milne’s innovative painterly language, his complicated relationship with urban life, and the lasting significance of this rare surviving city scene in the McMichael collection.

The paintings of Bess Harris capture the spirit of the landscape through a vivid, intuitive approach shaped outside formal academic training. An artist, writer, and critic deeply embedded in Canada’s modernist art community, she made significant yet often overlooked contributions to Canadian art history.

Explore how this striking work reveals J.E.H. MacDonald’s bold and experimental late style, capturing the physical intensity and modernist vision of his encounters with the Canadian Rockies.

Curator John Geoghegan visits That Green Ideal: Emily Carr and the Idea of Nature at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Tom Thomson’s sketch and canvas depicting Algonquin Park during the spring thaw are among the most prized holdings of the McMichael.

Stan Douglas’s photographs of Nootka Sound, on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island, document many sites important in the history of both colonial and Indigenous people in the territory.

One of the pleasures of exploring the Kinngait Drawings Archive is discovering works by artists who may not have the household name recognition they deserve. Lucy Qinnuayuak (1915–1982) is one such artist.