From Private Passion to Public Legacy: Celebrating the McMichael’s Opening Anniversary

Sixty years ago this summer, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection opened its doors to the public for the first time. From 1966 to 2026, what began as Robert and Signe McMichael’s personal passion for the Group of Seven has since grown into an institution unlike any other in Canada. 

The story of the McMichael began when Robert and Signe McMichael purchased ten acres of land in the village of Kleinburg. Surrounded by the forests and rolling hills of the Humber River valley, their unique home was designed by the architect Leo Venchiarutti in 1954. Inspired by the landscape around them, the McMichaels began collecting paintings by Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven—artists whose work was shaped by encounters with similar natural environments.  

As their collection grew, so too did public interest. By the early 1960s, hundreds of visitors were making the journey to Kleinburg to view the McMichaels’ remarkable collection, displayed throughout their home. In 1962, the couple relocated Tom Thomson’s shack, his Toronto studio, to their property and began restoring it, further transforming their home into a gathering place for Canadian art and its history. By 1965, their collection comprised 194 paintings, acquired not only through the couple’s own purchases but also through the generosity of enthusiastically like-minded collectors and artists. 

The McMichaels soon came to understand that they had become custodians of something much larger than a private collection. In 1965, they offered to donate their home, land, and collection to the Province of Ontario, laying the foundation for what was then known as the McMichael Conservation Collection of Art. Just eight months later, on July 8, 1966, the gallery officially opened its doors as a permanent public resource. 

Looking back on those formative years in his 1986 memoir, One Man’s Obsession, Robert McMichael considers the conviction that guided their work:  

“we were consciously envisioning a publicly owned gallery and actively planning and collecting for it, convinced that it would one day blossom into a distinctively Canadian sanctuary that could be enjoyed by all. Our enthusiasm had been infectious and persuaded many of those who shared our vision to give us their paintings. It was an extraordinary demonstration of trust that turned our plans from a personal desire for the fulfillment of our ideas to a deeply felt moral obligation.” 

The McMichael Conservation Collection of Art officially opened to the public on July 8, 1966. More than two hundred guests gathered in Kleinburg for the occasion, including A.Y. Jackson, A.J. Casson, F.H. Varley, and Yvonne McKague Housser—artists whose work and friendship had helped shape the McMichaels’ remarkable undertaking. 

The celebrations included the unveiling of A.Y. Jackson’s First Snow, Algoma, 1919–20, donated by Percy Hilborn in memory of his wife and identified by Jackson as his favourite of his paintings. Archival photographs from the day capture a remarkable moment in Canadian art history: artists, collectors, supporters, and community members celebrating a new public home for the art of Canada. 

Much has changed in the six decades since. From an original gift of 194 paintings, the McMichael’s permanent collection has grown to encompass almost eight thousand works of art, expanding the stories told within its walls and bringing historical and contemporary artists into dialogue across generations. Yet the relationship between art, people, and place remains at the heart of the gallery today. 

As we celebrate the anniversary of our opening, we honour not only Robert and Signe McMichael’s extraordinary gift, but also the artists, collectors, supporters, and visitors who have helped transform a private passion into a public institution—and who continue to inspire generations of visitors from Canada and around the world.