Anyone who has ever taken a trip to one of Toronto’s civic buildings will immediately notice how dour and sterile they feel, but throughout their halls and within the offices of politicians and senior officials are selections of the city’s expansive art collection, one that many residents may be surprised to learn exists — and contains several pieces by the Group of Seven.
Global News was given a rare look inside the archival collection, which is housed inconspicuously in the upper levels of St. Lawrence Market. Above the city’s Market Gallery (where several of the pieces are often displayed through rotating shows) are racks of paintings acquired over the decades. The stipulation of new additions to the collection is that they must reflect Toronto life in some way.
The collection first began in the early to mid-1800s and has since grown to feature around 3,000 paintings and sculptures. A lot of the collection has been either donated or acquired by the city. Like the city’s population, the focus of the collection has shifted to include more contemporary pieces, including Indigenous artwork.
One of the most prominent pieces on display to the public is on the second floor of Toronto City Hall, just outside the mayor’s office, where a massive, multi-panel painting by Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau hangs.
But a lot of the works aren’t so easy to spot, with many hanging within offices of senior staff or politicians. Mayor Olivia Chow recently selected several pieces to hang in her office complex and she enthusiastically showed off her picks in a one-on-one interview. Chow, who has a background in fine art, also has a very keen eye for what she wants to showcase in her office.
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Two of the pieces she selected are original A.J. Casson paintings. Casson isn’t the only Group of Seven picks Chow had her eye on. She said while in the archive, she was crawling on her hands and knees using her cellphone’s flashlight when a Lawren Harris caught her eye. It ended up being a reproduction of Harris’s Icebergs painting, but the team watching over the city’s collection said it was painted under the watchful eye of a surviving Group of Seven member in the late 1960s.
Inside the St. Lawrence Market archives, interim senior curator Cathy Molloy mused that the collection has moved beyond the static portraits featuring a lot of “political figures, older white men.”
“It can be contemporary art as well,” Molloy said. “It doesn’t have to be an actual picture of something in Toronto, but has to reflect Toronto art so now there are Indigenous pieces in the collection. It’s quite the variety.”
Each year, with a modest $5,000 budget, the city adds a few more pieces to the collection with selections from the Toronto Outdoor Fair.
“The art is juried before it’s selected by the mayor and the staff member would look at it, so we know the art is of quality,” Molloy said.
This year’s political turmoil at city hall saw the flurry of activity extend to Molloy’s team. Every election cycle, they’re in charge of moving artwork from the collection into new elected officials’ offices. John Tory’s sudden departure from the mayor’s seat meant they had to swap pieces selected by Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie while she acted as steward for the city before the byelection, before again changing the artwork following Chow’s win.
While many pieces are on display throughout heritage properties, Molloy said many people may not be aware of what’s in the collection even as they’re walking by pieces on their way to pay for parking permits or sign up for a marriage licence.
“It is something that we could talk about a lot more,” she said. “It’s meant for public enjoyment and it’s in a public space, so I would hope people notice it when they go in there!”
Chow agrees the collection is something that needs to be celebrated and promoted.
“Being able to tell the story of the city from the artist’s point of view is also really quite important,” she said.
Anyone interested in seeing just what’s in the collection can view its city art archives online catalogue or visit the city’s art and history museums.
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