Georgia O’Keeffe at the AGO
“I found I could say things with color and shape that I couldn’t say any other way–things I had no words for.” – Georgia O’Keeffe Lucky Toronto! The city is the only North American stop for the blockbuster exhibition Georgia O’Keeffe, on now at the Art Gallery of Ontario until July 30, 2017. The retrospective covers […]
CHIHULY: spectacular glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly at the ROM
“I want people to be overwhelmed with light and color in a way that they’ve never experienced.” – Dale Chihuly Opening this weekend at the Royal Ontario Museum, the first major exhibition in Toronto of spectacular glass sculpture by American master Dale Chihuly. CHIHULY at the ROM features new and early works in eleven installations designed […]
Visions of Mughal India and Howard Hodgkin paintings at Aga Khan Museum, Toronto
Two brilliant exhibitions on now at the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, reveal British painter Howard Hodgkin’s lifelong fascination with India. Inspired by India: Paintings by Howard Hodgkin features the artist’s own work inspired by the energy, light and colours of India. Visions of Mughal India: The Collection of Howard Hodgkin displays extraordinary historical pieces from Hodgkin’s private collection. […]
35 centuries of glass art at Corning Museum of Glass, NY
My fall foliage break was extra-colorful this year as our destination was the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York. The four-hour drive from Toronto offered rural vignettes of pumpkin stands, cornfields, crows and Victorian homes decked for Halloween. As night and rain fell, we checked into our hotel and curled up with a […]
Atlantic City’s cool new Arts Garage
I often wish I were in Atlantic City. No more so than today, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new Arts Garage. When I toured the site a few weeks ago, workers were just putting finishing touches to the complex that marks phase one in the creation of a new Arts District in the heart […]
David Bowie is at the Art Gallery of Ontario
A visit to an exhibition sparks a remarkable memory. Once upon a time in Toronto… **** I first saw the blockbuster exhibition David Bowie is at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London this spring and couldn’t wait to see it here at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. The V&A show had much the […]
Mesopotamia: Inventing Our World at the ROM
There are some great shows in Toronto this summer. A must-see is Mesopotamia: Inventing Our World at the Royal Ontario Museum until January 5, 2014. This blockbuster exhibition features over 170 treasures from the acclaimed antiquities collection of the British Museum in London, England. Mesopotamia (meaning ‘between rivers’) lay in the Middle East between the Tigris and […]
In Brussels, the visual enigmas of René Magritte
Green apples, bowler hats, clouds–the imagery of Belgian Surrealist painter René Magritte (1898-1967) is familiar to all of us. His personal iconography has pervaded popular culture via countless movies (Toys, I Heart Huckabees, The Thomas Crown Affair), posters (The Exorcist), video games, television shows (the Simpsons), music videos and rock album covers (Paul McCartney owns many of his […]
Rijksmuseum reopens! Amsterdam
Is the Rijksmuseum now the best museum in the world? I wondered as I entered the Netherlands’ national museum for the invitation-only press preview earlier this month. Years ago, when I first visited the Rijksmuseum as an art history student, I remember floorboards creaking as I approached Rembrandt’s iconic Night Watch. The Dutch Masters were […]
Postcard from Europe: Rijksmuseum countdown, Amsterdam
Walking through Amsterdam’s Museumplein tonight after a gala candlelit dinner at the Concertgebouw, I noticed the Rijksmuseum is keeping its own ‘night watch’ countdown until the museum’s official reopening to the public on April 13. The building looks spectacular from the exterior and I can’t wait to see the interior tomorrow at the press preview. […]