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We make Canadian art engaging, accessible, & multi-vocal through our open-access bilingual content. The ACI is a registered Canadian charity.

Read our social media policy here: https://www.aci-iac.ca/about/contact/social-media-policy/ The Art Canada Institute is a non-profit research organization based at Massey College, University of Toronto. Founded in 2012, the ACI is the only national institution whose mandate is to promote the study of an inclusive multi-vocal Canadian art history to as broad an audience as possible, in both Englis

h and French, within Canada and internationally. The ACI works with more than 50 of Canada’s leading art historians, curators, and visual culture experts who are dedicated to the creation of authoritative original content on the people, themes, and topics that have defined Canadian art history.

08/26/2026

🐶 “Girl with a Dog, Lower Saint Lawrence,” 1905, exemplifies the masterful ability of William Brymner (1855-1925) to depict the subtle yet profound relationship between a pet and its human companion using an impressionistic style.

With its perked-up ears and alert expression, Brymner foregrounds an important role that dogs often play in our lives: the ever-watchful protector, regardless of size.

🐾 Happy International Dog Day.

Read more about the father of modern Canadian art in "William Brymner: Life & Work" by Jocelyn Anderson: https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/william-brymner/

Image Credits:
William Brymner, “Girl with a Dog, Lower Saint Lawrence,” 1905. Collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Gift of Sarah Humphrey and Gerald van Gurp in honour of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' 150th Anniversary (2012.46). Photo credit: MMFA, Christine Guest.

08/24/2026

🚲 Alex Colville (1920-2013) uses animals in his works as a compositional pairing--such as in “Cyclist and Crow.” For the artist, humans think, while animals act, and in their juxtaposition something important about the world can be expressed.

A drive to make sense of life marked Colville’s entire mature career. He was intent on creating a world of order from the reality of chaos, always aware of the essential and tragic fragility of this Sisyphean task.

Today marks what would have been the artist’s 106th birthday.

Learn more about this iconic artist in "Alex Colville: Life & Work" by Ray Cronin: https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/alex-colville/

Image Credits:
Alex Colville, “Cyclist and Crow,” 1981, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Lavalin Inc. Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. don de Lavalin inc. © A.C. Fine Arts Inc. Courtesy of Mira Godard Gallery.

08/22/2026

One of the many women who attended the Emma Lake workshops was the Calgary-based Marion Nicoll (1909-1985), who depicted this Alberta scene, “Utopia” in 1947.

On this month in 1955, the first Emma Lake Artist Workshop was launched, inviting contemporary artists and thinkers to northern Saskatchewan to work and exchange ideas with leading local talent, leading to some of the most important gatherings in the nation’s art history.

Working with American artist Will Barnet at Emma Lake inspired Nicoll to make a dramatic change in her art, ensuring “no overlapping transparencies or fuzzy edges”--a conviction evident in “Sicilia” (slide 3).

Read more about this celebrated pioneer of contemporary art in “Marion Nicoll: Life & Work” by Catherine Mastin: https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/marion-nicoll/

Image Credits:
1/ Marion Nicoll, “Utopia,” 1947, University of Regina President’s Art Collection, Saskatchewan. © Glenbow Museum, Calgary. Photo credit: University of Regina.
2/ Portrait of Marion Nicoll. Collection of the Glenbow Archives, Calgary. Marion and Jim Nicoll Fonds (PA-2435).
3/ Marion Nicoll, "Sicilia," 1959. Collection of Ellen & Daryl Fridhandler, K.C., Calgary, Alberta. Courtesy of Trépanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, Alberta. © Glenbow Museum, Calgary.

08/21/2026

🛶 "Summer Drift" by David Thauberger (b.1948) captures an image plucked straight from the Canadian imagination: a vibrant red canoe floating motionless on a mirror-still lake, snow-capped peaks rising behind it.

Born from Indigenous ingenuity and refined over centuries to traverse this land’s endless network of lakes and rivers, the canoe was once essential technology, relied on for transportation and survival.

Over time, the canoe has become a symbol of leisure, wilderness, and freedom. From coast to coast, across generations and mediums, artists have returned to it, using the same vessel to tell different stories.

📖 Read more in our newsletter: https://www.aci-iac.ca/newsletters/

Image Credits:
1/ David Thauberger, "Summer Drift," 2018, courtesy of Remai Modern.
2/ Frances Anne Hopkins, "Shooting the Rapids," 1879, Library and Archives Canada.
3/ Illingworth Kerr, “Portage," c.1930, courtesy of The Canadian Canoe Museum.
4/ David J. Brooks, "Two Mi’kmaq Catching Loons," 1985, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.
5/ William Raphael, "With the Current," 1892, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal.
6/ Kent Monkman, "Miss Chief’s Wet Dream," 2018, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.
7/ Tom Thomson, "The Canoe," 1912, AGO - Art Gallery of Ontario. Gift from the J.S. McLean Collection, Toronto, 1969, donated by the Ontario Heritage Foundation, 1988. L69.48. Photo © AGO. Courtesy of Mira Godard Gallery.
8/ Pudlo Pudlat, "Canoe on Sled with Landscape," 1976, AGO - Art Gallery of Ontario. Gift of Samuel and Esther Sark, Toronto, 2002, 2002/10806, © Estate of Pudlo Pudlat. Reproduced with the permission of Dorset Fine Arts.
9/ Emily Carr, "Indian War Canoe (Alert Bay)," 1912, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal.

08/19/2026

📸 Did you know that this daguerreotype of Niagara Falls by Hugh Lee Pattinson is regarded to be the first photograph to have ever been taken in Canada?

As enthusiasm for new formats and uses of photography grew in its first two decades of its existence, the stage was set for creating new businesses and different ways of imagining or presenting a nation.

📷 Happy World Photography Day

Trace the evolution of the medium and its lasting impact on Canadian art and culture in “Photography in Canada, 1839-1989: An Illustrated History” by Sarah Bassnett and Sarah Parsons: https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/photography-in-canada-1839-1989/

Image Credits:
Hugh Lee Pattinson, “The Horseshoe Falls, part of Niagara Falls,” 1840, daguerreotype, Robinson Library Special Collections, Newcastle University.

08/18/2026

Edna Taçon (1905-1980), whose “Self-Portrait” is shared here, originally trained as a violinist, turning to abstract art on the encouragement of her husband. She would ultimately become a prominent figure in the non-objective art movement during the first half of the twentieth century.

Her words describe her style brilliantly:

“Just as an orchestra produces a symphony through sound, non-objective art produces a symphony through colour.”

🎂 Happy birthday Edna Taçon.

Image Credits:
1/ Edna Taçon, “Self-portrait,” 1944-1949, collection of Paul and Susan Taçon. © Estate of Edna Taçon. Photo: AGO - Art Gallery of Ontario.
2/ Edna Taçon, “Untitled,” 1941, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. © Estate of Edna Taçon.
3/ Photo from the exhibition pamphlet for Edna Taçon: Objective for Non-Objective Painting, Eaton’s Fine Art Gallery, 1944, Edward P. Taylor Library & Archives, Art Gallery of Ontario. Photo: AGO - Art Gallery of Ontario.

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08/17/2026

🎉 Congratulations to Howie Tsui and Crystal Mowry, recipients of the Hnatyshyn Foundation’s 2026 Mid-Career Excellence Awards!

Interdisciplinary artist Howie Tsui has received the Mid-Career Excellence Award for Visual Arts, recognizing his innovative practice spanning painting, sculpture, animation, and installation.

Crystal Mowry, Director of Programs at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, has received the Mid-Career Excellence Award for Contemporary Art Curating. Her practice is grounded in collaboration, curiosity, and supporting artists in the development of new projects.

ACI is pleased to have worked with Crystal on Outside the Palace of Me, created in collaboration with artist Shary Boyle.

👏 Congratulations to Howie and Crystal on this well-deserved recognition!

Image Credits:
1/ Howie Tsui. Photograph by Rémi Thériault, courtesy of Howie Tsui.
2/ Howie Tsui, “Parallax Chambers” at Hanart TZ, 2018 - ongoing. Single-channel algorithmic animation sequence. Photo: Kitmin Lee, Hanart TZ Gallery. Courtesy of Howie Tsui.
3/ Crystal Mowry. Photograph by Carey Shaw. Courtesy of Crystal Mowry.
4/ Cover of “Outside the Palace of Me,” by Shary Boyle.

08/14/2026

📸 Our newsletter this week (https://www.aci-iac.ca/newsletters/) is about watershed moments when the camera helped redefine this country's visual history. For more on this subject, read "Photography in Canada, 1839-1989" (https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/photography-in-canada-1839-1989/).

World Photography Day on August 19 commemorates the announcement of the daguerreotype—the first successful photographic process invented by Louis Daguerre in 1839.

For over two centuries, photography has evolved tremendously in Canada, offering a powerful medium of expression, communication, and documentation to many artists, including Yousuf Karsh, Shelley Niro, and William Notman.

Canada has played a vital role in that evolution, from early studio portraiture and documentary images to contemporary experimental practices that have pushed the boundaries of the medium.

Image Credits:
1/ "Maun-gua-daus (or Maun-gwa-daus), alias George Henry (born c.1807), original chief of the Ojibwa Nation of Credit (Upper Canada)," c.1846, photographer unknown, Library and Archives Canada.
2/ Alexander Ross, Hon. Donald Smith driving the last spike to complete the Canadian Pacific Railway, November 7, 1885, Library and Archives Canada.
3/ Left: William Notman, "Skating Carnival, Victoria Rink," 1870, Musée McCord Stewart Museum.
Right: C.D. Hoy, Group of men in front of C.D. Hoy’s store in Quesnel, c.1910, Barkerville Historic Town Archives.
4/ "Veronica Foster, posing with a finished Bren gun," Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1941, photographer unknown, Library and Archives Canada.
5/ Left: Yousuf Karsh, "Winston Churchill," December 30, 1941, Art Gallery of Alberta. Right:
Suzy Lake, "Miss Chatelaine," 1973, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
6/ Jeff Wall, "A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai)," 1993, courtesy of the artist.
7/ Shelley Niro, "The Rebel," 1987, courtesy of the artist.
8/ Edward Burtynsky, "Nickel Tailings #34, Sudbury, Ontario," 1996, courtesy of the artist.
9/ "Sara Cwynar: Baby Blue Benzo Beta" (installation view), 2026, at MOCA Toronto. Courtesy of the artist, Cooper Cole, Toronto, and The Approach, London.

08/12/2026

🎨 International Youth Day is a time to reflect on the nascent talent present in the early careers of Canadian artists’, like Meryl McMaster, who made “Anima,” 2012, at 24, a work that would contribute to her ongoing explorations of identity and the “more-than-human world.”

From a 22-year-old Takao Tanabe gaining experience from a sign painting class at the Winnipeg School of Art to a 19-year-old Walter S. Allward winning a competition to produce a statue of Peace, the works shared here reveal the beginnings of extraordinary artistic journeys.

🎓 At the Art Canada Institute, we celebrate the next generation of Canadian artists through our education initiatives, including our free Teacher Resource Guides, the Canadian Art Inspiration Student Challenge, and our annual Student Challenge exhibition at Art Toronto, where young artists have the opportunity to showcase their work on Canada's largest art fair stage.

Image Credits:
1/ Meryl McMaster, “Anima,” 2012, courtesy of Meryl McMaster.
2/ Headshot of Meryl McMaster.
3/ Takao Tanabe, “Christmas Card,” c.1948, Winnipeg Art Gallery. Courtesy of Mira Godard Gallery.
4/ Takao Tanabe at Lemon Creek Japanese Internment Camp, B.C., 1943, photographer, unknown.
5/ Walter S. Allward, Northwest Rebellion Monument, 1894-96, Queen’s Park, Toronto.
6/ Walter S. Allward, c.1909, photograph by Pringle & Booth, Toronto.

08/10/2026

James Wilson Morrice (1865-1924) transports us to Venice’s Grand Canal with his “Venice at the Golden Hour,” c.1901-02.

One of Canada’s leading modernist painters, the Montreal-born Morrice captured the city at the “golden hour,” when the setting sum bathes every surface it touches in a warm glow.

🎂 Happy birthday James Wilson Morrice.

Image Credits:
James Wilson Morrice, “Venice at the Golden Hour,” c.1901-02, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal.

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