Visitors outside Gallery entrance (taken on the last Sunday of the exhibition). Photo courtesy of the AGO.
Over the past 125 years, the AGO has been no stranger to Picasso-mania in Toronto. One of the most recent highlights came in 2021 with Picasso: Painting the Blue Period, the first exhibition in Canada to focus on the early works of Pablo Picasso. Visitors got the chance to delve into new scientific and art historical research undertaken by the Art Gallery of Ontario and The Phillips Collection on the three Blue Period paintings in their respective collections: The Blue Room (Paris, 1901; The Phillips Collection), Crouching Beggarwoman (Barcelona, 1902; Art Gallery of Ontario), and The Soup (Barcelona, 1903; Art Gallery of Ontario).
Before this, another wave of Picasso-mania swept through the AGO in 2012, when the AGO brought in over 150 masterworks by the modernist master from the Musée National Picasso in Paris, France. As the only Canadian stop on the exhibition’s travelling tour, the iconic exhibition showcased Picasso’s works across all his major periods.
However, no Picasso exhibition of any scale can quite rival the nostalgia of the groundbreaking 1964 exhibition. At that time, the Art Gallery of Toronto (as the AGO was then called) thrilled Toronto audiences with the first-ever Canadian retrospective of Pablo Picasso’s work. The month-long visual extravaganza showcased 270 artworks on loan from all over the world. By 1960s standards, the numbers are astounding: 107,214 visitors came through our doors, and 23,736 copies of the catalogue were sold.
We have photos to prove it, including around-the-block lineups (including the old Art Gallery of Toronto façade) and bustling galleries.
Picasso and Man, view of central fountain in Walker Court. Photo courtesy of the AGO.
Image courtesy of the AGO.
Picasso and Man, exhibition opening. Photo courtesy of the AGO.
In celebration of the AGO’s 125th anniversary, Foyer is highlighting foundational moments in the Gallery’s history that have helped make the AGO the institution it is today. Learn more about AGO history here on ago.ca/125.
