Emily Carr. Trees in the Sky, 1939. Oil on canvas, Unframed: 111.6 × 68.7 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario. Gift of Richard M. Ivey, 2008. Photo © AGO. 2008/224
As anyone who has ever waited for a bus in a snow squall can attest to, winter can be a grey, draining affair. But while science remains a bit vague on the physical benefits of colour exposure, we at Foyer have no such doubts. When confronted with yet another cloudy polar vortex, we take solace in the blue skies of great art.
Try it for yourself! Join us as we spend the next two and a half minutes looking at the following five artworks. Allow yourself to be transported under blue skies to forests, seaside and fields in Nova Scotia, British Columbia, France and Tuscany. Let the names of the various blue pigments - lapis lazuli, cerulean, cobalt, Han blue - roll around your tongue. And be comforted that, indeed, brighter – bluer – days are ahead.
James Wilson Morrice. The Beach, St. Malo, c. 1900. Oil on canvas, Overall: 38.5 × 55.5 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario. Bequest of David R. Morrice, Montreal, 1981. Photo © AGO. 81/282
Feel better yet? You do? Great. Do it again.
Claude Monet. Étretat, L'Aiguille et la Porte d'Aval, 1885-1886. oil on panel, Overall: 85.4 x 44.2 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario. Anonymous bequest, 1991. Photo © AGO. 91/377
Not feeling the rush? There is only one thing we can suggest: more art, and this time, get closer.
Alex Colville. Elm Tree at Horton Landing, 1956. Oil on hardboard, 121.6 x 91.1 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario. Gift from the McLean Foundation, 1958. © Art Gallery of Ontario. 57/42
Circle of Nicola da Urbino, Plate: The Justice of Trajan, with Unidentified Coat-of-Arms, c. 1530-1535, Tin-glazed earthenware. Overall: 4 cm (1 9 / 16 in.) Outside: 47.3 cm (18 5 / 8 in.) The Thomson Collection © Art Gallery of Ontario
See these and other blue skies, from Toronto and around the world, on view now, only at the AGO. Admission is always free for AGO Members, Annual Pass holders and Ontarians under 25.
![Attributed to Andrea Susan. [Susanna standing in the road], October 1964.](/sites/default/files/styles/image_small/public/2023-03/AGOCasaSusanna121886WebandStandard%20PowerPoint.jpg?itok=wIAUCJJ5)
![Unknown photographer, Chillin on the beach, Santa Monica [Couple on beach blanket]](/sites/default/files/styles/image_small/public/2023-04/RSZ%20WMM.jpg?itok=nUdDiiKr)
![Keith Haring in a Top Hat [Self-Portrait], (1989)](/sites/default/files/styles/image_small/public/2023-11/KHA-1626_representation_19435_original-Web%20and%20Standard%20PowerPoint.jpg?itok=MJgd2FZP)
