Information on McMichael’s past exhibitions from 1996 to present, organized by year.
If you would like further information on any of the exhibitions you see below, please contact us
2007
Stones, Bones and Stitches
September 29, 2007 to March 30, 2008
Based on a new publication by Tundra Books written by McMichael curators Shelley Falconer and Shawna White, this exhibition features six talented Inuit artists, each of whom works with a different material to create outstanding works of art.
Miller Brittain: When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears
November 16, 2007 to February 10, 2008
A retrospective exhibition celebrating the artistic legacy of Miller Brittain, one of New Brunswick’s most talented artists.
Interpreting Communities: The Group of Seven & their Contemporaries
October 6, 2007 to January 13, 2008
Features selected works on paper by members of the Group of Seven who, in addition to their well –known paintings of the uninhabited landscape, depicted scenes from local communities.
The Art of Robert Bateman
September 1 to November 4, 2007
Although best known for his wildlife paintings, Robert Bateman's work includes a broad range of subjects, including landscapes, still lifes and portraits.
Mary Pratt: Allusions
June 30 to September 30, 2007
A selection of this renowned artist's beautiful Japanese woodblock prints with a single still-life theme - studies of fruit.
Art and Society in Canada: 1913 - 1953
June 2 to August 19, 2007
Art and Society is a stimulating exhibition of more than forty works from the collection of the National Gallery of Canada – including paintings, drawings, prints, and sculpture – looks at three generations of Canadian artists and their visions of the role of art in shaping society.
Takao Tanabe
January 27 to May 21, 2007
Experience a selection of outstanding paintings by Takao Tanabe, a renowned Vancouver Island artist and winner of the Governor General’s Award. Tanabe is one of Canada’s most significant landscape painters and is noted particularly for his depictions of the prairies and the British Columbia coast.
KINNGAIT
Highlights from the Collection
October 7, 2006 to February 18, 2007
This exhibition showcases some of the best-known prints from Kinngait (Cape Dorset) with a focus on selected works by Kenojuak Ashevak, Pudlo Pudlat, Parr, Pitaloosie Saila, Pauta Saila, Kananginak Pootoogook, Sheojuk Etidlooie, Kingmeata Etidlooie, Pitseolak Ashoona, Lucy Qinnuayuak, Kiakshuk, Tudlik, and many other artists.
Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist
September 30 2006, to January 14, 2007
Best known for the development of the Woodland School of painting, Morrisseau’s work is compelling; this exhibition includes pieces that have rarely or never before been displayed. Learn more about this Anishnaabe artist whose unique pictographic style has influenced many other First Nations artists.
Dream : A Tale of Wonder, Wisdom & Wishes
June 10, 2006 to January 7, 2007
Winner of eleven national awards and recent recipient of the International Reading Association Children’s Choice. This delightful exhibition of award-winning children’s illustrations is part of the McMichael’s 40th anniversary celebrations. Featured are original illustrations created by fifteen artists from around the world – including Governor General’s Award winner Barbara Reid – for the best-selling book by Canadian author Susan V. Bosak.
2006
Edwin Holgate
June 24 to September 17, 2006
This outstanding retrospective of Edwin Holgate’s work, organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, is the first since the artist’s death in 1977. The exhibition explores many aspects of this versatile artist’s production, included early works from his Montreal and Paris training, portraits of his Montreal circle of friends and family, paintings in oil and watercolour, his work as a war artist, and prints from his trip to the Skeena River region of British Columbia.
Inuit Sculpture Now
July 1 to September 4, 2006
Organized by the National Gallery of Canada
During the 1950s, the term “contemporary Inuit sculpture” was used to identify new work from that produced earlier, that is during the Prehistoric and Contact eras. Today, however, the term has become something of a misnomer. This exhibition at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg focuses on sculpture created over the past decade and looks at what is really “contemporary” within Inuit sculpture.
The Festive North
October 29, 2005 to June 18, 2006
The Festive North focuses on celebration, showcasing images of traditional and contemporary Inuit games, drum dancing, throat singing, community gatherings and feasts, quite simply all things celebratory in Inuit Art.
THE ROAD: Constructing the Alaska Highway
April 8 to June 11, 2006
To many people the Alaska Highway is simply a long line that connects two dots on a map. To others it is an essential transportation route, linking towns, cities and communities across northern Canada. To others, it is an engineering marvel − a symbol of a history of cooperation between two great nations. To the thousands of people that built it, however, the Alaska Highway was known simply as “The Road.”
Favourite Forty
March 11 to June 11, 2006
As part of the McMichael’s fortieth-anniversary celebrations, gallery visitors were invited to choose their personal favourites from among sixty popular artworks in our permanent collection. Their votes have now been cast and the tally taken! The result is Favourite Forty, a special exhibition based on our visitors’ choices.
Robert Davidson: The Abstract Edge
March 4 to May 14, 2006
Organized by Karen Duffek, Curator of Art at the UBC Museum of Anthropology in collaboration with the National Gallery of Canada, Robert Davidson:The Abstract Edge, the artist’s first solo exhibition in a decade.
People of the Dancing Sky:
The Iroquois Way
December 10, 2005 to March 19, 2006
In 1995, award-winning Toronto photographer Myron Zabol began a five-year project to record, through the eyes of his camera, the lives and traditions of the Haudenosaunee, the Six Nations Iroquois, at the end of the twentieth century.
Jeff Thomas:
Portraits from the Dancing Grounds
December 10, 2005 to March 19, 2006
For Jeff Thomas, this project is about using Edward Curtis’s photographs as a stepping stone to talk about and describe what Indian-ness looks like today, rather than other people’s fantasies of Indian-ness.
2005
Loyal She Remains — Ontario
September 17 to November 27, 2005
This unique touring exhibition circulated by Library and Archives Canada, celebrates the acquisition of art from the Canadiana collection of Peter Winkworth.
The Arctic Image
June 14, 2003 - October 16, 2005
The Arctic Image examines Canada’s North from two distinct perspectives: from the viewpoint of the Inuit who have lived there for generations, and through the eyes of those who came much later and experienced it as a vast unknown territory. The exhibition captures the importance of the Arctic to the Group of Seven ethos and develops the concept of a Canadian spiritual landscape.
Homage to Jean Paul Lemieux
June 4 to September 5, 2005
More than fifty paintings and drawings from this remarkable Québécois artist. On from June 4 to September 5, 2005.
Max Stern, Collector, Art Dealer and Patron
June 4 to August 21, 2005
An exhibition which explored the pivotal role that Max Stern, owner of The Dominion Gallery in Montreal, played in the circulation of Canadian modern art across the country. Paintings by Emily Carr, Paul-Émile Borduas, Stanley Cosgrove, Mabel May and others. Organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
2003
Maria Chapdelaine
September 27, to November 9, 2003
Louis Hémon's classic French Canadian novel, Maria Chapdelaine was brought to life in 1928 when Clarence Gagnon was asked to put illustration to words and created a series of illustrations. All fifty-four of these works were acquired into the McMichael's permanent collection and the first exhibition of these magnificent illustrations was displayed at the McMichael in November of 1987. They have since become a perennial favourite with visitors.
For more information
E.J. Hughes: The B.C. Landscape
November 29, 2003 to February 15, 2004
E.J. Hughes is famous for his strong, appealing images of the landscape and seascape of British Columbia: distinctive in clarity of form and colour, yet tinged with an air of mystery.
2002
Perspectives: Canadian Women Artists
November 23, 2002 to February 16, 2003
An invitation to consider the McMichael Canadian Art Collection’s diverse and varied collection of works by Canadian women artists. The exhibition wove together social touch points, video, poetry and literary excerpts selected by contemporary poet and journalist Lynn Crosbie. The exhibition included works by Laura Muntz Lyall, Helen McNicoll, Anne Savage, Marcelle Ferron, Rita Letendre, Joyce Wieland, Mary Pratt, Daphne Odjig and Natalka Husar.
For more information: McMichael collaborated with the Virtual Museum of Canada to create Perspectives, a virtual exhibit celebrating artwork created by American, Canadian and Mexican women artists. View exhibit.
2001
Carr, O'Keefe, Kahlo:Places of Their Own
June 30, 2001 - September 9, 2001
Few North American women artists have achieved the legendary stature of Emily
Carr (1871-1945, Canadian), Frida Kahlo (1907-1954, Mexican) and Georgia
O’Keeffe (1887-1986, American).
1998
In The Wilds: Canoeing and Canadian Art
June 27, 1998 - November 15, 1998
The canoe is a Canadian icon as familiar as the moose, the beaver and the
maple leaf and, as such, is an important symbol of our mythologized northern
identity. Not surprisingly, therefore, the theme of canoes and canoeing is one
that has often been employed by artists, from prehistoric times to the present.
As may be seen in this exhibition, the manner in which artists have depicted the
canoe has changed over the years.
