ABSTRACT
The Art Gallery of Toronto - Pattern and Process
of Growth: 1872 - 1966
Susan J. Lowery
1985
Museum preoccupations within Canadian public art museums
and galleries have developed significantly throughout the twentieth century and art
institutions have evolved with an increasing awareness of the improvements of standards
and a larger responsibility in the realm of public education. The Art Gallery of Toronto
has been chosen as a case for study of the way in which one of Canada's major public art
galleries has developed in the present century. Through an historical analysis of the
Gallery, this paper explores the evolution of such museum concerns as the growth of the
Gallery's permanent collection; the development of exhibition, education and related
programmes, funding sources, nomination of advisory boards and committees; the development
of policies, membership, and the growth of physical facilities. Efforts to establish an
art museum for Toronto were initiated by the Ontario Society of Artists in the nineteenth
century. These pre-beginnings are examined in the first chapter of the paper. Throughout
the history of the AGT the institution encouraged and supported Canadian artists and kept
abreast of international art movements as discussed in the remaining chapters of the
paper.
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