A behind-the-scenes look at the Art Gallery of Ontario’s most iconic paintings

In the year 1900, William Mackenzie, Flora Eaton and J.W.L. ­Forster, among other local art lovers, founded the Art Museum of Toronto, and 10 years later, aristocrat Harriet Boulton Smith bequeathed her family manor to give it a proper home. Over the past century, the museum undertook several expansions of Boulton Smith’s historic Grange and gave it a new name. The Art Gallery of Ontario now houses some of the country’s finest works in painting, sculpture and photography. To celebrate its 125th birthday, interpretive planner Nadia Abraham shares the stories behind beloved works from the AGO’s permanent collection.

The Marchesa Casati

This 1919 painting by Augustus John is one of the AGO’s longest-held works. It depicts eccentric Italian socialite Luisa Casati, whose life was the stuff of legend. Born into a wealthy family, she was dedicated to the arts and to living boldly: dressing in suits of armour, walking cheetahs down the streets of Venice and engaging in high-profile love affairs—including with John himself.

The West Wind

The AGO has a whole gallery dedicated to Canadian painter Tom Thomson, but this piece is his most iconic. Thomson was a backwoodsman who camped all over Ontario to capture views like this one. The same year he completed The West Wind, he was found dead in Algonquin Park. His canoe contained only toast, jam, a rubber sheet and a gallon of maple syrup.

Soldier and Girl at Station

Alex Colville met his wife, Rhoda, at Mount Allison University in 1942. Two years later, he left New Brunswick for London to work as a war artist. The couple were reunited in 1945, and their relationship blossomed into one of the greatest romances in Canadian art history, with Rhoda serving as Colville’s model and muse for more than 70 years. This painting could represent either their parting or their reunion. “There’s something otherworldly about this everyday moment—the emptiness of the station, the lights and the never-ending train,” says Abraham.

Portrait of a Lady Holding an Orange Blossom

This piece joined the museum’s collection in 2020. “It took experts from botany, fashion and conservation to understand who this young lady is,” says Abraham. For clues, they looked at the orange blossom in her hand, which is a symbol of fertility; the tree behind her, found to be a plumeria, which is rare in Europe; and her silk gown, which identified her as a member of the European gentry. It was ultimately discovered that the painting is by Jeremias Schultz, a Dutch artist who lived in Amsterdam—but the woman’s identity remains a mystery.

The Wisdom of the Universe

This painting by Indigenous artist Christi Belcourt was commissioned by the AGO in 2014. It’s a subtle call to action, depicting some of the 200 plant and animal species that are threatened, endangered or extinct in Ontario. The dotted painting style evokes Anishinaabe and Métis beading traditions.