The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) has partnered with the Internet Archive to publish 60 years of its exhibition catalogues online. Although there are less than 30 catalogues in the collection, from 1926 to 1987, they offer an interesting glimpse into the development art and art history in Canada.
Amy Furness, AGO Rosamond Ivey Special Collections Archivist and Head, Library & Archives, was responsible for making the initial selection of titles and is already at work selecting the next batch. “These initial 25 represent highlights from the AGO’s first 80 years, and they’re a foundation for more to come – we plan to add Canadian Group of Painters catalogues and examples from the AGO’s 1970s Extension Services exhibitions, among others, in the coming year. This was a grant-funded project for the Internet Archive, and it is a compliment to the AGO’s Publishing department that we were included,” Furness explained.
The list of available digitized catalogues include both historic and art historical documents. Several pamphlets for the Group of Seven’s early exhibitions are included, as is the first exhibition catalogue for the Canadian Group of Painters. Michael Snow/A Survey, the innovative 1970 catalogue designed by the artist and co-published by the AGO and Isaacs Gallery is available in full, as are catalogues for exhibitions by Chana Orloff and Isamu Noguchi, Piet Mondrian and Norval Morrisseau.
As you might expect, the majority of the catalogs are of exhibitions of Canadian art, including the several members of the Group of Seven. The AGO plans to expand the online collection and I hope it will include catalogs from some of the excellent exhibitions they've displayed since 1987.
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