The McMichael art gallery:
The Little House That Grew

The McMichael art gallery, officially known as the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, is a BIG museum located in a SMALL town.

Photo Credit: McMichael Canadian Art Collection

The village of Kleinburg Ontario lies about 28 km north of Toronto. The gallery has been called “the spiritual home of the Group of Seven” and is also famous for its collections of Aboriginal paintings and Inuit sculpture and prints. If you are interested in Canadian art, a visit to this Ontario museum is a real treat. While it’s theoretically possible to get there using public transit (during certain restricted hours), in practice you’ll probably be stuck having to drive there. But trust me, it's worth the trip.

Why is this important collection so far off the beaten track anyway? Why isn’t it in a big city centre? The reason for that lies in history (see the History section on the next page). In any case, if you DO make it out here, you’ll find that the setting works very well with the art in the gallery, since the theme of so much of that work is Canadian landscape and nature in general.

The grounds of the gallery are certainly spectacular. One hundred acres of woods surround this sprawling yet homey fieldstone-and-log museum. Plan a full day if you can, taking a few hours for a gallery visit then a couple more for a hike through the forest or a picnic under the trees. You could also walk or drive to the main street of tiny Kleinburg and visit the shops selling art, antiques, gifts, clothing, and books, and have lunch at one of the little cafes. But first things first! What’s there to see at the McMichael art gallery?

The Collection

The highlights of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection include:

* more than 90 Tom Thomson sketches and paintings

* 1,700 works by the Group of Seven

* 1,200 works by Aboriginal and Inuit artists, including Norval Morrisseau and Kenojuak Ashevak

* works by other major Canadian artists such as Emily Carr, Clarence Gagnon, James Wilson Morrice

My favourite works are by the Group of Seven. As you wander through the building, you’ll find windows that open onto surrounding woods, constantly reminding you of nature close at hand. There’s something about this green (and in winter, evergreen) setting that makes these iconic takes on the Canadian landscape even more poignant.

The room with the soaring ceiling and totem poles is amazing. Here you’ll find many masks by Aboriginal west coast artists as well as paintings by Emily Carr that go so well with them.

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