Government of Ontario Art Collection - Page Banner

The formation of the Government of Ontario Art Collection dates to the middle of the 19th century and was largely due to the initiative of one man. With additional works acquired (and lost) over the ensuing years, the collection today comprises almost 2,500 historical and contemporary works of art.

While many of these works may be found in Toronto's Legislative Building and in ministry and government offices throughout the city, a significant number are also located in 30 other towns and cities across the province.

The collection was recently transferred to the Archives of Ontario where it represents a small but very public part of the Archives' vast holdings.

 Little Boy (detail), 1990 - Leland Bell

Click to see a larger version (256K)
Little Boy (detail), 1990
Leland Bell, (b. 1953)
Acrylic on canvas
Purchase for the Willet G. Miller Centre,
Sudbury, 1991
Government of Ontario Art Collection, 658510

 

Untitled, 1967, Jack Bush

The Story of The Government
of Ontario Art Collection

 

Go to: Narrated Virtual Tour

Take a Narrated Virtual Tour of a selection
of works from the Art Collection

Note: Scroll down on each page and click the arrow on the sound control panel to start the narration. Then use the links provided to navigate to other images in the tour.

Start tour by clicking here, or if you would like to go directly to a particular work that's included in the tour, click on the link in the list below.

Note: To hear the narration you will need an application on your computer that is capable of playing sound files. Also, some of the image and sound files are quite large and may take a moment to load.

Key to Abbreviations:

O.S.A. - Ontario Society of Artists (founded 1872)
R.C.A. - Royal Canadian Academy of Art (founded 1880)
A.R.C.A. - Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art
C.S.P.W.C. - Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour (founded 1925)