In 1902 the Exhibition constructed its first building devoted solely to the display of fine art. Designed in the classical Greek style by architect Beaumont Jarvis, the Art Gallery was located due south of the present-day Music Building and on the site of the current Queen Elizabeth Building. Inside, covering the deep crimson walls, were works of art by the world’s most famous Canadian artists including members of the Group of Seven (A.Y. Jackson, Lawren Harris, Emily Carr, and Frank Johnston),  Bertram Brooker, A.J. Casson, and Owen Staples, as well as international artists including Mary Healey, Alice Des Clayes, Norman Rockwell, Isabel Codrington, Mrs. Laura Knight, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali.

Prior to the construction of the Art Gallery, works of art had been exhibited in the Crystal Palace along with displays of soap and pyramids of biscuits.  By the turn of the century the time was right for an art building and newspapers reported favourably on the new gallery’s construction:

   “The Art Building…long desired and much-dreamed-of [has] at last taken shape in this thing of beauty.  For, compare it with what you may – it will hold its own, in simplicity of design, purity of colour, and charm of proportion.”

(The Star, Sept 2, 1902)

The Art Department proved so popular that a second, larger Art Building was constructed in 1905.  The original Art Building became home to Graphic Arts and Photography.

In 1965, over 300 pieces from the CNE’s collection, including paintings, prints, drawings, miniatures and sculptures, were gifted to the Art Gallery of Ontario and helped to form the core of the AGOs Canadian Historical Collection.

By 1972 both Art Galleries were demolished due to structural concerns and to make room for other construction projects planned for the site.

Date: ca. 1940

Origin: CNE Archives

Collection Number: MG4-S2-IA14652-2

Sources: CNE Archives and The Star Archives