Freedom Of Expression

 Untitled is this abstract painting by Leon Bellefleur.

Incandescence is the title of this 1968 abstract by Rita Letendre.

More abstracts can be seen here.

Red Pair is by Don Jarvis.

Paraskeva Clark, a Russian immigre to Canada, painted Homage To A Soviet Film, Baltic Deputy in 1968.

Out I went, taking a shot of the Firestone staircase from this floor.

I took a photograph of where I had come in- with a cafe down below as well.

The OAG has art for sale. These two paintings caught my attention.

One last shot, with the OAG in the background from this side, one big white cube. In the foreground, the old Carleton County Gaol, now a youth hostel. And the former courthouse that is now home to Arts Court is at left.

Canadian Creativity

 We start today with Canal in Venice, an 1896 painting by Maurice Cullen.

More works by members of the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, but done with European settings.

Frood Lake At Willisville is the title of this 1963 painting by A.J. Casson.

Four paintings by members of the Group of Seven. At left are Clouds On The Prairies by L.L. Fitzgerald and Lake Simcoe by J.E.H. Macdonald. At right are Looking Towards Seymour From Lynn Valley, BC by F.H. Varley and April Morning, Labine Point, Great Bear Lake, NWT by Franz Johnston.

These paintings are from some of the contemporaries of the Group, some of whom exhibited with them from time to time- artists like Emily Carr, Yvonne McKague Housser, and George Pepper.

A.Y Jackson had a personal friendship with the Firestone family. Along with paintings seen here is one of his field art kits and a pair of his snow shoes.

Fitzroy Harbour is the big painting, and at right is Near Perth and Waters Edge, Duhamel, Quebec.

Here we see some of the more abstract works in the collection by later artists. We'll finish this series tomorrow.

Visions And Views

Evening, Bic, Quebec is a 1974 painting by Henri Masson, and it is the first thing one sees coming into the next gallery space. 

Visions And Views is the current title of the exhibition in this space, spotlighting a number of works in the Firestone Collection.

40 percent of the Firestone Collection comes from works by the Group of Seven, the Canadian artists who exhibited together for a number of years and who left a big legacy on their contemporaries and the country.

This is Algoma Country II by Lawren Harris of the Group, done in 1923.

Here we have Interior Of An Island, Georgian Bay, by Arthur Lismer, another member of the Group, a 1952 painting.

Two paintings by Lismer- South Beach, Vancouver Island dates to 1963 and Georgian Bay Pines is from 1962.

In The Nickel Belt is a 1928 painting by Franklin Carmichael of the Group.

These are the works of A.Y. Jackson, another member of the Group. Fire Swept Country, Lake Superior dates to 1967. At top right is Willoughby Lake, a 1963 painting. And at lower right is St. Adele, dating to 1959.

These painting are all by A.J. Casson, another member of the Group. The top three are The Valley, Autumn (Lansing), Drag Lake, and Rock Formation-Dorset Road. At bottom are Margaret's Boat- Lake Of Two Rivers, Summer Day- Oxtongue Lake, and Winter Landscape- Muir Park.

Another work by Harris- Mount Thule, Bylot Island, circa 1930.

Expressions

 We begin today with an abstract painting that caught my eye, That Blue, by Kelly Rendek, whose work we saw yesterday.

An astonishing work, large in size, hung on its own. Sarah Tompkins, another graduate of the art program at the University of Ottawa, created Now The Air Is So Filled With Ghosts/ That No One Knows How To Escape Them.

It's an abstract painting, which normally doesn't work for me, but this one mesmerized me. 

A look out from a window here towards the University of Ottawa.

These are collectively called Getting To Know You, a triptych painting by Heer Mandaliya, who I started this off with.

Another of her works- Baithak.

And another, this being Unnoticed- I.

This triptych set is her Unnoticed II. 

I headed out of the first gallery to a lower level, having had found the works of all three artists captivating. A patio down here is still locked for the winter, but offers good views. And one can photograph from the inside.

This staircase heading down to the other main entrance once stood in the Firestone home. The Firestones left their collection of their art to the province in order for it to be publicly accessible, and it ended up being presented to the city. Much of the Firestone Collection is managed by the OAG.