I finally made it to Toronto Archives to get started on my writing project. While this project is one of the main reasons I have decided to take a year off work, I must admit that at times, I am a bit ambivalent about it. I register and start digging into the historical aspects of my topic.
Two hours later, I walk out a bit bug-eyed--time to heal the eyes with some beauty, so I head to the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario).
Today is the first opportunity to preview AGO’s new Shape of Anxiety exhibit, showcasing Henry Moore’s signature reclining figures along with other organically crafted abstract pieces. My favourite is a small lead piece on loan from MOMA. However, there are loads from the home collection as this is a city with lots of Henry Moore’s.
Who is Henry Moore? You may not know his name but have likely come across his art. He was one of the most influential sculptors of his day, known mainly for his abstract fluid pieces of public art. The love affair between Torontonians and the artist goes back to the 1950’s when Viljo Revell, the Finnish architect of Toronto’s City Hall, recommended that a Henry Moore piece grace the front of his modernist building. Outcry erupted surrounding the purchase. How can the city justify spending a sizeable sum of public funds for a piece of artwork that many deemed overpriced and unpleasing to the eye? The city council voted down the expenditure, but the mayor spearheaded a private fundraising campaign, raising the needed $123,400. The controversy cost Mayor Givens his job.
On Oct 26, 1966, Three-Way Piece No. 2: the Archer was revealed (see photo in yesterday’s blog).
Years later, Henry Moore approached the Tate Gallery in Britain to set up a gallery space dedicated to his works. The Tate turned him down. Moore remembered how the people of Toronto embraced his art, so he approached the AGO to offer a sizeable part of his collection--London’s loss was Toronto’s gain. Today, the AGO holds the largest public collection of Henry Moore art in the world.
I contemplate spending a quiet evening at home--a tempting but fleeting thought. A few months ago, someone had gushed about a new group called Babel, where people gather to converse in some of the 140+ languages used on a daily basis in Toronto. Tonight would be the first opportunity to check it out. I got a chance to speak a lot of English and French, a smattering of Spanish, and a few words of Russian and just the standard greetings in Turkish, Korean, and Arabic. This is great fun! I vow to dig out my Russian books and brush up a bit before my next attendance.
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