Sir Edmund Walker was the president of the Canadian Bank of Commerce from 1907 to 1924, and a generous patron of the arts, helping to found and nurture many of Canada's cultural and educational institutions, including the University of Toronto, National Gallery of Canada, the Champlain Society, Appleby College, Art Gallery of Ontario and Royal Ontario Museum.
In 1910, King George V knighted Walker for his contributions to business and the arts.
painter; b. c. 1817 in London, England, the son of Elizabeth Harlow, an older sister of artist George Henry Harlow. George Harlow White entered the Royal Academy schools, London, on 2 Jan. 1836. On 17 Sept. 1871 he arrived in Quebec and is thought to have settled in Oro Township, Ont. from 1871 to 1876. White was elected a member of the Ontario Society of Artists in March 1873 and continued to exhibit with the society until 1886.
Sculptor, art dealer, gallery owner, Frederick Lessore was born in Southwick, Sussex, February 19, 1879. His grandfather was Emile Lessore (the Wedgwood ceramics painter). His sister was the painter (Elaine) Thérèse Lessore. He married the painter Helen Lessore (née Brook). Founded the Beaux Arts Gallery, London, England (1923-1965) and served as director with his wife, Helen Lessore from 1923 to 1951. He died November 14, 1951.
Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers
The Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers (CPE) was founded in 1916 as a successor to the short-lived Association of Canadian Etchers, founded in 1885. The Society began holding annual exhibitions in 1919 at the Art Gallery of Toronto. Usually these were part of larger exhibitions. The Society held exhibitions in other locations in Toronto from 1933 to 1959. The Society was formally incorporated on 1935. Between 1960 and 1974 the Society's annual exhibitions were each held in a different city in Ontario. The Society merged with the Canadian Society of Graphic Art in 1976 to form the Print and Drawing Council of Canada.
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts is an honourary organization of established professional artists and designers from all regions of Canada. Members practice in more than thirty visual arts disciplines including but not limited to painting, print-making, architecture, sculpture, design, photography, ceramics, film, video, and digital art.
Established in 1872, the Ontario Society of Artists is Canada’s longest continuing art society. It is a professional association for visual artists who live and work across Ontario with a mandate to promote the visual arts through exhibitions, special projects and arts advocacy.
The Gallery was first incorporated in July 1900 as the Art Museum of Toronto. The name was changed to the Art Gallery of Toronto by a statute law amendment act, assented to 24 April 1919. It was thought that the word “Museum” conflicted with the Royal Ontario Museum which was founded in 1912. The current name of the Gallery took effect July 8, 1966 when The Art Gallery of Ontario Act, 1966 received royal assent. The name change was designed to acknowledge the rapidly growing role the Gallery played across the province.
Elke Town was a curator, writer and arts administrator based in Toronto. In her varied career she worked at Video Ring, A Space, Art Metropole and Telefilm Canada, and headed her own script consulting business, Storyworks. She was employed as Special Projects Officer in the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Extension Services department, 1977-1980, a period of high activity during which the “Artists With Their Work” and Festival Ontario programs were developed. During the 1970s and 1980s, Town’s work as an independent curator brought her together with a number of significant artists and art organizations.