Laura Muntz Lyall, Interesting Story, 1898. Oil on canvas, 100.3 x 81.3. Art Gallery of Ontario, Gift of the Government of the Province of Ontario, 1972. 72/18
John & Nancy Mulvihill Gallery, Level 1, 127
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At the dawn of the 20th century, on both sides of the Atlantic, the human mind was of great interest to scientists, scholars, and artists alike. What does it look like, they wondered, to learn and to dream? What is the shape of imagination?
This installation of 13 beloved paintings from the AGO collections of European and Canadian Art brings together dream-like landscapes, portraits of children reading, and adults lost in thought, to consider the many ways artists gave form to that intangible thing – one’s interior thoughts. Featuring examples of Realist, Impressionist, Expressionist and Symbolist art, the installation demonstrates how this pursuit helped push the bounds of traditional representation.
