Canadian re-entry

We arrived in toronto on July 30, 2012 for a four night stop over on route to Calgary. We fit a lot in during our few days! The first stop was to stock up on a few our favorite magazines; Vegnews, Bust, Wired, Intersection, & Atomic Ranch. I really missed magazines!

We checked out the Picasso special exhibit at the fabulous Art Gallery of Ontario. It was great to check out the exhibit as it has 147 pieces from the National Picasso Museum in Paris, which was closed for renovations while we were in Paris. I find as I age I appreciate Picasso more. He has a much wider repertoire than I first thought, including a variety of painting styles, sculpture, block printing, drawings etc. My favorite piece was the emotionally charged painting; Massacre in Korea. "Massacre in Korea is a 1951 expressionistic painting by Pablo Picasso which is seen as a criticism of American intervention in the Korean War.[1][2][3] It depicts the 1950 Sinchon Massacre, an act of mass killing carried out by North Koreans, South Koreans, or American forces in the town of Sinchon located in South Hwanghae Province, North Korea. Although the actual cause of the murders in Sinchon is in question, Massacre in Korea appears to depict them as civilians being killed by anti-Communist forces." source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_in_Korea

In addition to Picasso, the AGO has several other permanent and special exhibits including a fabulous collection of works from the Group of Seven, which I adore! "The Group of Seven — sometimes known as the Algonquin school — were a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920 to 1933, originally consisting of Franklin Carmichael (1890–1945), Lawren Harris (1885–1970), A. Y. Jackson (1882–1972), Frank Johnston (1888–1949), Arthur Lismer (1885–1969), J. E. H. MacDonald (1873–1932), and Frederick Varley (1881–1969). Two artists commonly associated with the group are Tom Thomson (1877–1917) and Emily Carr (1871–1945). Although he died before its official formation, Thomson had a significant influence on the group. In his essay "The Story of the Group of Seven", Lawren Harris wrote that Thomson was "a part of the movement before we pinned a label on it"; Thomson's paintings "The West Wind" and "The Jack Pine" are two of the group's most iconic pieces.[1] Emily Carr was also closely associated with the Group of Seven, though was never an official member. Believing that a distinct Canadian art could be developed through direct contact with nature,[2] The Group of Seven is most famous for its paintings inspired by the Canadian landscape, and initiated the first major Canadian national art movement.[3]" source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_of_Seven_(artists) It was a wonderful way to re-enter Canada by enjoying iconic paintings of breathtaking Canadian landscapes.

We also enjoyed a few meals from the terrific vegetarian restaurant Fresh. Fresh is my favorite vegetarian restaurant in Toronto and they also have some good cookbooks. We had a fun meal at the Hogtown Vegan as well. In between eating, we spent a lot of time walking, 7 to 10 kms a day. We checked out some amazing antique shops on Queen Street West, full of midcentury modern items, industrial design and some fun vintage science items. If the colorful, vintage tapeworm scientific poster had been cheaper it would totally be hanging in our our spare room. We did pick up an exquisite art deco glass vase at a bargain price, but I am not looking forward to lugging it home in carry on!

Check out my photos at; http://www.flickr.com/photos/8751723@N02/

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