Tunirrusiangit: Their Gifts

Tunnirusiangit: Kenojuak Ashevak + Timotee Pitsiulak was a collaborative project in 2017-2018, led by four Inuit artists and curators, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Koomuatuk (Kuzy) Curley, Taqralik Partridge, Jocelyn Piirainen, in partnership with Dr. Anna Hudson (Mobilizing Inuit Cultural Heritage (MICH) at York University) and Georgiana Uhlyarik, Curator, Art Gallery of Ontario. Designed to generate exchange between Inuit and non-Inuit about the role of art, beauty, and culture in shaping our relationships to the land and to each other, it celebrated the achievements of Kenojuak Ashevak and Timotee Pitsiulak, two Inuit artists who challenged the parameters of tradition while consistently articulated a compelling vision of the Inuit worldview. The team reflected on the project in a series of conversations in October 2020. This is an edited version of their discussions.

A full catalogue and analysis of a collection of postcards at the Art Gallery of Ontario depicting scenes of Toronto

This applied thesis is focused on the full cataloguing and contextualizing of a collection of one hundred and sixteen postcards at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) depicting scenes of Toronto a the beginning of the twentieth century. Twenty-seven publishers representing international, national and regional manufacturers are identified with their imprint on the verso of the postcard. The applied thesis includes a literature survey discussing a rationale for the cataloguing of postcards, as well as a brief overview of the history of postcards and the history of the urbanization of the City of Toronto. A description and analysis of the AGO postcards provides information about the production cycle of postcards, the scope of commercial photography and the dissemination of photographic imagery in Toronto. The thesis also examines the way images were altered in the production cycle and the manner in which photographers and publishers exchanged photographs intended for postcard production.

A full catalogue and analysis of a collection of postcards at the Art Gallery of Ontario depicting scenes of Toronto

This applied thesis is focused on the full cataloguing and contextualizing of a collection of one hundred and sixteen postcards at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) depicting scenes of Toronto a the beginning of the twentieth century. Twenty-seven publishers representing international, national and regional manufacturers are identified with their imprint on the verso of the postcard. The applied thesis includes a literature survey discussing a rationale for the cataloguing of postcards, as well as a brief overview of the history of postcards and the history of the urbanization of the City of Toronto. A description and analysis of the AGO postcards provides information about the production cycle of postcards, the scope of commercial photography and the dissemination of photographic imagery in Toronto. The thesis also examines the way images were altered in the production cycle and the manner in which photographers and publishers exchanged photographs intended for postcard production.

Robert C. Kraut's Japan : cataloguing and contextualizing post World War Two photographic albums of Japan and the South Pacific

This applied thesis examines three albums created by US Army Air Force personnel Robert C. Kraut from 1945-46. The albums were donated by Toronto based artist Max Dean to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), and serve as a case study for the process of cataloguing and contextualizing albums for future researchers and museum staff. This paper includes a literature survey examining care and handling, social and historical evolutions, and cataloguing practices related to both photographic albums and scrapbooks. An historical analysis of the photographic album as a medium, vernacular photography and the donation process of the albums into the AGO's collection follows. A detailed analysis of the narrative, material orientation, annotation, layout and materiality qualities for each album is included. A cataloguing methodology that both accounts for the albums’ unique layouts and holds to the established conventions for cataloguing albums at the AGO is discussed and described in detail.

Housing The Family: Re-Housing The Peterkin Family (Theresa Bywater Peterkin) Carte-De-Visite And Cabinet Portrait Album At The Art Gallery Of Ontario

This thesis project explores a method of re-housing a carte-de-visite and cabinet card album, namely the

Photographic Censorship In The First World War : A Comparison Between The Realistic Travels Stereograph Set And British Personal Photograph Albums From The Collection Of The Art Gallery Of Ontario

This thesis compared a group of personal photograph albums compiled by British soldiers during the First World War to a set of stereographs produced during the war and published after by the British company Realistic Travels, both from the collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario. The development of British censorship restrictions during the First World War had a profound effect on who, what, where and how individuals were able to photograph the conflict. This thesis examines how these restrictions affected stereograph photographers and soldiers as they documented the war in order to ascertain how these effects shaped the construction of each type of photographic object. By comparing and analyzing both bodies of work as they were produced in three theatres of war -- the Western Front, Gallipoli and within Britain -- we see that objects created for public and private audiences are more similar than they initially appear.

The Arnold Newman Collection of Photographs at the Art Gallery of Ontario finding aid.

The Arnold Newman Collection of Photographs consists of 4820 photographs taken by photographer Arnold Newman between the years 1938 and 2004. This thesis acts as a research project investigating the collection and making it accessible to researchers and collections management at the Art Gallery of Ontario. The project includes research on the sitting subjects, an overview of the physical photographs, an annotated bibliography and the organization and housing of the collection for permanent accession into the Art Gallery of Ontario's photography collection. The paper consists of an analytical portion which outlines the methodology of creating the finding aid. The finding aid acts as a standalone paper designed to assist researchers navigating the collection.

Héliogravures : the unpublished photogravure process of Édouard Baldus

This thesis project uses an incomplete set of twenty six héliogravure prints by Édouard Baldus (1813-1889) from the publication "Les Principaux Monument de la France, reproduit en héliogravure par E. Baldus 1869-70", which are held at the Art Gallery of Ontario. The prints are utilized as a primary means of analysis in an attempt to understand Baldus' working method, as he never published his photogravure process, and about which little is known. The thesis is composed of five sections: 1) a discussion of Baldus' place in photographic history; 2) an examination of the compete set of forty five héliogravures in the publication based on the copy at the Canadian Centre for Architecture; 3) a case study looking at the relationship between Baldus' albumen prints and his héliogravures; 4) a second case study analyzing and comparing the physical nature of the photogravure works of William Henry Fox Talbot, Charles Nègre, Peter Henry Emerson and Alfred Steiglitz; with the intension of, 5) deciphering the method Baldus could have used in printing his héliogravures.

Héliogravures : the unpublished photogravure process of Édouard Baldus

This thesis project uses an incomplete set of twenty six héliogravure prints by Édouard Baldus (1813-1889) from the publication "Les Principaux Monument de la France, reproduit en héliogravure par E. Baldus 1869-70", which are held at the Art Gallery of Ontario. The prints are utilized as a primary means of analysis in an attempt to understand Baldus' working method, as he never published his photogravure process, and about which little is known. The thesis is composed of five sections: 1) a discussion of Baldus' place in photographic history; 2) an examination of the compete set of forty five héliogravures in the publication based on the copy at the Canadian Centre for Architecture; 3) a case study looking at the relationship between Baldus' albumen prints and his héliogravures; 4) a second case study analyzing and comparing the physical nature of the photogravure works of William Henry Fox Talbot, Charles Nègre, Peter Henry Emerson and Alfred Steiglitz; with the intension of, 5) deciphering the method Baldus could have used in printing his héliogravures.

Photographic retouching: the press picture editor's "invisible" tool 1930-1939 : a study of retouched press prints from the Art Gallery of Ontario's British Press Agencies Collection

Photographic Retouching investigates the mediatory work of the news picture editor during the 1930s. It considers what retouched press photographs add to the history of modern photojournalism, and offers a re-examination of the historiography of 1930s press photography. A descriptive analysis of sixteen representative, retouched photographs from the Art Gallery Of Ontario (AGO) British Press Agencies Collection (BPAC) and ten corresponding newspaper and magazine page spreads from the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Dispatch and Life is carried out in conjecture with press photography manuals published between the years 1930 and 1939. A literature survey, methodology section and description of the BPAC provide introductory contextual and historical information. Chapters 4 and 5, the main analytical sections, focus on two aspects of retouching: the technical difficulties that afflicted press photography during the 1930s and how retouching was employed as a corrective tool; and the ways in which retouching was utilized to strengthen and improve upon the photograph’s ability to consistently convey a clear and visually efficient narrative for use by the press.