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.

Héliogravures : the unpublished photogravure process of Édouard Baldus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Héliogravures : the unpublished photogravure process of Édouard Baldus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.

The Reports by the Juries: A Finding Aid for a Publication From the Great Exhibition of 1851 in the Collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario

Produced by the Royal Commission for the Great Exhibition of 1851, the four-volume Reports by the Juries is illustrated with 154 salted paper prints from negatives by Claude-Marie Ferrier (1811-1889) and Hugh Owen (1808-1897) and document the exhibits and the Crystal Palace building. 137 copies of the Reports were produced and distributed internationally to individuals and countries that participated in the exhibition. This presentation set, which also includes the Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue, the Reports to the Crown, and a presentation set of exhibition medals, belonged to Sir William Crossman (1830-1901) of the Royal Engineers. A specially designed wooden cabinet houses the set. This thesis project is divided into two parts: Part I describes the process of researching and creating the finding aid; Part II is the finding aid itself, containing ten sections addressing historical background information, photographers' biographies, photographic processes, a complete illustrated catalogue of the photographs, an analysis of the photographs, provenance, and a preliminary list of other copies of the publication in public institutions.

The Klinsky Press Agency Finding Aid at the Art Gallery of Ontario

The Klinsky collection (comprised of Klinsky I and Klinsky II) contains over 20,000 press photographs from the 1930s and 1940s and was amassed by Emil Klinsky, the owner and operator of Recla, a picture distribution agency located in Amsterdam. Operating primarily during the 1930s, Klinsky at the helm of Recla, handled picture distribution in the Netherlands for numerous media agencies in Germany. The Klinsky I collection encompasses 9,236 press photographs, assembled from illustrated magazines and press agencies from the 1930s. The Art Gallery of Ontario acquired it in 2002 from the Archive of Modern Conflict. Although the Klinsky collection is one of largest photographic collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario, access to the collection is hindered by its lack of organization. The creation of a finding aid enables new access points to the collection which will facilitate and promote research. An intellectual arrangement based on 16 subject terms was implemented, and a database was created to reflect the new organization of the contents.

Interpreting Bert Hardy's photographic collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario

This subject of this thesis is a collection of Bert Hardy photographs donated to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in 2007. Hardy (1913-1995), worked as a photojournalist for Picture Post from 1940 - 1957 during which time he covered many aspects of British life after World War II. Hardy’s contribution to British visual culture is traced in three chapters beginning with a literature survey that covers the context of his work in post-war British society. The second chapter gives a full description of the collection and further analyzes the style of Hardy’s photographs. The third chapter examines the history Picture Post and the context in which its editors worked. Looking at the the relationship between photographers and editors in the picture press, it examines how Stefan Lorant and Tom Hopkinson edited and captioned Bert Hardy’s photographs for use in the Picture Post.

Arrangement, description and presentation of the Fairlie Family collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario: a case study in collections management

This thesis presents the results of an applied project in Collections Management, comprising the intellectual arrangement of the Fairlie Family fonds at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), and the creation of a finding aid to facilitate future access and research. This project analyzes twelve Canadian family albums from the AGO’s collection of photography that were compiled by the Fairlie family between the years of 1880 and 1950. This project is comprised of three major parts: (1) an analytical paper, (2) extensive inventories and object-level cataloguing records, and (3) the creation of a finding aid for the family documents and related ephemera. The first part of this thesis consists of an analytical paper discussing the historical context of the albums and what they can tell us about the Fairlie family and the time and place in which they were created. The albums document the family’s exploits in photography, from mining in northern Ontario, various travel destinations, summer camping in Temagami, and life in upper-middle-class Toronto during the first half of the twentieth century. The practical component of this project includes genealogical research; detailed inventories for each of the twelve albums; the intellectual arrangement, rehousing, and creation of a finding aid for the textual records and related ephemera; and updated cataloguing records linking the albums with the Fairlie Family fonds in The Museum System database (TMS) so that both the photographic collection and contextual information are more accessible.

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.