Art Gallery of Ontario:Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris

May 8, 2012-August 26, 2012

The Exhibition

“I paint the way some people write an autobiography. The paintings, finished or not, are the pages from my diary.” —Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)

"This exhibition at the AGO, offers a rare perspective on the life and work of this iconic artist: his own. It features works from Picasso’s private collection, now in the holdings of the Musée National Picasso in Paris, whilst the museum undergoes renovations. Over a career of more than seventy years, these are the works he kept with the intent of shaping his own artistic legacy."

Read more here.

Art Gallery of Ontario:Berenice Abbott: Photographs

May 23 – August 19, 2012

Berenice Abbott (1898-1991). Blossom Restaurant, 103 Bowery, Manhattan, October 03, 1935. 

"The Ryerson Image Centre (Toronto) and the Jeu de Paume (Paris) have co-organized the exhibition Berenice Abbott: Photographs, the first retrospective of the American photographer, Berenice Abbott, presented in France and Canada. Curated by Dr. Gaëlle Morel, Ryerson Image Centre, Berenice Abbott: Photographs will be on view in Paris from February 20 to April 29, 2012, and the exhibition is being presented in Toronto at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) from May 23 to August 19, 2012, in partnership with the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival and the AGO.

Famous for her tireless fight for the recognition of French photographer Eugène Atget, Berenice Abbott is also prominently known for her documentary project Changing New York (1935-39). The exhibition Berenice Abbott: Photographs explores the different stages of Abbott's expansive career through more than 120 photographs. In order to provide a larger context for her œuvre, the exhibition will present her photographic prints alongside a series of never before exhibited personal documents - including letters, book mock-ups, drawings, magazines, and scrapbooks - and a collection of first edition books."

More at the AGO site.