The George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art
(commonly shortened to the Gardiner Museum) is a
ceramics museum
A ceramics museum is a museum wholly or largely devoted to ceramics, usually ceramic art. Its collections may also include glass and enamel, but typically concentrate on pottery, including porcelain. Most national collections are in a more gener ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada. The museum is situated within
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
's St. George campus, in
downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Stre ...
. The museum building was designed by Keith Wagland, with further expansions and renovations done by
KPMB Architects
KPMB is a Canadian architecture firm founded by Bruce Kuwabara, Thomas Payne, Marianne McKenna, and Shirley Blumberg, in 1987. It is headquartered in Toronto, where the majority of their work is found. Aside from designing buildings, the firm a ...
.
The museum was established by
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
and
Helen Gardiner, and was opened to the public on 6 March 1984. In 1987, management of the institution was assumed by the
Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...
(ROM). The ROM continued to manage the Gardiner Museum until 1996, when an additional endowment to the museum allowed it to reincorporate as an independent institution. In 2004, the museum was closed to the public, in order to accommodate renovations to the building. The museum was reopened to the public in 2006, shortly after renovations to its building were completed.
The museum's permanent collection of ceramics includes over 4,000 pieces. The collection is made up of two types of ceramics,
earthenware
Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ce ...
, and
porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
. In addition to exhibits for its collection, the museum has organized and hosted a number of contemporary
ceramic art
Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. Whi ...
exhibitions. The museum is affiliated with the
Canadian Heritage Information Network
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,
Canadian Museums Association
The Canadian Museums Association (CMA; french: Association des musées canadiens, ''ACM''), is a national non-profit organization for the promotion of museums in Canada. It represents Canadian museum professionals both within Canada and internat ...
, and the
Virtual Museum of Canada
The Digital Museums Canada (DMC; , ''MNC'') is a funding program in Canada "dedicated to online projects by the museum and heritage community," helping organizations to build digital capacity.
Administered by the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) ...
.
History
In the early 1980s,
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
and
Helen Gardiner hoped to exhibit their works at the
Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...
, although complications in arranging that led them to open their own institution instead.
A building was constructed in 1983 with the Gardiner Museum opening to the public on 6 March 1984.
In order to help facilitate the maintenance of the future museum, a volunteer committee was formed in 1983, from volunteers of the Royal Ontario Museum.
[ The Gardiner Volunteer Committee was formed to discuss training of future museum volunteers, with its first formal meeting held shortly after the museum opened on 28 March 1984.][
The museum began offering public tours of its exhibits in spring 1985.][ Due to financial reasons, George arranged for the Royal Ontario Museum to take over management of the institution in 1987.][ However, after receiving another financial endowment from the Gardiner family in 1996, as well as financial support from federal and provincial programs, the Gardiner Museum formally separated from the ROM, and reestablished itself as an independent institution on 1 January 1997.][ Following its establishment as an independent institution, management of the museum was assumed by an independent Board of Trustees, made up of five members from Victoria University's Board of Regents, one member from ]Toronto City Council
Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022.
Structure
The cur ...
, and nine individuals selected from the Government of Ontario
The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor†...
through the Lieutenant Governor in Council
The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of ap ...
.[ During that same year, the museum closed for six weeks in order to accommodate minor renovations to the building.][
In 2000, George approached ]Bruce Kuwabara
Bruce Bunji Kuwabara, (O.C., B.Arch, OAA, FRAIC, RAIC, AIA, RIBA) is a Canadian architect and a founding partner of the firm KPMB Architects (formed in 1987). He is an invested Officer of the Order of Canada and recipient of the RAIC Gold Medal. ...
to design and install a ceramics exhibition for the museum. The success of the installation installed by Kuwabara led to him being commissioned to redesign, and expand the museum building. In January 2004, the museum closed its building to the public in order to accommodate renovations to its first two floors, and the construction of a third floor to the building.[ However, during this period the museum maintained a temporary administrative office on 60 McCaul Street, as well as continued to host educational programs and exhibitions in other temporary facilities.] The museum was reopened to the public in June 2006, although the redevelopment was not fully completed until 2008.[
In an effort to attract more visitors, and to further utilize its personal collection, the museum launched an ]art intervention
Art intervention is an interaction with a previously existing artwork, audience, venue/space or situation. It has the auspice of conceptual art and is commonly a form of performance art. It is associated with the Viennese Actionists, the Dada mov ...
program in 2012.[ In 2013, the museum placed a permanent installation, a striped-head sculpture by ]Jun Kaneko
is a Japanese-born American ceramic artist known for creating large scale ceramic sculpture. Based out of a studio warehouse in Omaha, Nebraska, Kaneko primarily works in clay to explore the effects of repeated abstract surface motifs by using ...
on the plaza of its property.[ Another ]public art
Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...
installation, ''Cracked Wheat'' by Shary Boyle
Shary Boyle D.F.A. (born May 26, 1972) is a contemporary Canadian visual artist working in the mediums of sculpture, drawing, painting and performance art. She lives and works in Toronto.
Early life and education
Boyle was born in the Toronto s ...
, was installed in the museum's courtyard in 2018.
Architecture
The museum building is located at Queen's Park Crescent, on the campus of Victoria University, a federated college An affiliated school (also affiliated college, federated school, federated college or federated university) is an educational institution that operates independently, but also has a formal collaborative agreement with another, usually larger institu ...
of the University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
. Museum station is the nearest Toronto subway
The Toronto subway is a rapid transit system serving Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is a multimodal transport, multimodal rail network consisting of three Pa ...
station to the museum.
Completed in 1983, the building was at the cost of C$6 million. The building was originally only , and two storeys, although was designed to accommodate the construction of an additional floor.[ Designed by Keith Wagland, the neoclassical ]modernist
Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
building's was designed and position on the property's back court to provide the surrounding area an unobstructed view of the building adjacent to the museum, the Lillian Massey Building
The Lillian Massey Building is a Neoclassical building located in Downtown Toronto, at the southeast corner of Queen's Park and Bloor Street along the Mink Mile and across from the Royal Ontario Museum. It was designed by architect George Mar ...
.[ The building itself cantilevered towards Queen's Park.][ From the building's completion, to the building's redevelopment in the early 2000s, the building featured a modest pink granite facade.][
From January 2004 to June 2006, the museum closed to the public to undertake a C$25 million renovation and expansion of the building.][ Although it reopened in 2006, the museum's development project was not completed until 2008.][ ]Bruce Kuwabara
Bruce Bunji Kuwabara, (O.C., B.Arch, OAA, FRAIC, RAIC, AIA, RIBA) is a Canadian architect and a founding partner of the firm KPMB Architects (formed in 1987). He is an invested Officer of the Order of Canada and recipient of the RAIC Gold Medal. ...
served as the redevelopment's design partner, whereas Shirley Blumberg
Shirley Blumberg (CM, OAA, FRAIC, AIA) (born February 4, 1952) is a Canadian architect. She is a founding partner of KPMB Architects in Toronto, a Canadian practice. In 2013, Blumberg was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada "for her cont ...
served as the partner-in-charge of the architectural firm's redevelopment of the Gardiner.[ As a part of the redevelopment, the building's exterior facade was re-clad with ]Indiana limestone
Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...
and black granite
In the construction industry, black rocks that share the hardness and strength of granitic rocks are known as black granite. In geological terms, black granite might be gabbro, diabase, basalt, diorite, norite, or anorthosite
Anorthosite () i ...
, adorned with sharp vertically placed windows. KPMB choose to re-clad the building in limestone in order to match the facade of the Lillian Massey building, in addition to scaling the museum to blend with the Annesley Hall
Annesley Hall is the all-female residence at Victoria College, University of Toronto. The residence is located across from the Royal Ontario Museum and is designated a National Historic Site of Canada
National Historic Sites of Canada (fren ...
's bay window
A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room.
Types
Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or r ...
s to the south of the museum[
]
The redevelopment also saw the construction of a third floor to the building, increasing the building's size by .[ The third floor included facilities for a 50-seat restaurant, a L-shaped outdoor terrace, and a exhibition gallery.][ Renovations to the interior of the existing building included a redesigned lobby features a long ]white oak
The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera '' ...
reception desk, designed to draw guests into the museum; and renovations to its three galleries, educational facilities, and the museum's gift shop. Exhibit space within the museum was also increased, with the architectural firm placing an emphasis on highlighting the vitrines and pieces within them, as opposed to creating spaces for large receptions.[ The vitrines used to exhibits its pieces were also redesigned by the architectural firm.][ Farrow & Ball have provided the paint used for the museum's exhibits, and special exhibitions.
In 2017, KPMB Architects was contracted to redesign the museum's gift shop, and for lobby to feature an ]artist-in-residence
Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...
ceramic studio at grade.[
]
Permanent collection
Under the institution's governing legislation, the ''George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art Act'', the institution's objective is to collect, conserve, lend, and exhibit works of ceramic, decorative, and fine art and materials.[ As of July 2019, the Gardiner Museum's permanent collection included over 4,000 objects.] The museum's permanent collection includes objects that were donated, purchased, or bequested to the museum, and are held in trust of the public. Items from the permanent collection are either exhibited in the museum, or are stored in a secure, climate controlled facility when not on display.[
]
The museum divides its collection into two principal collection areas, earthenware
Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ce ...
, and porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
objects. The museum's collection of earthenware is primarily made up of ceramics from pre-colonial Americas, Italian maiolica
Maiolica is tin-glazed pottery decorated in colours on a white background. Italian maiolica dating from the Renaissance period is the most renowned. When depicting historical and mythical scenes, these works were known as ''istoriato'' wares ( ...
, and English delftware
English delftware is tin-glazed pottery made in the British Isles between about 1550 and the late 18th century. The main centres of production were London, Bristol and Liverpool with smaller centres at Wincanton, Glasgow and Dublin. English ...
; whereas the museum's porcelain collection primarily focuses on porcelains of European origins.[ In addition to regionally focused collection areas, the museum also features a specialized collection of earthenware and porcelain made for export to Canada. The museum's collection also includes a number of ]modern
Modern may refer to:
History
* Modern history
** Early Modern period
** Late Modern period
*** 18th century
*** 19th century
*** 20th century
** Contemporary history
* Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century
Phil ...
and contemporary
Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...
ceramic pieces from the 1950s to the 21st century. Although the museum is primarily a ceramics museum
A ceramics museum is a museum wholly or largely devoted to ceramics, usually ceramic art. Its collections may also include glass and enamel, but typically concentrate on pottery, including porcelain. Most national collections are in a more gener ...
, the museum's permanent collection also includes a number of non-ceramic pieces that directly relate to the ceramic pieces it has in its collection.
The museum's permanent collection of ceramic art
Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. Whi ...
originated from the private collections George and Helen Gardiner, who began their collection in the mid-1970s.[ The first pieces collected by the Gardiners was pre-colonial pottery from the ]Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
, and Meissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first European hard-paste porcelain. Early experiments were done in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's work and ...
.[ Eventually, the Gardiners' private collection grew to include Italian maiolica, English delftware, as well as a variety of pottery pieces of pre-colonial Americas, and European porcelains.][
]
Earthenware
The museum's collection of earthenware includes pieces from 47 different cultures in pre-colonial Americas, dating from 3500 BCE to 1550 CE. These works date back to 3,500 BCE to 1550 CE, most of which originated from the American southwest
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...
, Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
, Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
, and South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
.[ The museum's collection also includes a number of European earthenware, dating from the 14th to 18th centuries.] European earthenware includes pieces of creamware
Creamware is a cream-coloured refined earthenware with a lead glaze over a pale body, known in France as '' faïence fine'', in the Netherlands as ''Engels porselein'', and in Italy as ''terraglia inglese''.Osborne, 140 It was created about 175 ...
s, faïence
Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...
s from France, English delftware, Italian maiolicas, English slipware
Slipware is pottery identified by its primary decorating process where slip is placed onto the leather-hard (semi-hardened) clay body surface before firing by dipping, painting or splashing. Slip is an aqueous suspension of a clay body, which ...
s.[
]
Porcelain
Porcelains from Meissen were among the first pieces acquired by George and Helen Gardiner.[ The museum's collection of European porcelains includes pieces from the 18th and 19th centuries.] The museum's holdings of European ceramics from the 18th and early 19th century includes pieces from Austrian, English, French, German, Italian, and Swiss porcelain manufacturers based in Europe; in addition to hausmaler
In pottery hausmaler () is a term for the artist, the style, and the pieces in hausmalerei, the process of buying pieces of pottery as plain "blanks", and then painting them in small workshops, or the homes of painters, before a final firing. In ...
decorated pieces, and ''commedia dell’arte
(; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...
'' figurines.[ The museum's holdings of European porcelains in the 19th century include pieces from ]Mintons
Mintons was a major company in Staffordshire pottery, "Europe's leading ceramic factory during the Victorian era", an independent business from 1793 to 1968. It was a leader in ceramic design, working in a number of different ceramic bodies, ...
, a producer of hybrid porcelain known as bone china
Bone china is a type of ceramic that is composed of bone ash, feldspathic material, and kaolin. It has been defined as "ware with a translucent body" containing a minimum of 30% of phosphate derived from animal bone and calculated calcium phospha ...
.
In addition to European porcelains, the museum's collection also includes a variety of porcelains from China, and Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, including a number of Chinese blue and white porcelains.
Library
The museum operates the Gail Brooker Ceramic Research Library within its building, with the library being managed as a part of the University of Toronto Library System. The library was established by the museum in 1988, after George R. Gardiner donated 387 books, engravings, journals, and periodicals relating to the museum.[ Its holdings has since expanded to include 2,500 volumes.][
Although the library is open to the public, its holdings form a part of a non-circulating research collection, with visitors unable to borrow items for use outside the library.][
]
Programs
The museum hosts, and organizes a number of travelling exhibition
A travelling exhibition, also referred to as a "travelling exhibit" or a "touring exhibition", is a type of exhibition that is presented at more than one venue.
Temporary exhibitions can bring together objects that might be dispersed among severa ...
s. In addition to exhibiting ceramic art, the institution also offers educational programming at the museum, including a two-hour drop-in pottery class throughout the year.
See also
*List of art museums
Africa
Algeria
* Algiers: Museum of Modern Art of Algiers, Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions, National Museum of Fine Arts of Algiers
* Oran: Ahmed Zabana National Museum
----
Egypt
* Cairo: Egyptian Museum, Museum of Isl ...
*List of museums in Toronto
There are a variety of different museums in Toronto. Types of museums located in Toronto include agricultural museums, art museums, fashion museums, food museums, history museums (including historic houses and living museums), military museums (i ...
Notes
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Art museums established in 1984
Art museums and galleries in Ontario
Museums in Toronto
Ceramics museums
Modernist architecture in Canada
1984 establishments in Ontario
Asian art museums in Canada
Pre-Columbian art museums
Archaeological museums in Canada
KPMB Architects buildings