Art Gallery of Ontario

I ventured out to this gallery for the first time a few weeks ago.  I think I have been spoilt by the Art Galleries of the UK, both in terms of quality and price.  Whilst I do not mind paying to see works of art, I do mind to paying $25.  Included in this price was an exhibition of early Renaissance paintings from Florence (no photos due to ban).

All was not lost though, they have a few Impressionist paintings and others that I liked.

Here are a selection of the paintings that I enjoyed.  Apologies for the quality, I had to take them on my iPhone.

 Raoul Dufy – Hyeres Square, the Obelisk and the Bandstand

 Pierre Bonnard – Autumn Landscape

 Pierre Bonnard – Table Laid for Dessert

 Jan Van Goyen – Peasant Cottage

 Alfred Sisley – Saint-Mammes, Grey Weather

Pierre Auguste Renoir – The Seine at Chatou

 

 Claude Monet – Etretat L’Aiguille and the Porte d’Aval

 Alfred Sisley – Landscape near Moret

Claude Monet – Vetheuil in Summer

 

 Camille Pissarro – Poplars, Grey Weather, Eragny

Alfred Sisley – View of Marly-le-Roi: Sunlight

 

Marc Chagall – Over Vitebsk

 

Hendrick Andriessen – Still Life (Vanitas)

 

Aelbery Cuyp – View of Dordrecht

 

Jan Van Goyen – View of Rhenen

 

 Salomon Van Ruysdael – The Ferry Boat

 Cornelius Krieghoff – Village Scene in Winter

Franklin Carmichael – Cranberry Lake

 

 Franklin Carmichael – Houses in Servern Bridge

 A.J Casson – Mountain Ash (Rowanberries) 

 J.E.H MacDonald – Laurentian County, Winter

 Lawren S Harris - Houses, Richmond Street

 A.Y Jackson – Red Barn, Petite Riviere

 Lawren S Harris – Street Scene with Figures, Hamilton & In The Ward, Toronto

 Emily Carr - Gitwangak, Queen Charlotte Islands

 Cornelius Krieghoff - The Narrows on Lake St Charles

 Cornelius Krieghoff  - Sillery Cove, Quebec

 Cornelius Krieghoff – Clearing Land near the St Maurice River

 Cornelius Krieghoff – Council, Lorette Indians, Lake St.Charles Country

 Cornelius Krieghoff – Ginger, the Colonel’s Dog

 Cornelius Krieghoff – The Owlshead from Round Lake, Lake Memphremagog

 Kenneth Campbell Lochead – Dark Green Centre

 Alex Colville – Elm Tree at Horton Landing

 Jack Chambers – Meadow

 Stewart Westmacott – The Falls of Niagara Taken from the American Side

 Guido Molinari – Green-Red Serial Mutation

 Helen McNicoll – Interior

 Mary Hiester Reid – A Study in Greys

F McGillivray Knowles – A Breezy Day

As you can see, I was rather fond of Cornelius Krieghoff.  He was a member of the "Group of Seven".  

The Mousetrap

What an excellent idea it was to decide to watch this local community performance of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap.  I can fully understand now why this is such a popular play the world over.  I went to the Chicken Coop Theatre (excellent name) production at the Palmerston Library Theatre. 

From start to finish, this play was marvellous, each actor was truly convincing in their role.  I loved the fact that, due to the theatre being very small, the actors actually walked though the audience when going to the "kitchen" or "bedrooms".

I cannot of course give away the story, that is top secret, but I found the plot to be very convincing.  It really is one of those stories that, when it finally all unfolds, has you going "oh yes, that makes sense".

I picked up a leaflet for the coming season from Stage Centre Productions, the play was produced with their cooperation.  I quite fancy their upcoming staging of The Unexpected Guest, again by Agatha Christie.  This is not until October though.  If I do decide to go then I'll be sure to post a review here.

Carmen - A Disappointment

I should have looked into this a little more before purchasing my ticket.  I must also learn the difference between what I deem Ballet and what passes for "modern" these days.

This performance was nothing like a Ballet, nothing at all.  For me this was a dance production, a modern dance and not a very good one.  Granted, I have never seen Carmen before and bar one piece of music, was not too sure on the music either, but this was just a mess.  I have no idea what was going on when our ears had to suffer through minutes of almost Neanderthal type noises, that I think were supposed to represent the "passion" between the characters.  It was hideous and most off-putting.

Thankfully I was in the same seats as my previous visit so only wasted $25 on this poor pretence of a Ballet.

Canadian Opera Company - Dialogues des Carmélites

It is time to revive this Blog.  Now that I have a job I can start visiting the Arts once again.

On Saturday 25 May I went to the Four Seasons Centre for The Performing Arts to watch the final performance of Dialogues des Carmélites .

I bought my tickets via T.O.Tix Whilst they were Level 5 and one row from the very back they were fine, in no way too high up.  My only complaint was the safety bar that ran along the seats in front.  As the seating sloped downwards towards the middle of the row, the bar was in my sight-line.  Thankfully there were empty seats nearby so I moved 3-4 seats along and the bar was out of the way.

The opera itself was very good, very few props but lots of people.  The story was simple, nuns during the French Revolution being forced to abandon their faith, they stand true to their beliefs and are killed for it.  The final scene, as they fall, one by one, to the sound of the guillotines blade was very chilling.

So for the cost of $25 I had a very satisfying first trip to the Opera.