Meryl McMaster (b. 1988)
On the Edge of this Immensity, 2019

McMaster combines elements of performance and installation in her photography while exploring the tensions surrounding identity ad heritage, especially her own as a woman of Indigenous (Plains Cree) and European (British/Dutch) descent from Saskatchewan.

9 x 6.5 cm (3.5 x 2.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

This magnet features the artwork Healing Dance 2 (2013) by Anishinaabe (Odawa) artist Barry Ace.

9 x 6.5 cm (3.5 x 2.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada. 

Sarah Anne Johnson (b. 1976)
Explosions, 2011

Johnson’s work explores ideas of utopia and contemporary communities outside the mainstream that gather for idealistic reasons. Her feelings and memories of experiences with these groups is expressed by augmenting the photograph. She recreates scenes as dioramas or enhances images with paint, glitter, ink, and Photoshop manipulations.

9 x 6.5 cm (3.5 x 2.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

This magnet features the scultpure Bird Shaman with Bola (1988) by Inuit artist Nick Sikkuark (1943–2013).

9 x 6.5 cm (3.5 x 2.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

This magnet features the scultpure Untitled (Caribou-human transformation?) (1998) by Inuit artist Nick Sikkuark (1943–2013).

6.5 x 9 cm (2.5 x 3.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

This magnet features the artwork Untitled (Figures on Iceberg) (2004) by Inuit artist Nick Sikkuark (1943–2013).

9 x 6.5 cm (3.5 x 2.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Karoo Ashevak (1940-1974)
Figure, 1974

Ashevak’s exaggeration of features and imaginative use of whale bone helped define the expressive style of the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut. The dissimilar eyes, which signify exceptional sight, and the mittened hand, a symbol of spiritual ability, together suggest that this figured is a powerful otherworldly being.

6.5 x 9 cm (2.5 x 3.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Jin-me Yoon (b. 1960)
Souvenirs of the Self (Lake Louise), 1991

Yoon emigrated from South Korea to Vancouver in 1968. While studying contemporary art, she was exposed to artists and theorists engaged with questions of sexual and cultural difference. Her work is recognized for contributing to the ongoing discussions concerning identity and place.

9 x 6.5 cm (3.5 x 2.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Lilias Torrance Newton (1896-1980)
Anna, c. 1923 

"[Lilias] Torrance Newton went on to make portraiture her specialty; she had to support herself and her young son during the Depression, since her marriage had ended in divorce after her husband’s bankruptcy and abandonment of the family." 

- Excerpt from the catalogue Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Moment, an exhibition organized by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection with the exceptional support of the National Gallery of Canada.

6.5 x 9 cm (2.5 x 3.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Pegi Nicol MacLeod (1904-1949)
A Descent of Lilies, 1935

"A Descent of Lilies embodies the smoky, liminal space between night dreaming and daydreaming. [...] Full, weightless forms glide fore and aft, gently drifting down and up like characters on a merry-go-round." 

- Excerpt from the catalogue Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Moment, an exhibition organized by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection with the exceptional support of the National Gallery of Canada.

6.5 x 9 cm (2.5 x 3.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Paraskeva Clark (1898-1986)
Myself, 1933

Considered among the most powerful figure paintings in Canadian art, this self-portrait is direct, self-confident, and elegant. Painting herself while she was three months pregnant, Paraskeva Clark challenged the social mores regarding the visibility and celebration of the pregnant female body in the 1930s. Exhibited at the 1933 Canadian Group of Painter’s exhibition, the work presented the artist as a strong, professional woman, boldly commanding the viewer’s attention.

6.5 x 9 cm (2.5 x 3.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Prudence Heward (1896-1947)
Rollande, 1929

Prudence Heward’s paintings of strong, independent models offer a new interpretation of Canadian women in the 1920s. Rollande’s thoughtful expression and no-nonsense posture, with hands on her hips and one leg thrust forward, shows that she is in complete control of her environment. Her placement outside of the fence is deliberate, serving to emphasize her independence and strength.

6.5 x 9 cm (2.5 x 3.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Prudence Heward (1896–1947)
Girl on a Hill, 1928

Heward was one of a group of women artists who were active in Montreal between the First and Second World Wars. She was primarily known for her figure painting and was associated with the artists who formed the Beaver Hall Group.

6.5 x 9 cm (2.5 x 3.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Emily Carr (1871-1945)
Forest Landscape No.2, c. 1935

"As her medium loosened, [Emily] Carr found herself better able to register both the immediacy of her own perceptions and the fluidity of her response to them." 

- Excerpt from the catalogue Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Moment, an exhibition organized by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection with the exceptional support of the National Gallery of Canada. 

6.5 x 9 cm (2.5 x 3.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Isabel McLaughlin (1903-2002)
Tree, 1935

"Isabel McLaughlin’s Tree bears down on you. The unusual and engrossing perspective—a steeply upward view from the base of the massive tree trunk—is both a point of departure and a point of reckoning." 

- Excerpt from the catalogue Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Moment, an exhibition organized by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection with the exceptional support of the National Gallery of Canada.

6.5 x 9 cm (2.5 x 3.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Clarence Gagnon (1881-1942)
Village in the Laurentian Mountains, 1925

Gagnon is best known for his rural Quebec landscape paintings. Although he trained and maintained a studio in Paris for much of his career, he never lost his love of the Laurentians and the Charlevoix region of eastern Quebec, which inspired many of his paintings.

9 x 6.5 cm (3.5 x 2.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Lucius R. O’Brien (1832-1899)
Sunrise on the Saguenay, Cape Trinity, 1880

O’Brien was appointed in 1880 as the first president of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Canada’s first national arts organization. His painting Sunrise on the Saguenay, Cape Trinity was his diploma work, honouring his membership to the Academy, and was one of the earliest works to enter the NGC collection.

9 x 6.5 cm (3.5 x 2.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Robert S. Duncanson (1821-1872)
Owl’s Head Mountain, 1864

Duncanson was the first recorded African-American landscape painter. He lived in Montreal from 1863-1865 after fleeing the United States during the American Civil War. His approach to landscape painting would influence many other artists living in Montreal in the 1860s.

9 x 6.5 cm (3.5 x 2.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Joyce Wieland (1930-1998)
O Canada, 4-16 December 1970

Wieland emerged on Toronto’s experimental visual-arts scene in the early 1960s. The first living woman artist to be granted a solo exhibition at the NGC, she blended pop-art strategies with a sly sense of humour. O Canada represents a pair of lips as they sound out the syllables of the national anthem.

9 x 6.5 cm (3.5 x 2.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Mary Pratt (1935-2018)
Red Currant Jelly, 1972

Pratt often took domestic imagery as her subject, believing that commonplace objects were “worthy of a close look.” The acclaimed Newfoundland painter experimented with light to transform an ordinary moment into a charged dramatic scene.

6.5 x 9 cm (2.5 x 3.5 in.)

In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.