JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

This post offers supplementary material for a recent Torontoist article , which you should read first before diving into this post. Goldwin Smith with dog in front of the Grange, 1905. Image courtesy of the Art Gallery of Ontario. A slice of life photograph at the Grange in the years between the house was willed to the Art Museum of Toronto (as the AGO was originally known) by Harriette Boulton Smith in 1902 and the opening of its first onsite exhibition 100 years ago today.

Before reading this post, check out the related article on Torontoist . Source: Mail and Empire , January 16, 1926. One mystery I didn't resolve was the exact nature of Dick Fudger's chronic illness. At first, given that he had spent winters in California, tuberculosis or another respiratory ailment crossed my mind, as the trend during the period was to send those with such diseases to the southwest in the hope that the drier climate would alleviate their misery. As I read more, it appeared health was only one of the reasons he often headed to the West Coast—business matters and family were others, since he had married in California. Whatever malady plagued Dick Fudger for most of his life, it was played a role in curtailing his studies at Oxford and prevented him from taking on more than a ceremonial role during World War I. Perhaps it was kidney or liver disease, or a bad heart? Was the exact affliction not mentioned in any source, even fifty years later, out of courte...

Photo taken at the AGO Cafe, January 18, 2009 

For its recent reopening and public introduction to its Frank Gehry-designed additions, the Art Gallery of Ontario offered free admission for the inaugural weekend. Due to other commitments, I wasn't able to check it out until the Sunday. I arrived around 2:30 to find a line running down McCaul Street that curved onto Grange Road. Feeling hungry, I decided to eat a late lunch then return to assess the state of the line. The top picture was what I returned to at 3:15 - the line had curved back onto McCaul and now stretched about a block further south. Since the AGO is maintaining a free admission night (unlike the Royal Ontario Museum, which I've only been to once since its star-architect addition opened), I figured it would be more relaxing to wait a few weeks to take in the changes. Photos taken November 16, 2008 - JB

Toronto's most exclusive new place to relax - the Art Gallery of Ontario construction site! The chairs may not be Frank Gehry-designed, but they are classic institutional stock!