Second Floor West Wing
During the 1870s, the government began for the first time to purchase Canadian art for its collection, thanks to the lobbying efforts of the Ontario Society of Artists (OSA). From 1873 to 1914, the province regularly purchased works from OSA exhibitions. This made the collection one of Canada’s earliest sustained efforts to support local artists.
Early Purchases (1873–1895)
The early purchases were loosely organized, and records are incomplete. It is unclear whether the OSA or the government formally owned these works. Today, they are displayed on the 2nd floor of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, in the west wing.
“Ballot Pictures” (1896–1912)
Each year during this period, OSA members voted to select two artworks for the government. These works belonged to the province and were intended to form a Canadian art collection in the Provincial Art Gallery. You can see them for yourself on the 2nd floor of the Legislative Building, in the west wing.
Annual Grant (1897–1914)
To fill the new Provincial Art Gallery, the government agreed to buy a certain value of art per year. Government officials, independent committees, and mixed panels of artists and laypeople all shared the responsibility of selecting the artwork and thus the relationship between the government and the OSA became strained. Disagreements over quality, fairness, pricing, and artistic representation escalated until 1914 when the government ended the program. Artworks were removed from display and distributed to Normal Schools across Ontario. Most of the original artworks disappeared, and only a small fraction remain in the collection today.
