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10/12/2026

A quiet circus in Toronto, 1942. 🎪

Corry William Brigden’s 'Circus Sunday (Toronto)' shows two bright red circus wagons surrounded by tents, stacked equipment, and overhead wires. There are no performers or spectators in the scene. Instead, Brigden chose to depict the circus grounds, away from the crowds and performances.

The work is a monoprint made with oil on a glass matrix. Unlike prints produced in editions, each monoprint is typically a unique impression.

Circus Sunday (Toronto)
1942
Monoprint made with oil on glass matrix
Edition 1/1
Image: 9.75 × 11.75 in
Framed: 16.75 × 19.75 in
Signed, titled, and dated at lower edge
Condition: Good
$375 CAD

Corry William Brigden
1912–1979

Brigden was a Canadian artist who worked in painting and printmaking.

Available at mccanseartshop.com. Email [email protected] for inquiries.

10/08/2026

We’re back at the Ontario Vintage Market this Sunday, October 11! 🍂

Come visit McCanse Art at Evergreen Brick Works, where we’ll have a selection of artwork, prints, books and other finds to browse. 🖼️📚✨

Sunday, October 11
Evergreen Brick Works
550 Bayview Ave, Toronto

We’d love to see you there.

10/05/2026

What did Eric Freifeld know about Norm’s Open Kitchen when he painted this Toronto street corner in 1947? 👀

Dundas Street, Toronto depicts the northwest corner of Dundas Street East and Pembroke Street, just east of Jarvis. At the centre of the scene, beneath the Sweet Caporal sign, is Norm’s Open Kitchen.

Upon closer look at the storefront, we can see the same corner in an archival photograph. 📍

By the early 1970s, Norm’s had become notorious in the neighbourhood. A 1973 Toronto Star caption described neighbours calling it an “eyesore” and “a centre of crime and vice,” noting that efforts to have it closed had repeatedly failed. According to later accounts of the licensing proceedings, Norm’s eventually lost its licence in 1974 and was described as a “blight on the community” and “a contact point for criminal activity in the vicinity.”

Freifeld painted this scene more than 25 years earlier. What, if anything, did he already know about the character of Norm’s and this corner of Dundas?

There is another intriguing detail at the lower left. The embracing couple appears to echo Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famous V-J Day in Times Square photograph, taken just two years earlier. Swipe to compare.

Dundas Street, Toronto
1947
Watercolour
13.75 × 19 in
Signed lower right
$2,500 CAD

Eric Freifeld, RCA
1919–1984

Freifeld taught at the Ontario College of Art from 1946 to 1980, where he taught figure drawing and watercolour.

Available at mccanseart.com. Email [email protected] for inquiries.

Archival image: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 2032, Series 841, File 18, Item 26.
Historical information: Toronto Star archive / Toronto Public Library Digital Archive and History Nerd.
V-J Day in Times Square: Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1945.

10/02/2026

Kim Ondaatje
b. 1928

Steetley on Highway no.5 dates to 1973 and depicts the landscape around Steetley, Ontario.

Steetley on Highway no.5
1973
Photolithograph/serigraph
Edition of 100, 50/100
Image size: 14.25 × 21.25 in
Signed, titled, editioned, and dated at lower edge
$400 CAD

About the artist: Kim Ondaatje (b. 1928) is a Canadian painter, photographer, printmaker, and documentary filmmaker. Born in Toronto, she studied at the Ontario College of Art and later at McGill University, earning an MA in Canadian literature from Queen’s University. In the 1960s, Ondaatje began focusing on her art full-time. In 1967, she co-founded Canadian Artists’ Representation (CARFAC) with Jack Chambers and Tony Urquhart. During her career, she worked with a number of arts institutions and museums, including Museum London, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Her work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, the Art Gallery of Windsor, and elsewhere. In 2009, Ondaatje and Urquhart were announced as joint winners of a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts for their role in founding CARFAC.

09/30/2026

✨Now available from McCanse Art

A vintage poster advertising an Inuit art exhibition at the McMichael Canadian Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario, featuring sculpture by Pauta Saila (1916–2009) of Cape Dorset.

📖 Pauta Saila – Inuit Art at the McMichael Canadian Collection
Circa 1980s
Poster
28.5 × 21 in.
Good condition
$100 CAD

Available at mccanseart .com

09/27/2026

We’re back at the Ontario Vintage Market today Sunday, September 27! 🍂

Come visit us at Evergreen Brick Works, 550 Bayview Ave, Toronto, and enjoy the late-summer weather while you browse unique fine art prints, paintings, posters, books, and more. 🖼️📚✨

09/23/2026

Alan Caswell Collier
1911–1990
RCA, OSA

Chilkat River, Near Haines, Alaska dates to circa 1965 and depicts the landscape around Haines, Alaska. Collier travelled extensively through western and northern Canada, painting landscapes along the way.

Chilkat River, Near Haines, Alaska
c. 1965
Oil on board
Image size: 12 × 16 in
Signed lower right
Artist’s label and Roberts Gallery label verso
$2,950 CAD

About the artist: Alan Caswell Collier (1911–1990) was a Toronto-born Canadian painter who studied at the Ontario College of Art under J.E.H. MacDonald and Franklin Carmichael. After graduating, he travelled across Canada and worked as a miner, later drawing on these experiences in paintings of mining sites. In 1963, Standard Oil of New Jersey commissioned him to paint landscapes along the Trans-Canada Highway. Collier later taught advertising art at the Ontario College of Art before devoting himself to painting full-time. His work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Art Gallery of Hamilton.

Source: Colin S. MacDonald, A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume One.

09/21/2026

Leonard Hutchinson
1896–1980
RCA, OSA, CPE

'Earth Can Never Die' is a woodblock print by Canadian artist Leonard Hutchinson. The title and imagery speak to Hutchinson’s interest in the natural world. The strong lines and areas of contrast are characteristic of the woodblock medium.

Earth Can Never Die
Woodblock
Edition 10/50
Block size: 10 × 11.75 in
$750 CAD

About the artist: Leonard Hutchinson (1896–1980) was a Canadian artist and member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA), the Ontario Society of Artists (OSA), and the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour (CPE). He worked in both painting and printmaking, including woodblock printing.

Now available at mccanseart.com. Email [email protected] for inquiries.

Now available at mccanseart.com. Email info@mccanseart.com for inquiries.Waldo Spore Chase1895–1988Clallam is a colour w...

09/17/2026

Now available at mccanseart.com. Email [email protected] for inquiries.

Waldo Spore Chase
1895–1988

Clallam is a colour woodblock print depicting the landscape of Washington State. Created in 1927, the work reflects Chase’s interest in the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest.

Clallam
1927
Colour woodblock
8 × 13 in (block)

About the artist: Waldo Spore Chase was born in Seattle, Washington, in 1895. In the 1920s, he and his brother, Wendell Corwin Chase, began producing colour woodblock prints. The brothers taught themselves Japanese woodblock printing techniques, and Chase went on to focus primarily on printmaking.

Biographical information adapted from WaldoChase.com and Northwest Found.

09/14/2026

Toronto from Broadview captures a familiar Toronto view in aquatint. 🏙️

Look familiar? If you know Toronto, you know this viewpoint just south of Bloor and Broadview, overlooking Riverdale Park. Hornyansky immigrated to Toronto in 1929 and became an important figure in the Canadian printmaking community, particularly known for his colour aquatints of Canadian landscapes and streetscapes. Swipe to see the view today. 📍 Can you spot the Royal York Hotel in Hornyansky’s print?

Toronto from Broadview
Aquatint
Plate size: 4.25 × 5 in
$850 CAD

Nicholas Hornyansky (1896–1965), RCA, OSA, CPE, was a Hungarian-born Canadian printmaker and painter. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest and continued his studies in Europe, including aquatint printmaking in Paris. After moving to Toronto in 1929, he exhibited widely and taught printmaking at the Ontario College of Art. He is particularly recognized for his contribution to colour aquatint in Canada.

Available at mccanseart.com

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