Weekend in Toronto: Picasso Exhibit at the AGO

Painting of Dora Maar by Pablo Picasso.
Picasso Exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada.

Last weekend, my friend and I visited the AGO here in Toroto to view the special exhibit Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musee National Picasso Paris. The Exhibit is at the AGO until August 26, 2012. It is a very educational and interesting exhibit of over 150 painting and sculptures from Picasso's own collection. The Musee Picasso in Paris is currently in a two year renovation. So Picasso's art collection from the Musee was able to travel to Toronto for this Exhibit. I  have visited Picasso's Museums in Barcelona, Antibes and also the previous exhibit of Picasso and British Artists at the Tate Gallery in London last April. But this one is different because the collection is from Picasso's own collection. It tells more about his life before World II and after World II. The war definitely changed the Artist. I learnt that Picasso was trully an icon, a visionary and a rebel. He did not hesitate to experiment on different styles which we now  call Cubism and Modern Art. He painted according to how he felt, like if he was feeling blue which started his Blue collection and how he remembered things. Picasso also painted all of his women, whether they were his wife or mistress. He also used dancers, prostitutes, Circus performers as his own models. Wow, Picasso had several mistresses, even 2 mistresses at the same time - Dora Maar and Marie Therese Walter. Francoise Gilot was the mother of Claude and Paloma Picasso but he did not marry Francoise. Olga was his first wife then several mistresses thereafter. All of these women inspired him and we are fortunate to see them all in his art which also tells us his own story. 

A view of Paris in Toronto.

A Pablo Picasso doll. Will you fall in love with an Artist? Be his mistress?

Dora Maar was one of Picasso's mistress.

A poster of Pablo Picasso.

A sculpture by British Artist, Henry Moore, titled "Warrior with Shield."

AGO Gift shop.

View of CN Tower and the modern Ontario College of Art Building.


Thank you to Connie of Snow in the Air blog for the feature about my blog for the the Liebster Blog Award.  It was a very touching tribute.


Have fantastic Weekend everybody!

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The ROM and C5

You might think that I am writing about codes here. No, I am not. C5 stand for the Crystal 5 Restaurant Lounge at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) here in Toronto. The ROM is one of the major museums here in Canada.  Their collections are showcased in the World  Culture Galleries, Natural History Galleries, Hands on Galleries and their Exhibition Spaces. The World Cultural Galleries shows various sculptures and Art from Canada, Rome, Byzantine, Africa and other Asian countries of China, Japan and Korea.  The Natural History Galleries features skeletons of Dinosaurs, Mammals, various species of Birds, a Bat Cave and the treasures of the Earth. Their Hands on Galleries allow visitors to use interactive technology to gain more information about the collections. It is also fun for the kids because they get a chance to learn how to dig for dinosaur bones.

The ROM Building with the combination of the Old and the New. The New Michael Lee-Chin Crystal Building was officially opened on June 2, 2007. It features 4 floors  of  Exhibition spaces and the 5th floor is the Crystal 5 Restaurant Lounge.

Dinosaur skeletons on display at the ROM.

A Huge Statue of  Buddha previously from a Chinese Temple.

The ROM is currently featuring a Special Exhibition titled Maya: Secrets of their Ancient World till April 9, 2012.

View the Video about the ROM and the Maya Exhibit.

Some stone sculptures from the Maya Exhibit.

A Mayan Sculpture and books about Mayan Art and Culture for sale at the ROM Shop.

Some of the Maya Art and Sculptures for Sale at the ROM  Shop.

This a cool Exhibit at the ROM featuring the Floral designs of David Hockney  created on his Apple IPAD and IPHONE. The ROM must have borrowed so many Apple IPADs and IPHONEs to showcase this Exhibit. It is very original and beautiful!

After tirelessly walking around the Museum, we went up to the Crystal 5 Restaurant and Lounge for some relaxing and delicious meal from their new Executive chef  Corbin Tomaszeski.

Graphite Black Entrance to the C5 Restaurant and Lounge. I am reflected there in the stairs photographing the Entrance.

The Lounge in the Entrance. It has a long Bar on the other side and on the rear is the restaurant.

The Restaurant with an open space decorated for the Christmas Season.

Our table with the decorative Christmas centrepiece. The Open Kitchen behind showcasing the creation of their organic dishes.

C5 offers different Menus for the Season:

Maya Menu till April 9th offers Mexican dishes

ROM for The Holidays Menu

Children's ROM for The Holidays Menu

We chose the ROM for The Holidays Menu. I had the C5 Vegetable Salad with Crispy mixed green, Ontario Vegetable shavings, toasted sunflower seeds, brown butter and lemon vinaigrette. Most of the ingredients at C5 are Ontario grown Organic vegetables, fruits and meats.

ROM Pot Pie with free range chicken and winter root vegetables. The golden and crisp pie dough that I just broke in with my spoon! Eating this reminded me of my visits to some of the restaurants in England to eat their Meat Pies or Chicken Pies.

For Dessert, I had the Panettone with rum soaked raisins and Vanilla Anglaise sauce. I had my Earl Grey tea to accompany it.

Best of all is the view of Toronto with the CN Tower, Financial District with the skycrapers and also a view of the rooftop  Liza's Garden.

To learn more about the ROM: http://www.rom.on.ca

When you are tired from shopping from all of the Sales this week, drop by the ROM here in Toronto  for some learning relaxation. View all of their collections and Special Exhibits as there is always something to discover. Then after all that walking, hop on the elevator to go to C5 for a delicious meal and a fantastic view of Toronto.



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