History
The museum was founded in 1900 by a group of private citizens, who incorporated the institution as the Art Museum of Toronto. The Legislative Assembly of Ontario subsequently enacted An Act respecting the Art Museum of Toronto in 1903. The museum was renamed the Art Gallery of Toronto in 1919, and subsequently the Art Gallery of Ontario in 1966.
The current location of the AGO dates to 1910, when Goldwin Smith bequeathed his historic 1817 Georgian manor, the Grange, to the gallery upon his death. In 1911, the museum leased lands to the south of the manor to the City of Toronto in perpetuity so as to create Grange Park. In 1920, the museum also allowed the Ontario College of Art to construct a building on the grounds.
The museum's first formal exhibitions opened in the Grange in 1913. In 1916, the museum drafted plans to construct a small portion of a new gallery building. Designed by Pearson and Darling in the Beaux-Arts style, excavation of the new facility began in 1916, and the first galleries opened in 1918. Expansion throughout the 20th century added various galleries, culminating in 1993, which left the AGO with 38,400 square metres (413,000 sq ft) of interior space.
The AGO was and continues to be a major supporter of local arts, which have included shows for the Group of Seven, Betty Goodwin, David Milne, and Shary Boyle.
As the institution and its collections grew, major benefactors included Henry Moore, Betty Goodwin, David Blackwood, Harris Henry Fudger, Walter C. Laidlaw, Joey Tanenbaum, George Weston, Frank Porter Wood, Edward Rogers Wood, Ayala Zacks, Ken Thomson, the Massey family, and the Eaton family.
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