Art Collection: Works

Upper Canada Provincial Exhibition

The Upper Canada Provincial Exhibition, the precursor to the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) was founded in 1846 and was mainly an agricultural gathering. Soon after its inception, artists began displaying their work at the fair, first under the "craft" category and then as art. It was the only venue for quite some time that provided artists in Ontario, particularly those who had were born and trained in England, with a sense of an artistic community.