Larry Humber

3 weeks ago | theartnewspaper.com | Larry Humber

After a decade in the role, the director and chief executive of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Josh Basseches, announced on 5 June that he would be leaving the post at year’s end to seek “new challenges”. During Basseches’s tenure the museum—which opened over a century ago with war looming in 1914—underwent three renovations and one expansion. He unabashedly calls it “one of the world’s great museums”.

3 weeks ago | theartnewspaper.com | Larry Humber

At least six artists from across Canada are in a celebratory mood today as they have been named finalists for the country’s top art prize, the Sobey Art Award, now in its 22nd year. It provides national recognition—including an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa from 3 October until 8 February 2026—as well as a whopping C$465,000 ($339,000) in prize money, among the richest rewards in art.

1 month ago | theartnewspaper.com | Larry Humber

It was not a hockey game, but one could almost hear the strains of the national anthem, “Oh, Canada”, as bidding began at the Heffel Fine Art Auction House’s spring sales in mid-town Toronto on Thursday night (22 May). A total of 85 lots were on offer, all by Canadian artists, including a handful of Group of Seven members, with an estimated value of C$18m to C$22m ($12.9m-$15.8m). Pelting rain and persistent concerns about tariffs, trade wars and a recession did little to dampen the mood.

Mar 26, 2025 | theartnewspaper.com | Larry Humber |Claire Voon

You are about to hear a lot more from the Toronto-based Vega Foundation , whose core mission is to support artists’ film and video works by commissioning new pieces and stewarding its growing collection. It has worked with more than a dozen artists over the past two years and has big projects launching in the coming months. The foundation takes its name from the brightest star in the constellation of Lyra, part of a larger network of stars that form a guiding light.

Feb 13, 2025 | theartnewspaper.com | Larry Humber |Lee Cheshire |José Da Silva |Anna Sansom

The Textile Museum of Canada will close its doors on 16 February, with a re-opening date still to be determined but tentatively expected in September. Funding is a major concern, along with accessibility—the building’s elevator is in need of serious repair. Board chair Urmi Desai, who has been involved with the downtown Toronto museum for nearly a decade, told the Toronto Star the building is “no longer safe”. “We were already going to close due to the elevator,” Desai tells The Art Newspaper.