Studio Building (Toronto)
| The Studio Building | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Ontario, Canada |
| Nearest city | Toronto |
| Built | 1914 |
| Original use | Studios |
| Current use | Studios |
| Architect | Eden Smith |
| Designated | 2005 |
The Studio Building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada was the home and working studio of several of the Group of Seven painters, their predecessors, and their artistic descendants, and is of enormous significance in the history of Canadian art. The building was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2005. Designated by the City of Toronto under the Ontario Heritage Act by By-law 115-2003
Situated at 25 Severn Street, it is located in the Rosedale ravine immediately east of the above-ground Ellis portal that brings subway trains into and out of the north end of the Bloor-Yonge subway station. The site and positioning takes advantage of the northern exposure that illuminates the artist's canvas with very even, neutral light.
Financed by Lawren Harris, heir to the Massey-Harris farm machinery fortune, and Dr James MacCallum, it was a nonprofit facility (the rents were pegged at a level that would cover only expenses). The building was designed by Arts and Crafts architect Eden Smith, and completed in 1914.
Harris and MacCallum intended the building to be a living, meeting, socializing and, most importantly, a working facility for artists to foster and promote a uniquely Canadian art movement based largely on portraying the landscape of the country. The European styles then in vogue were seen as too subtle for the largely untamed Canadian wilderness.
Harris, overseeing construction of the building, was too busy to concentrate on his own artistic endeavours and loaned his own studio space, over the Commerce Bank branch at the northwest corner of Yonge and Bloor streets, to a newly arrived Montrealer, A.Y. Jackson. The spot is now occupied by the 34-storey 2 Bloor West. Jackson was a welcome addition to the Toronto art scene, having travelled in Europe and bringing with him a respected - though as yet not particularly successful - talent. The canvas taking shape while he waited to move into the Studio Building, "Terre Sauvage," became one of his most famous. In January 1914 the Studio Building was ready for occupation.
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