The AGO is home to the Thomson Collection of Ship Models: over 130 examples of miniaturized ships spanning hundreds of years of maritime history.

One of the most important models in the collection is George Stockwell’s (1729-1805) 1774 model of the Bristol. Designed in 1768 and completed in 1775, the Bristol was a 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line built for the Royal Navy amidst England’s war to suppress the independence movement in its American colonies.

Image credit:
British fourth-rate two-decker 50-gun warship: Bristol (detail)
1774
George Stockwell, (British, 1729-1805)
Georgian Model, scale1:48
The Thomson Collection
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

Why the Bristol became a prison hulk.

The Great White Way 
1988 
acrylic on canvas
The Keith Haring Foundation 
All images © Keith Haring Foundation

Stretched in the shape of a penis, this massive painting is a critical visualization of what author bell hooks described as “imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.” The pink phallus is decorated with black lines that make up an intricate scene of weapons, violence, torture, and other abuses of power—a visual representation of the problems of Euro-American society. Haring’s title implies the white supremacist ideology underpinning these activities. The painting shows a phallocentric world in which profit and power in the name of “good” and God are used as tools of oppression. The Great White Way is a prime example of what is perhaps Haring’s greatest skill: the ability to make something look like shallow fun—in this case, a massive, cartoonish, pink, candy-striped penis—while simultaneously speaking truth to some of society’s foremost tyrannies.

The Great White Way

Untitled
1988
acrylic on canvas
Private collection
All images © Keith Haring Foundation

This untitled work shows a human figure struggling to walk up a staircase while carrying a massive egg tied to its back. The egg is cracked and a sperm with devil horns bursts from its shell. The painting speaks profoundly to the AIDS epidemic that took the lives of so many within Haring’s community, including his own. Using monumental scale, a palette drained of colour, and graphic imagery, Haring represented the impossible weight of the AIDS crisis.

Untitled

Rowing

Rosalba Carriera

Maria Clara Eimmart

Susanna Perwich

Luisa Roldan

The Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto is one of North America's leading art collections. Come visit and experience more than 4,000 artworks across 110 galleries. Visit https://ago.ca

Why the Bristol became a prison hulk.

Art Gallery of Ontario

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