Browse "Arts & Culture"

Canada’s first celebrity photographer, along with a host of forgotten artists, gets his 21st-century moment.

2 Pianos 4 Hands. Two-person comedy-drama with music; semi-autobiographical show by the pianists-playwrights Ted Dykstra (b Chatham, Ont 1961) and Richard Greenblatt (b Montreal, 1952 or 1953).

Other collectives at this time included If You're So Good Why Are You in Saskatoon? (1975), directed by Paul Thompson; and Generation and 1/2 (1978), a continuation of the Paper Wheat story of the Wheat Pool.

3's a Crowd. Early Canadian folk-rock group, active 1964-9. Initially a folk-comedy trio, it was formed in Vancouver by singer Donna Warner and singer-guitarists Brent Titcomb and Trevor Veitch.

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, The Canadian Encyclopedia created 30 lists of 30 things that make us proud to be Canadian, from famous people and historic events, to iconic foods and influential artists.

Alternative rock band 54-40 rose from the Vancouver punk scene of the late 1970s to achieve mainstream success in Canada in the late 1980s and the 1990s. They have had four platinum albums and one gold album and have been nominated for eight Juno Awards. They are perhaps best known for the hit singles “I Go Blind,” “Baby Ran,” “One Day in Your Life,” “Nice to Luv You,” “She La,” “Ocean Pearl” and “Since When,” among others. The band has been inducted into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame. “I Go Blind” was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2021.

The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.

It has been said that Canadians don’t tell our own stories or celebrate our own myths. Our history is full of epics considered “too small to be tragic,” as The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie once sang.

A. (Alfred) Hugh Joseph. Recording director, b Quebec City 25 May 1896, d Montreal 18 Aug 1985; B SC (McGill) 1920.

Alexander Young Jackson, CC, painter (born 3 October 1882 in Montréal, QC; died 5 April 1974 in Kleinburg, ON). A Companion of the Order of Canada and recipient of a medal for lifetime achievement from the Royal Canadian Academy, A.Y. Jackson was a leading member of the Group of Seven and helped to remake the visual image of Canada.

Arthur James Marshall Smith, poet, critic, anthologist (b at Montréal 8 Nov 1902; d at East Lansing, Mich 21 Nov 1980). A.J.M. Smith was educated at McGill University and the University of Edinburgh.

Abraham Moses Klein, poet, writer (b at Ratno, Ukraine 14 Feb 1909; d at Montréal 20 Aug 1972).

A.S. (Augustus Stephen) Vogt. Choir conductor, administrator, educator, organist, pianist, b Washington, near Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont, of German and Swiss parents, 14 Aug 1861, d Toronto 17 Sep 1926; FRCO, honorary D MUS (Toronto) 1906.

   Aaron Allan Edson, landscape painter (b at Standbridge, Qué 18 Dec 1846; d at Glen-Sutton, Qué 1 May 1888). His first teacher (around 1863) was likely Robert Duncanson, an American artist living in Montréal. He later studied in London, England.

Aba Bayefsky, artist, teacher (b Toronto 7 Apr 1923; d Toronto 5 May 2001). Bayefsky studied at Central Technical School in Toronto from 1937 to 1942. The following year he enlisted in the RCAF and was commissioned as an Official War Artist in 1944.

A prolific author, editor and translator, and concerned chiefly with the contemporary debate on religion and science, De Sola's own writings included studies on Jewish history, cosmography and medicine.

Abraham Nordheimer. Music dealer, publisher, teacher, b Memmelsdorf, Bavaria, 24 Feb 1816, d Hamburg 18 Jan 1862 while on a visit to Germany. With his younger brother Samuel he followed his older brother Isaac, an Oriental scholar, to New York in 1839. He later opened the A. & S. Nordheimer music store and publishing firm with his brother Samuel.

Abraham's Children. Pop group formed in Toronto in the late 1960s with Jimi Bertucci (bass), Ron Bartley (guitar), Bob McPherson (keyboards) and Brian Cotterill (drums), and Shawn O'Shea (guitar) as of 1973.

This collection explores the rich heritage of the Acadians through articles and exhibits, as well as quizzes on arts and culture, history and politics, historical figures, and places associated with the Acadian people.

Achille Fortier. Composer, teacher, b St-Clet, near Montreal, 23 Oct 1864, d Viauville, Montreal, 19 Aug 1939; honorary D MUS (Montreal) 1926.

Ada Bronstein (b Lvoff). Pianist, accompanist, teacher, b Harbin, China, 1916, naturalized Canadian 1957. She studied piano in Harbin and Shanghai with Boris Lazareff, pupil and son-in-law of Alexander Siloti.