Now that most of us have a camera phone in our pocket, taking photographs of city streets is an everyday activity.  As such, street scenes have become a mainstay of social media and photo sharing sites.  The upshot is that a city’s famous landmarks, interesting buildings and photogenic neighbourhoods are shown again and again.  One seldom has to look at the geotag in order to place the photo.
However, artists have been drawing and painting the city from as soon as there was one.  Toronto Public Library’s Canadian Documentary Art Collection is filled with these works.  The collection consists of 15,000 pieces of art, in addition to over 1,000,000 photographs and 3,000 postcards.
A small selection of these artworks is on display in the exhibit Toronto Revealed at The Toronto Reference Library.  While viewing them, I was  struck by the obvious fact that these were not photographs.  It is also notable that the city is instantly recognizable even though none of works that I’ve shown below is of a famous landmark or well-known corner.  No CN Tower or Flatiron Building in sight!
Cherry Street Hotel by Gerard Lazare (1978)
The Cherry Street Hotel dates back to 1890 and from 1965 - 2010, this corner was home to The Canary Restaurant. Â The building currently sits empty with high-rise development nipping at its back door.
I really like our new Flexity Outlook low-floor streetcars, but it does bring a smile to see an old red rocket again.  Viewing this streetcar from behind in Brushstrokes on Dundas Street by Michel Binette (1979) makes me feel like I just missed my ride.
Here is Toronto’s distinctive streetcar again, this time in November Rain, Bay and Dundas Streets by Catherine Jeffrey (2011).
Not long into November, winter is here and the rain switches to snow. Â Definitely a fact of Toronto life for too many months of the year.
Nassau Street and Spadina Avenue by Rajeev Singhal (2011)
Brookfield and Humbert Streets by Albert Franck (1962)
Trefann Street by Vello Hubel (1970)
Sooner or later, summer arrives.
Nassau Street, Looking Southeast across Augusta by William Sherman (1978)
Queen Street West, near Simcoe Street by Leslie Tait (1974)
I had to look closely at this painting to confirm that it wasn’t a photograph, which I guess is apropos of the subject matter; The Toronto Camera Club by Alison Fleming (2013).
Even the most benign street scene such as Crosswalk, Queen Street East by David Marshak (2012) is absolutely recognizable as Toronto.
