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Gallery Moos
1959 – 2013 -
About
Walter Moos
Walter Moos introduced or showed to the city a significant number of now well-known artists such as Karel Appel, Walter Bachinski, Paul-Émile Borduas, Ken Danby, Sorel Etrog, Gershon Iskowitz, Alex Janvier, Lester Johnson, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Antoní Tapiès, Michael Thompson, and many more.
He pioneered the concept of the limited edition art book by publishing Ken Danby (1974) and Ken Danby: The New Decade (1984), both by Paul Duval, as well as Gershon Iskowitz: Painter of Light (1982), by Adele Freedman.
A founding member of the Art Dealers Association of Canada, Walter served as president from 1973 to 1975, as chairman of the appraisal committee from 1972 to 1989, and subsequently as co-chair of the appraisal committee and as a member of the Board of Directors.
Walter served on the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council from 1972 to 1982, and is founder and past trustee of the Gershon Iskowitz Foundation. In 2002, he received the Art Toronto Award of Distinction, and was the honoree at the annual Art Dealers Association of Canada Tribute Dinner.
Ken Danby, Study for The Art Dealer, 1976.
Yorkville
In 1962, Walter Moos successfully petitioned the Ontario Municipal Board for commercial zoning of the north side of Yorkville Avenue, then a residential street. The avenue’s broad sidewalks favored pedestrian traffic and soon the Yorkville of the sixties was in full bloom, with the Riverboat Coffee House next door to the gallery, and the Penny Farthing Coffee House down the street. The gallery’s front steps became a natural hangout and patrons at times had to make their way through a crowd to reach the door.
Construction in 1978 of the Four Seasons hotel across the street heralded a new generation of change, and today Bloor-Yorkville is one of Canada’s most exclusive retail, residential and business districts.
Gallery Moos on Yorkville Avenue, 1964.
Foreground, left to right: Sorel Etrog, Mother and Child and Sunbird, 1963-64.
Yorkville II
In 1976, the old Victorian building at 136-138 Yorkville Avenue was demolished. After relocating next door for a year during construction, the gallery opened its new space at 136 Yorkville Avenue with an exhibition entitled Masters of the XXth Century.
Photo: Gallery Director, Geert van der Veen, with the Masters of the XXth Century exhibition, September 10 through October 1, 1977.
Article: The Toronto Star, September 20, 1977.
Queen West
In 1992, after thirty years in Yorkville, Gallery Moos moved to 622 Richmond Street West in the Queen West arts district.
Contact
Gallery Moos closed to the public in June, 2013. Please address inquiries to the trustees using this form or the email address below.