Workshops

OPG Sunday: Artsy Abstracts

Jan 11, 2026, 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM

This month we are exploring the abstract works in the exhibition, Hortense Gordon: Towards the New. Hortense Gordon, a Canadian painter, taught modern design and abstract principles for many years.

In the studio, we are creating geometric abstract works with acrylic paint and oil pastel. Our palettes will be monochromatic, mixing our paint colour with just black and white to make new tints and shades.

In The Lookout, we will create watercolour snowflakes as we admire the view of outside. Working with wet on dry painting techniques, paint an intricate, symmetrical snowflake that is one-of-a-kind!

Hortense Gordon (Canadian, 1887 -1961); Horizontals and Verticals; 1955; oil on canvas; Gift of Charlie Dobbie, 2000

About Hortense Gordon: Towards the New
Hortense Gordon (1886–1961) was a founding member of the influential artist collective, Painters Eleven, who were committed to advancing abstract art in Canada. Gordon valued the group’s shared energy and experimentation with abstraction. Buoyed by their support, Painters Eleven helped validate her move toward abstraction at a time when it was still controversial in Canada. Drawn from the RMG’s Permanent Collection, this exhibition highlights Hortense Gordon’s stylistic transformations and tireless pursuit of the new, celebrating her lasting impact on Canadian art.

Click here to learn more about this exhibition.

Suitable for ages 3+
Free admission, no registration required.

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery is a proud participant in Ontario Power Generation’s Power for Change Project, supporting the areas and people where OPG operates.

Upcoming Events

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Hortense Gordon: Life + Art

Nov 27, 2025, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Join Curator of Collections, Sonya Jones, to learn about the life and art of artist Hortense Gordon. Hortense Gordon was an important artist linked to the beginnings of abstract painting in Canada and a founding member of Painters Eleven, Ontario’s first abstract painting group (1953-1960). Jones will discuss Gordon’s compulsive drive towards what was new […]

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