
Ray Cronin
Author
Ray Cronin is a writer, curator, and arts consultant living in Elmsdale, Nova Scotia. He worked at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia as curator (2001–07) and as director and CEO (2007–15). He is the founding curator of the Sobey Art Award.
Cronin is a graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (BA, fine arts) and the University of Windsor (MA, fine arts). He is the author of numerous catalogue essays and has published reviews and articles for several Canadian and American art magazines over a twenty-five-year career. In 2000 he received the Christina Sabat Award for Critical Review in the Arts. He was the visual arts columnist for the Daily Gleaner (Fredericton) and Here (Saint John) in New Brunswick and is the visual arts blogger for Halifax Magazine.
Cronin is the author of Marion Wagschal (Battat Contemporary, 2010) and has contributed essays to books on Mary Pratt, John Greer, David Askevold, Graeme Patterson, Colleen Wolstenholme, and Garry Neill Kennedy, among others. His book Our Maud: The Life, Art and Legacy of Maud Lewis was published by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in 2017, and Mary Pratt: Still Light by Gaspereau Press in 2018. Further titles in his book series, the Gaspereau Field Guides to Canadian Artists, are forthcoming.
Online Art Books
![(Left) Jean Paul Lemieux, Preparatory sketch for “Québec (projet de peinture murale)” (“Québec [Mural Project]”), 1949. The Royal Collection, United Kingdom. Courtesy of The Royal Collection. © Estate of Jean Paul Lemieux. Photo credit: Royal Collection Enterprises Limited. (Right) Diane Landry, Brise-glace (Icebreaker), 2013. Collection of Méduse, Quebec City. Courtesy of Diane Landry. Photo credit: Ivan Binet.](https://assets.artcanada.com/2026/03/03205429/quebec-city-arts-artists-book-landing-page-1-1024x576.jpg)
Quebec City
Art & Artists

Jin-me
Yoon

Joyce
Wieland

Pitseolak
Ashoona

Canadian Art &
the Environment
Coming Soon

Mimi
Parent
Coming Soon

Harold
Town

Tom
Thomson

Photography in Canada, 1839–1989

Takao
Tanabe

Art, Truth
& Reconciliation
Coming Soon

Regina
Art & Artists

War Art
in Canada

Annie
Pootoogook

Ottawa
Art & Artists

Edward
Burtynsky
Coming Soon

Wabanaki
Modern
Coming Soon
The Artistic Legacy of the 1960s “Micmac Indian Craftsmen”By Emma Hassencahl-Perley
& John Leroux

On the
World Stage
Coming Soon
Canada’s Art at the Venice BiennaleBy Jessica Bradley

Tim
Whiten

Homer
Watson

Françoise
Sullivan

Michael
Snow
![Untitled [Study for advertisement for Cutex nail polish], black and white photo by Margaret Watkins.](https://assets.artcanada.com/2026/03/03205801/MargaretWatkins-UntitledStudyForAdvertisementForCutexNailPolish-1924_upscaled-788x1024.jpg)
Margaret
Watkins

Louis
Nicolas

Zacharie
Vincent

Kazuo
Nakamura

Kathleen
Munn

Oviloo
Tunnillie

Mary
Hiester
Reid

Iljuwas
Bill
Reid

George
Agnew
Reid

William
Raphael

Norval
Morrisseau

Mary
Pratt

Helen
McNicoll

William
Notman

Doris
McCarthy

Marion
Nicoll

Jean Paul
Riopelle

Sophie
Pemberton

Alfred
Pellan

Kent
Monkman

Hannah
Maynard

Gershon
Iskowitz

General
Idea

Robert
Houle

Suzy
Lake

Christopher
Pratt
Coming Soon

Arnaud
Maggs

William
Kurelek

Agnes
Martin

Kiss &
Tell

Halifax
Art & Artists
An Illustrated HistoryBy Ray Cronin

Prudence
Heward

Betty
Goodwin

Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald
Life & WorkBy Michael Parke-Taylor

Jock
Macdonald

Gathie
Falk

Yves
Gaucher

Maud
Lewis

Jean Paul
Lemieux

Yousuf
Karsh

Paterson
Ewen

Ozias
Leduc

Alex
Colville

Paraskeva
Clark

Sorel
Etrog

Paul
Kane

Jack
Chambers

Oscar
Cahén

Bertram
Brooker

Eli
Bornstein

Paul-Émile
Borduas

Molly Lamb
Bobak

William
Brymner

Greg
Curnoe

Carl
Beam

Walter S.
Allward

Walter S.
Allward

Emily
Carr

Shuvinai
Ashoona

Shuvinai
Ashoona

Halifax
Art & Artists
Quos necessitatibus facere laboriosam neque ea perspiciatis repellendus id
By Ray Cronin
Pitseolak
Ashoona
Eius quo vero minima corporis suscipit quod ipsum mollitia vel illum
By Christine BoyanoskiPrint Books

Articles & Contributions

William Brymner declared this work to be his magnum opus
By Lorem Ipsum
How Yousuf Karsh took his most famous portrait.
by Melissa Rombout
William Brymner declared this work to be his magnum opus
By Lorem Ipsum
William Brymner declared this work to be his magnum opus
By Lorem Ipsum
William Brymner declared this work to be his magnum opus
By Lorem IpsumVideos

Jon S. Dellandrea, author and Chair Emeritus of the Art Canada Institute Board of Directors, discusses his new book, The Great Canadian Art Fraud Case.

Boyle and Perera reflect on their experiences of navigating cultural distinctions within their collaborative relationships with institutions and other artists.

Monkman addresses how the ACI’s publication Revision and Resistance is the only book to offer the behind-the-scenes story of mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People), two genre-defying paintings that have changed the conversation about art history.

Founder and Executive Director Sara Angel talks to CBC News about the launch of the Art Canada Institute on November 28, 2013. Her vision was simple: make Canadian art history accessible to twenty-first century audiences by creating a multi-vocal, bilingual, comprehensive web resource on the country’s visual culture.

When it comes to folk art in Canada, there’s before Maud Lewis (1901–1970)—and after. Celebrating the release of Maud Lewis: Life & Work by Ray Cronin, the panelists will discuss her legacy and pay tribute to the cheerful works that testify to her indomitable spirit.

Today many public monuments are controversial, but in the early twentieth century they were objects to behold—none more so than Canada’s Vimy Memorial in France, a destination for over 700,000 visitors each year. This talk will address the iconic structure, its construction, and the role of commemorative statues in art history.

This interview will reveal when and why Audain began buying art and how he became one of Canadian art’s most devoted patrons and instrumental in preserving and promoting our country’s cultural heritage.

This interview will reveal when and why Audain began buying art and how he became one of Canadian art’s most devoted patrons and instrumental in preserving and promoting our country’s cultural heritage.

In this talk the Saulteaux artist and curator speaks about how, through his art, he has created a renewed vision of the world that includes the restoration of cultural memory, challenges to the government on political issues affecting Indigenous peoples, and the decolonization of the museum and the self.