Onsite Group Tours

Explore the National Gallery of Canada's collection and special exhibitions through a range of fascinating one-hour guided tours for adults.

  • Cost: $8 + Gallery admission. Taxes not included. Minimum 10 participants.

  • Payment processed in a single lump sum for your group on the day of the visit.

  • Registration required three weeks in advance. To register, please fill out the reservation form. If you require additional support, please contact us by email at [email protected], or call 613-990-4888.

  • Tours are offered during Gallery hours, unless otherwise indicated.

 

REGISTER FOR A GROUP TOUR

 

For the latest information about current activities, please check out our calendar of events.

Program
Descriptions 

Riopelle: Crossroads in Time

Riopelle:
Crossroads in time
NEW

November 14, 2023 to April 5, 2024

Discover the work of 20th-century artistic experimenter and trailblazer Jean Paul Riopelle through a 21st-century lens. During this tour, you will explore the diverse creative periods of Riopelle’s fifty-year career and learn about its importance for artists working today.

Learn more about the exhibition Riopelle: Crossroads in Time.

Nick Sikkuark, Untitled (Shaman?) ᐊᑎᖃᖏᑐᖅ (ᐊᖓᒃᑯᖅ?), 1987. Whale bone, caribou skull, caribou antler and animal teeth

Nick Sikkuark, Untitled (Shaman?) ᐊᑎᖃᖏᑐᖅ (ᐊᖓᒃᑯᖅ?), 1987. Whale bone, caribou skull, caribou antler and animal teeth, 40.1 × 30.5 × 15.2 cm. Collection of Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron. © Estate of Nick Sikkuark

 

Nick Sikkuark:
Humour and Horror
ᓂᑯᓚ ᓯᑯᐊ.
ᐃᒡᓚᕐᓇᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑲᑉᐱᐊᓇᖅᑐᑦ
NEW

December 4, 2023 to
March 24, 2024

Encounter Nick Sikkuark’s creations through his illustrations, literature and sculptures. Learn about the everyday elements that inspired him as well as his interests in the bizarre, miniaturization and amplification and, most essentially, humour and horror.

An Interpreter will guide you through the artist’s visual storytelling, in which the same creatures, elements and iconography reappear. Sikkuark’s art will leave you with a sense of anticipation as to where his characters will turn up next. Expect to engage with the Inuktut language, as the artist was involved in the promotion of Inuit literacy through the publication of several illustrated books early in his career.

Learn more about the exhibition Nick Sikkuark: Humour and Horror ᓂᑯᓚ ᓯᑯᐊ. ᐃᒡᓚᕐᓇᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑲᑉᐱᐊᓇᖅᑐᑦ.

 

Paul‑Émile Borduas, 3 + 4 + 1, 1956. Oil on canvas.

Paul‑Émile Borduas, 3 + 4 + 1, 1956. Oil on canvas, 199.8 x 250 cm. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. © Estate of Paul Emile Borduas / SOCAN (2021). Photo: NGC

 

Gallery
Highlights 

An introduction to the National Gallery of Canada, its extraordinary glass building and several iconic artworks in the Gallery's collection. Throughout the tour, we consider the notion of originality, the role of a museum and what makes a work of art great using guided discussions. 

Robert S. Duncanson, Owl's Head Mountain, 1864. Oil on canvas.

Robert S. Duncanson, Owl's Head Mountain, 1864. Oil on canvas, 45.7 x 91.7 cm. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: NGC

 

Highlights from the Indigenous and Canadian Collection

The Indigenous and Canadian Collection presents a broad range of artworks that date from time immemorial to today and includes artistic practices that operate outside the established western canons of art history. On this tour, we consider some of the iconic artworks that give voice to the artists’ visions.

 

Dené or Dehcho Dené or Sahtú Artist, Moccasins, 1974. Smoked moose hide, caribou hide, fur, wool, cotton.

Dené or Dehcho Dené or Sahtú Artist, Moccasins, 1974. Smoked moose hide, caribou hide, fur, wool, cotton. Collection of the Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto

 

Indigenous
Expressions

First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists from Turtle Island/North America have been creating since time immemorial. Your group will be introduced to Indigenous artwork to appreciate the worldviews of First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists, past and present.

 

James Tissot, Partie Carrée, 1870. Oil on canvas.

James Tissot, Partie Carrée, 1870. Oil on canvas, 120 x 145.8 cm. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: NGC

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Visual Thinking Strategies

Sharpen your observation skills and deepen your understanding of works of art using the Visual Thinking Strategy method. Your group will be led through a facilitated discussion using this method and afterwards will have the opportunity to discuss this approach.