Sketching the Past

About the Exhibition

In the 1950s, Frederick Varley wandered the halls of Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) with pencil in hand. Sketching the Past invites visitors to share in the careful observations he made, and to think about why we visit museums: to see, record, and reflect. Varley visited the ROM several times, sketching in the Natural History and Art and Culture galleries, where the Chinese collection was his favourite subject. His curiosity extended beyond objects to his fellow visitors, particularly in the dinosaur galleries, where smartly dressed groups could be seen admiring the specimens.

Varley’s keen eye for detail is evident in his documentation of fossils and sculptures, from soaring dinosaur skeletons to intricate cultural artefacts, rendered with the same precision and care as the portraits for which he was best known. Through these sketches, we can also glimpse how objects were arranged and displayed in the 1950s ROM, offering insight into the museum’s approach to storytelling and interpretation at the time.

Alongside these glimpses of the past, the exhibition offers a quiet reflection on how museum collection practices, display methods, and storytelling have evolved, shaping the ways we remember and imagine our shared cultural heritage.

Image credits

Thumbnail:
F. H. Varley, Head from a Statue of the Buddha (detail), n.d., charcoal on paper, 24.5 cm x 17.3 cm. Collection of the Varley Art Gallery of Markham. Deaccessioned from the Art Gallery of Ontario. Gift of Kathleen McKay, 1976, Donated by the Ontario Heritage Foundation, 1988.

Inner page:
1. F. H. Varley, Study of a Corythosaurus Dinosaur Skeleton, n.d., charcoal on paper, 30.5 cm x 22.6 cm. Collection of the Varley Art Gallery of Markham. Deaccessioned from the Art Gallery of Ontario. Gift of Kathleen McKay, 1979.
2. Interior View of the Royal Ontario Museum with Corythosaurus Skeleton. City of Toronto Archives/TTC Fonds 16, Series 71, Item 9774 (Corythosaurus intermedius, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto – June 13, 1933)