The Gardiner Museum is open seven days a week! Explore our permanent collection, discover special exhibitions, and get hands-on with clay in our studios. We look forward to welcoming you.
Discover recent work by African American artist Sharif Bey in our lobby. Bey foregrounds African and Afro-diasporic aesthetic traditions and considers the role of historical artifacts removed from their cultures of origin.
Don't wait to sign up for the Gardiner's popular summer camps. New this year, all our week-long sessions are full-day multimedia camps, so kids can draw, paint, sculpt, and more.
Every object in our permanent collection can be accessed through our eMuseum portal. Learn about individual collecting areas, like Italian Maiolica or Modern and Contemporary Ceramics, or search the full collection by keyword. You'll be amazed by what you discover!
Help us continue to offer innovative and engaging exhibitions, programs, and community projects in person and online, as well as plan for the future. Please consider making a donation today.
The Gail Brooker Ceramic Research Library is a comprehensive reference centre for research in the field of ceramics.
The collection was founded in 1988 when George R. Gardiner donated 387 books, periodicals, journals, and engravings relating to the history, production, style, and sources of European ceramics. Today the collection includes over 2,500 volumes, in addition to periodicals, international auction catalogues, rare books, engravings, and scrapbooks, as well as several special collections. The library’s strengths are a reflection of the collection of the Gardiner Museum, and recent additions include collections on contemporary ceramics, Asian porcelain, and the Ancient Americas.
The library catalogue is part of the University of Toronto Library System (UTCat).
Visiting the Library
The library is a non-circulating research collection, but we welcome everyone to visit our facilities, located in the Museum.