Aislin: 50 Years of Cartoons - McCord Stewart Museum
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Temporary exhibition

From April 7 to August 13, 2017

Aislin: 50 Years of Cartoons

This exhibition presents a retrospective of the best cartoons created by Aislin over the 50-year course of his far-reaching career. As a result of his long career at the Gazette newspaper, his loaded publication history, and his acute perspective on Canadian news, he has become one of the most influential cartoonists in English Canada – past and present. Maclean’s has even said of Aislin that “he was probably the best satirist in Canada.”

  • René Lévesque and Robert Bourassa, Montreal Gazette, November 16, 1976. Gift of Terry Mosher, P090‐A/50‐1004 © McCord Museum. 
  • Le Magazine Maclean, January 1970, M2009.43.20
  • Leonard Cohen, Montreal Star, June 21, 1969. Gift of Terry Mosher, M2016.28.32 © McCord Museum. 
  • The Gazette, 6 janvier 1981 / January 6, 1981, M2012.42.9
  • Gérald Tremblay, Montreal Gazette, September 23, 2011. Gift of Terry Mosher, M2016.28.17 © McCord Museum. 
  • The Gazette, October 29, 1998, M2016.28.15
  • Justin Trudeau, Zoomer Magazine, December 2016. Gift of Terry Mosher, M2016.28.21 © McCord Museum. 
  • The Gazette, December 21, 1974, M2016.28.35

His cartoons spare few public personalities. Their liveliness, pertinence, and cruelty leave no one indifferent. They reflect Canadian society in its beautiful and less glorious moments. Through these drawings, Quebecers can discover the concerns of the Anglophone community. As his old friend Serge Chapleau said: “The best way to approach, know, and understand the world of Anglophone Montreal is through Aislin’s marvellous cartoons.”

Related to this exhibition, the McCord Museum will organize a day of animation films screening about Aislin. For more information on the celebration of Aislin 50 years of cartooning coming up in 2017, please see Maclean’s Magazine interview with the artist.

Not to be missed!

What people are saying about it

« Aislin has so shaped the collective consciousness of English-speaking Montrealers that it’s hard to know what we’d make of this city, province or country without him. » Montreal Gazette
« A real treat to view. » The Suburban
« Some of his best known work. (…) You can’t help but to either chuckle or smile one more time. » Montreal Times
« If you want to know what English Montrealers are thinking, you need to look at the cartoons of Aislin. » The Globe and Mail
« Some memorable cartoons in this impressive and vast body of work. » Montreal Gazette
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