Roberts Gallery

Roberts Gallery was established in 1842 and in its 180 year history it has been owned by three families. In 1948, Sidney Wildridge acquired and relocated the Roberts Gallery at 759 Yonge Street. It had been owned by the Roberts family since 1870 and was a reputable gallery dealing in British, European and Canadian art and produced high quality frames.

Only a few years later, Jack Wildridge joined his father at the gallery and by the mid 1950s, after Sidney’s passing, he was the sole owner and director. Jack met many of the top Canadian artists in the Toronto art scene and changed the gallery’s focus to Canadian art by the late 1950s. The gallery then moved to 641 Yonge Street in 1961 where it would remain for the next 50 years.

Paul Wildridge joined his father Jack in 1978, until he passed in 1991. Charlene joined her husband Paul and they have since worked together for over 30 years. In 2012 their daughter Allie joined the ranks, with their son Tom following suit two years later. That makes four generations of Wildridges over the past 75 years. We have now moved to our new home at 631 Dupont, the gallery’s 6th location in its history, and look forward to many years in this wonderful neighbourhood.

On an annual basis we host our Artists Choice show every January, which features new work from all our contemporary artists. We also host our historical based Sketches exhibition every June.

Perhaps the most important step for the gallery came when A. J. Casson made Jack Wildridge his exclusive dealer. The support and trust of Mr. Casson cannot be overstated as to the credibility he gave Jack as a young dealer and Roberts Gallery as an important gallery for artists to consider. Paul Wildridge describes how “In 1972, Mr. Casson presented this coat of arms to our family as a Christmas gift along with the explanatory legend. He then used the crest in designing our letterhead for the Gallery.”