Portrait of John Howard

Portrait of John Howard, 1847 By Thomas H. Stevenson. City of Toronto Museums Collection, 1978.41.504

Arriving in 1832, John Howard was one of the first professional architects in Upper Canada, and consequently he made significant contributions to the creating both public and private infrastructure in Toronto. This web exhibits explores the life, art and civic contributions of John Howard through the [documentary] paintings he left behind. Click on one of the thumnails above to enlarge the image and read about it. Click highlighted areas of the image for further details and links to related websites.

Within a year of arriving in York (soon to become Toronto), Howard showed his portfolio of architectural renderings to the Lieutenant Governor John Colborne. Colborne was sufficiently impressed with Howard’s work to appoint him ash geometrical drawing master at Upper Canada College, a position he held for twenty three years.