While January 25th marked an important local milestone in Phillippa Cranston Baran’s mission to popularize the life and career of her late brother, figure-skater and artist Toller Cranston- with the release of her second tome, the coffee-table size “Toller Cranston: Artistic Impressions”, there’s equally important but less visually appealing work going on behind the scenes to preserve the Cranston legacy.
Donna Child, Gallery Director with Toronto’s Donna Child Fine Art Gallery was in attendance at the Arnprior event at the O’Brien Theatre.
She’s a participant in Toller International, and, together with Cranston Baran, is keeping Toller’s legacy alive worldwide with specific events and functions- as well as crafting a dedicated work of her own- a collection index of the artist’s creations.
The official descriptor of Child’s project is termed a “catalogue raisonne”- a comprehensive, annotated listing of all an artist’s known works.
A catalogue raisonne helps in the process of authentication, tracks ownership and supplies a complete scholar record.
Child says the index guards against fakes- of which there are some.
She gives examples.
The current principal project of Toller International is “Toller 50” a series of events that began with the Milano-Cortina Olympics, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the skater’s bronze Olympic medal and continuing throughout 2026.
A great Canadian icon with deep Valley connections.
By Rick Stow
