My Hometown Museum: Royal Ontario Museum

Art, culture, and more make Toronto’s ROM a must-see destination.

When I was a kid, I couldn’t get enough of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), in downtown Toronto, with the dinosaurs still bristling with rage despite being stripped to the bone eons prior. ROM had its beginnings long before I was born, in 1914, just months before the start of World War I. And it’s about to get a major renovation, dubbed OpenROM, as announced last year by Director and Chief Executive Josh Basseches. The venerable institution’s ground floor will be made over, and an additional 6,000 square feet of gallery space will be added above, with 2027 as the target date for completion.

There’s a lot more to see in the museum than the above-mentioned dinosaurs—some 18 million items, in fact. Nearly 1 million of those are designated as objects of “art and culture” from all corners of the globe, spread across 40 galleries. As museum materials note, “Objects are the ultimate storytellers of ROM, giving us glimpses into endless worlds and helping us understand our own.” No wonder artists with their sketchpads are a frequent sight and are “very much encouraged, no permission required,” says one staffer. 

Following are some of the ROM’s current highlights to catch the eye of serious art lovers. Keep in mind that the ROM, in its current state, can be a bit tricky to negotiate, with sections temporarily or permanently closed. It spans four floors, too. As a guide politely told me, “It was built at different times.”

The Art Scene

There’s a huge show celebrating Flemish art that will open June 28 and run through January 18, 2026—“Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks.” It draws from The Phoebus Foundation’s world-class collection of Flemish art and features works by Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony Van Dyck, Hans Memling, Jan Gossaert, Jan Brueghel, Clara Peeters, Jacob Jordaens, Frans Francken II, Michaelina Wautier, and many others.

Highlights touched upon by curators and currently on display include The Paradise of Maitreya wall painting by Zhu Haogu, a mummy portrait of a young woman, a temple bell of Wei Bin, a Hudson Strait kayak, and a bust of Cleopatra.

Additionally, in the Rotunda at the Queens Park Entrance is the first large-scale mosaic in Canada produced by a Canadian company, with brightly colored figures standing out against a glittering gold background, reflecting the Byzantine style of mosaics found in Venice. Some of the other major pieces in the ROM’s eclectic collection—including works by El Anatsui, Kent Monkman, Anish Kapoor, Zak Ové, Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior, and Iris van Herpen—are currently not on display due to the construction project.

For lovers of European art, the Samuel European Galleries, up on the third floor, are a must-see, replete with Madonna and Child (or Virgin and Child) sculptures in the Gothic style. The “increasingly naturalistic and lifelike” style was in contrast to the Romanesque.

There’s also a sizable oil on canvas portrait of Marie de Medici, Queen of France, attributed to Flemish artist Frans Pourbus the Younger, the court painter to the queen. Later developments are touched on in the Samuel, including the Aesthetic Movement, which Massachusetts-born James McNeill Whistler helped popularize. Art Nouveau (early 1900s) and then Art Deco (1920s on) are also components of the Samuel Galleries. 

The Natural World

Nature takes top billing in the lower galleries, where the prestigious “Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024” exhibition, organized by London’s Natural History Museum, was on prominent display when I visited and will remain on view through May 4. Keep your eyes open for the David Bowie spider … seriously.

Perhaps the highlight for those intrigued by color—which is likely nearly every artist—is “The Nature in Brilliant Colour” display, where visitors are greeted by a peafowl, or peacock, appropriately strutting its stuff. Each space in the exhibition is devoted to a color of the rainbow, as well as black and white. Whereas in art, color sets the mood and typically embraces viewers; in nature, color is often a deterrent, telling predators to stay away. A brilliant red frog’s coloration shouts, “Don’t eat me, I’m poisonous,” while the yellow stripes sported by bees and wasps say, “Don’t mess with me.” Then there’s the snowy owl, whose bright white plumage is a blessing in the Arctic wasteland while calling to mind the work of Robert Ryman, among others. The exhibition runs through August 17.

Suffice it to say, the ROM is a can’t-miss attraction the next time you’re in Toronto. Enjoy the art, and watch out for those dinosaurs!