Collections & Research Staff
Corey Keeble
Curator
B.A., English and History, United College (University of Winnipeg,) 1967
Art History, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, 1969
Corey Keeble was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and is a graduate of United College (now the University of Winnipeg). In 1967, he went to England on the final eastward passage of the Queen Mary to begin postgraduate studies in art history with Stella Mary Newton at the Courtauld Institute of Art during the tenure of the late Professor Sir Anthony Blunt. On completion of his postgraduate studies, Corey joined the ROM's curatorial staff working for the European Department (later Western Art & Culture; now World Cultures).
Corey is a recognized authority on the history of Renaissance and Baroque bronze sculpture and European arms and armour. His interests include Medieval sculpture, Gothic and Gothic Revival architecture, Medieval and Modern stained glass, the Russian Orthodox Church, icons, Judaica, and ships (he is a well-known lecturer on the Titanic) as well as firefighting apparatus. He is a frequent speaker at Toronto churches and synagogues on subjects ranging from liturgical art to stained glass.
Corey has written numerous catalogues and articles, and has been a regular contributor to Arms Collecting, and to the ROM’s magazine. Among his major publications is the catalogue The Honourable Henry N. R. Jackman Collection of Toy Soldiers in the ROM, published in 2002. He is currently working on publications on gunlocks, stained glass, Winnipeg architecture, firefighting apparatus, and crossbows. Corey speaks French, German, and Italian, and has a reading knowledge of several other European languages. He studied both Hebrew and Yiddish in connection with his work on the Dr. Fred Weinberg & Joy Cherry Weinberg Judaica Collection, and is also studying Russian.
An avid lecturer on Toronto architectural history—notably Gothic Revival church architecture. Corey has led many walking tours of old Toronto for such organizations as the William Morris Society and the Canadian Society for Decorative Arts. His walking tours have included surveys of historic Toronto churches and synagogues, including the historic synagogues of the Kensington Market area. His Canadian art and architecture tours have included Kingston, Ottawa, Hamilton, and other Ontario towns and cities. In recent years he has become equally well-known for his architectural walking tours of New York City and for similar tours of other American cities including Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, Toledo, Washington, and Ypsilanti.
As a ROM curator, Corey has served as a resource person and guide on numerous ROMtravel tours to Europe. These have included Mediterranean and Danube cruises, as well as architectural tours of Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Hungary, and Italy. Among the most notable were a 1989 tour to Central and Eastern Europe which took place shortly before the fall of the Communist government in Czechoslovakia and of the Ceaucescu regime in Rumania, and the ROM tour to Dresden and Berlin in 2001. A keen photographer, he has recorded many of his travels.
Publications
| 2008 | European Crossbows in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum. |
| 2006 | "A cultural treasure" Anglican Journal, vol.132, no.1, pp.5. |
| 2004 | "Long tradition" Anglican Journal, vol.130, no.5, pp.4. |
| 2003 | "Simplicity defended. (Letters)." Anglican Journal, vol.129, no.6, pp.4. |
| 2002 | The Honourable Henry N. R. Jackman Collection of Toy Soldiers in the ROM, Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum. |
| 2000 | "Cannon in miniature: tiny replicas served as toys, souvenirs, and tools of education." Rotunda, vol.33, no.1, pp.45,47. |
| 1997 | "Wind's eye," Ontario Craft, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 28, Winter 1997. |
| 1996 | "Recent furniture by Peter Fleming" Ontario Craft, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 18, Nov-Dec 1996. |
| 1996 | "Armour builds character" Ontario Craft, vol. 21, no. 1, Spring 1996, pp. 30, 1 illus. |
| 1995/96 | "St. Mary Magdalene and the ROM" Rotunda, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 41-42, Winter 1995-1996. |
| 1994 | "From start to finish" Ontario Craft, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 22-23, Summer 1994. |
| 1994 | "Books in brief: Kucer Miniatures", American Rifleman[Washington], vol.142, no.2, pp.30. |
| 1993 | "The Earthly Paradise" Ontario Craft, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 6-7, Summer 1993. |
| 1993 | Earthly paradise : arts and crafts by William Morris and his circle from Canadian collections, Lochnan, Katherine, Editor, contribution by Corey Keeble, Stain Glass, Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario. | 1990 | "Patrick Reyntiens and the Burleighfield experience (exhibition)." Ontario Craft , vol.15, no.3, pp.30-1. |
| 1989 | "The Lee of Fareham Collection," Antique Collector; 60 (Oct 89) p.68-73. |
| 1986 | "Italian Baroque sculpture," Antique Collector; 57 (Mar 86) p.86-91. |
| 1983 | Arms and armour, Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum. |
| 1982 | European bronzes in the Royal Ontario Museum, Keeble, Corey; photos. by Eberhard Otto; foreword by H. Hickl-Szabot, Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum. |
| 1982 | Sicilian maiolica in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum. |
| 1981 | The arts of Italy in Toronto collections, 1300 to 1800: based on the holdings of the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum and private collections in the Toronto area McTavish, David, contribution by Corey Keeble. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario. |
| 1981 | "Italian maiolica in the Royal Ontario Museum," Apollo, vol. 113, no. 231, pp. 285-287, May 1981. |
| 1981 | "Riccio, Bellano or Severo da Ravenna? A bronze statuette of St. Jerome," RACAR, Revue d'art canadienne. Canadian Art Review, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 55-59, 1981. |
| 1980 | "Italian Renaissance stucco and terracotta sculpture in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto,"Apollo, vol. 111, no. 220, pp. 424-431, June 1980. |
Galleries and Exhibition Spaces
Samuel European Galleries
J.F. Driscoll Family Stair of Wonders
ROM Images
Europe
Other Links
ROM Friends of the Medieval Studies Society (FMSS)
Contact Information
Department of World Cultures
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park
Toronto, ON
M5S 2C6
Fax: 416.586.5877
E-mail: World Cultures
Corey Keeble
Corey Keeble and Krzysztof Ciuk examine armour during the History Hunters event, June 2003.
The Honourable Henry N. R. Jackman Collection of Toy Soldiers in the ROM
