A Toronto institution since 1952. Thousands of art supplies floor to ceiling, cats wandering the aisles, and the kind of store you can spend two hours in just looking. Even non-artists love it.
Neighbourhood: Kensington Market · Address: 448 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON · Hours: Mon–Sat 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM | Sun 12:00 – 5:00 PM · Phone: (416) 922-5429
Why Visit
Gwartzman’s has a mind-boggling range of art supplies piled high in a chaotic, warehouse-like space, complete with resident cats. Even if you’re not an artist, browsing the store is its own mini-adventure.
What Makes It Unique
Unlike chain art stores, Gwartzman’s still feels like an old-school family shop—with sketch pads stacked to the ceiling and odd finds you won’t see anywhere else. The staff know their stuff, and their quirky touches (like that vintage cash register) make it feel more like a neighbour’s attic than a retail store. The shop’s feline residents add legit personality.
Gwartzman's Art Supplies has been an institution in Toronto's art supply world since 1952, when Abraham Gwartzman opened a small shop in the Kensington Market area that has since expanded into one of the most celebrated and eccentric art supply stores in North America. The current location at 448 Spadina Avenue is a multi-floor labyrinth of brushes, pigments, papers, canvases, printmaking supplies, studio equipment, and specialty materials that has accumulated over seven decades of serving the Toronto art community. If it exists in the art supply world, Gwartzman's probably has it.
The store's reputation rests on several things that corporate art supply chains cannot manufacture. The first is inventory depth: Gwartzman's stocks brands and product lines that don't appear at Michaels or Staples — professional-grade pigments, specialty printmaking papers from Japan and Europe, studio-quality stretcher bars, and obscure media for experienced artists who know exactly what they need and have driven across the city to find it. The second is the cats. The store has been home to a rotating cast of feline inhabitants since its earliest years, and the current shop cats — who occupy the counter, sleep in the narrow aisles, and occasionally investigate customers' bags — have become as much a part of the Gwartzman's identity as the inventory itself.
The staff are knowledgeable in the way that only career specialists in a field become — able to explain the difference between different grades of the same pigment, recommend the right paper weight for a particular drawing medium, or talk through the pros and cons of different canvas surfaces for oil painting. This kind of expertise is genuinely rare in a retail context and is one of the primary reasons working artists in Toronto choose Gwartzman's over more convenient options. The store draws art students from OCAD University, professional painters, hobbyists, architects, and curious non-artists who have heard about the place and wandered in.
For visitors who are not themselves artists, Gwartzman's is worth visiting as a form of Toronto cultural tourism — a business that has survived urban change, competition from online retailers, and the general decline of the independent specialty store by being genuinely irreplaceable. The store is dense, slightly overwhelming, and staffed by people who care about what they sell. Spending an hour browsing without buying anything is entirely acceptable and frequently happens.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Gwartzman's Art Supplies in Toronto?
Gwartzman's Art Supplies is at 448 Spadina Avenue, south of College Street in the Kensington Market area. The store is accessible by the 510 Spadina streetcar. OCAD University students know it well as the closest professional art supply store to campus. The store is open Monday through Saturday; check current hours before visiting.
What does Gwartzman's Art Supplies sell?
Gwartzman's stocks a wide range of professional and consumer art supplies across multiple floors: oil, acrylic, and watercolour paints; specialty pigments and mediums; brushes; papers including Japanese and European printmaking papers; canvases and stretcher bars; printmaking and bookbinding supplies; drafting equipment; and studio accessories. The inventory is deep in professional-grade materials that are hard to find elsewhere in Toronto.
Does Gwartzman's Art Supplies really have cats?
Yes — Gwartzman's has maintained in-store cats as part of its shop culture for decades. The cats are a well-known and beloved part of the store's identity, referenced in nearly every review and travel write-up. They typically occupy the service counter, sleep in the aisles, and engage with customers on their own terms. The cats are one of the reasons Gwartzman's has developed a reputation as a Toronto institution worth visiting even if you're not buying art supplies.
Is Gwartzman's a good place to buy art supplies as a beginner?
Yes — Gwartzman's welcomes beginners and hobbyists alongside professional artists. The staff can recommend starter materials for different media and explain the difference between student-grade and professional-grade materials. The store stocks supplies across a wide price range. For introductory drawing and painting supplies, prices are competitive with the major chain stores.