Last Chance to Catch a (Certain) King in Toronto …

Egyptologists, rejoice!

The Art Gallery of Ontario is extending its exhibition, King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pahraohs, through to this Sunday, May 2.

Toronto’s weather folks forecast rain: why not head indoors this weekend and wander through the special exhibition space currently showcasing more than 100 artifacts from Tut’s tomb (as well as the collections of other important pharaohs)? This is your last chance to trace 2000 years of Egyptian history while the collection remains on Canadian soil.

This spread of Tut’s treasures has been drawing steady crowds since last fall and was originally scheduled to close on April 18, 2010. For the next three days, one of the most exciting exhibits to hit the AGO remains accessible to the Toronto public—local and visiting.

AGO staff recommend arriving early on Saturday mornings, or hitting the gallery just after noon during the week, in the interest of avoiding crowds.

During the week, Adult tickets range from $28.50-$34.50 (with audio guide); the Senior rate is $24.50 and the Youth/Student price is $16.50. Children under 5 are free, and Family Passes (which offer access to two adults and two children) are $80.00.

On weekends, things change: Adults tickets range from $32.50-$38.50 (with audio guide); Senior tickets run for $28.50 and the Youth/Student admission is $18.50. Children under 5 remain free; the cost of the Family Pass increases to $90.00.

The AGO is open 10am-5:30pm Tuesday through Sunday, with extended hours on Wednesday evenings (to 8:30pm).

Also on at the AGO right now:

Canadian Art in the 1960s and 1970s through the lens of Coach House Press features  archival ephemera (from the collections of  Coach House publishers and the AGO itself) and reflects on the forms of artistic-dissemination-past, as they contrast (and foreshadow) current modes of circulation.

Wangechi Mutu: This You Call Civilization is the artist’s first, collage-based exhibition in a large North American gallery space. Her work is provocative, eking out all the big hitters in identity politics: feminism and gender, consumption and consumerism, race and colonialism.

Rembrandt/Freud features a collection of etchings by two gifted printmakers and renderers of the human form, Rembrandt van Rijn and Lucian Freud.

Whether or not Tut persuades you, the AGO has plenty to offer patrons as it officially shifts into spring. This is a staple cultural institution in the city so, get thee to the gallery, go.