By Henry Lehmann, The Montreal Gazette (March 10, 2001)

McGill University’s stately Thomson House, venue for student schmoozing and for academic seminars, can now add a new function to its CV: art gallery specializing mainly in contemporary Canadian works.

Since last summer, McGill has given Thomson House’s elegant, wood-paneled walls to Montreal art dealer David Astrof, who has dealt privately in art for the last 10 years. The building’s cavernous interior is now abloom with paintins, drawings and prints, and they are for sale. The 150 works represent a range of approaches. There are Frank Caprani’s scriffy-suave, semi-abstract images; Dorothy Grostern’s shadowy, inflected charcoals, asserting an alternate architectural universe; and countering the darkness are Victoria Block’s giant pastel neo-Impressionist landscapes. Contributing a note of satire are Shirley Katz’s witty caricatures. Some of the other artists represented are Tobie Steinhouse, who just won a silver medal for calligraphy in Tokyo; Chery Holmes, Kay Aubanel and Jacques Clement, a Monteal artist on the rise.

The works will be changed regularly. Thomson House is at 3650 McTavish Street. You can either just drop in or make an appointment with David Astrof, who can be contacted at (514) 286-2476.