On a recent trip to Toronto I
visited the The Art Gallery of Ontario. It is a vast
museum with a great body of work. It has, for example,
the largest collection of British sculptor Henry Moore.
On a search for Inuit work my wife and I stumbled into a
room filled with the work of Canadian impressionists who
had worked before and after the turn of the last
century.
Maurice Cullen, "On the Saint Lawrence", 1897
As we entered the next room we
discovered the work of the Group of Seven and were caught
like flies in amber. The Group of Seven were painters
living in Toronto who first exhibited together in the
spring of 1920 at the Art Gallery of Toronto. These
artists were Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A.Y.
Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald,
and F.H. Varley.
Tom Thompson (first illustration) was
a friend and major influence on the Group of Seven. He
died three years before their first show. All of the
seven were born in the late 19th century, and all shared
a love for the Canadian wilderness.
Lawren Harris, "Spruce and Snow, Northern
Ontario", 1916
They painted landscapes with passion
in difficult to get to locations. Their style was a bit
more rugged than the Europeans who preceded them. Lawren
Harris evolved a style that eventually had much in common
with the American artist, Grant Wood.
A. Y. Jackson, "Maple and Birches", 1915
Unlike the others, Harris came from a
family of great wealth and was the "leader" of the group,
displaying both organization and determination. Although
they shared a love of the natural landscape, all were
quite individual in their painting philosophy.
They had to canoe and hike because
there were no roads into northern Ontario and their
wilderness locations. It was often cold as well. One
result of the physical constraints they faced was the
need to travel light and paint quickly. Consequently they
painted on small boards that they could carry in number.
Often these works would be sketches that would be used to
paint larger canvases in the leisure of the studio.
Franklin Carmichael, "Autumn Hillside",
1920
Consequently, there are many of works
on panels of about the same size (roughly 8.5"x11") that
were executed quickly and energetically. The Art Gallery
of Ontario has taken good advantage of this abundance by
displaying dozens of these works grouped together in
large arrays.
The Art Gallery of Ontario is an
excellent way to spend a day in Toronto and the artists
of the Canadian wilderness should not be
missed.
Arthur Lismer, "The Guide's Home, Algonquin",
1914
All images except the Tom
Thompson and Arthur Lismer from The Art Gallery of
Ontario postcard collection © 1998
"The Group of Seven" © 1995 by Anne Newlands
ISBN 1-895565-54-5 Firefly Books (U.S.) PO Box 1138
Ellicot Station, Buffalo NY 14205
Source for Tom Thompson and Arthur Lismer
illustrations
"The McMichael Canadian Art Collection" © 1989 by
Jean Blodgett, Megan Bice, David Wistow, and Lee-Ann
Martin
McGraw Hill Ryerson Ltd, 330 Progress Ave,
Scarborough, Ontario M1P2Z5, Canada
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