Group of Seven (artists)
The Group of Seven, once known as the Algonquin School, was a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920 to 1933, with "a like vision".[1] It originally consisted of Franklin Carmichael (1890–1945), Lawren Harris (1885–1970), A. Y. Jackson (1882–1974), Frank Johnston (1888–1949), Arthur Lismer (1885–1969), J. E. H. MacDonald (1873–1932), and Frederick Varley (1881–1969). A. J. Casson (1898–1992) was invited to join in 1926, Edwin Holgate (1892–1977) became a member in 1930, and Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald (1890–1956) joined in 1932.
Two artists associated with the group are Tom Thomson (1877–1917) and Emily Carr (1871–1945). Although he died before its official formation, Thomson had a significant influence on the group. In his essay "The Story of the Group of Seven", Harris wrote that Thomson was "a part of the movement before we pinned a label on it"; Thomson's paintings The West Wind and The Jack Pine are two of the group's most iconic pieces.[2]
Believing that a distinct Canadian art could be developed through direct contact with nature,[3] the Group of Seven is best known for its paintings inspired by the Canadian landscape, and initiated the first major Canadian national art movement.[4] The Group was succeeded by the Canadian Group of Painters in 1933, which included members from the Beaver Hall Group who had a history of showing with the Group of Seven both nationally and internationally.[5][6]
As Montreal critic Robert Ayre said in 1940 of the period of time in which the Group of Seven was founded, "It was a grand time, a big, dramatic, heroic, if you like extravagant, optimistic time".[7]
Collections
[edit]Large collections of work of the Group of Seven are located at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa as well as the Ottawa Art Gallery (home to The Firestone Collection of Canadian Art) and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario. The National Gallery, under the directorship of Eric Brown, was an early institutional supporter of artists associated with the Group, purchasing art from some of their early exhibitions before they had identified themselves officially as the Group of Seven and afterwards.[8][9] The Art Gallery of Ontario, in its earlier incarnation as the Art Gallery of Toronto, was the site of their first exhibition as the Group of Seven in 1920.[2] The McMichael Canadian Art Collection was founded by Robert and Signe McMichael, who began collecting paintings by the Group of Seven and their contemporaries in 1955.[10]
History
[edit]Tom Thomson, J. E. H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley, Frank Johnston and Franklin Carmichael met as employees of the design firm Grip Ltd. in Toronto. In 1913, they were joined by A. Y. (Alexander Young) Jackson and Lawren Harris. They often met at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto to discuss their opinions and share their opinions about art.[2]
This group received monetary support from Harris (heir to the Massey-Harris farm machinery fortune) and Dr. James MacCallum. Harris and MacCallum jointly built the Studio Building in 1914 in the Rosedale ravine to serve as a meeting and working place for the new Canadian art movement. MacCallum owned an island on Georgian Bay and Thomson worked as a guide in nearby Algonquin Park, both places where he and the other artists often travelled for inspiration.[11]
The informal group was temporarily split up during World War I, during which Jackson[12] and Varley[13] became official war artists. Jackson enlisted in June 1915 and served in France from November 1915 to 1917, at which point he was seriously injured.[14] Harris enlisted in 1916 and taught musketry at Camp Borden.[15] He was discharged in May 1918 after suffering a nervous breakdown.[15][16] Carmichael, MacDonald, Thomson, Varley and Johnston remained in Toronto and struggled in the depressed wartime economy.[15][nb 1] A further blow to the group came in 1917 when Thomson died mysteriously while canoeing in Algonquin Park. The circumstances of his death remain unclear.[2]
The seven who formed the original group reunited after the war. They continued to travel throughout Ontario, especially the Muskoka and Algoma regions, sketching the landscape and developing techniques to represent it in art. In 1919, they decided to make themselves into a group devoted to a distinct Canadian form of art which did not exist yet, and began to call themselves the Group of Seven.[11] It is unknown who specifically chose these seven men, but it is believed to have been Harris or Harris in combination with MacDonald.[17] By 1920, they were ready for their first exhibition thanks to the constant support and encouragement of Eric Brown, the director of the National Gallery at that time. Reviews for the 1920 exhibition were mixed,[18] but as the decade progressed the Group came to be recognized as pioneers of a new, Canadian, school of art.
After Frank Johnston moved to Winnipeg in the fall of 1921, Percy James Robinson is claimed to have been invited to fill the open spot. Robinson participated in the group's 3rd exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario.[19] In 1926, A. J. Casson was invited to join.[11] Franklin Carmichael had taken a liking to him and had encouraged Casson to sketch and paint for many years.
The Group's champions during its early years included Barker Fairley, a co-founder of Canadian Forum magazine,[20] and the warden of Hart House at the University of Toronto, J. Burgon Bickersteth.
The members of the Group began to travel elsewhere in Canada for inspiration, including British Columbia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and the Arctic. After Samuel Gurney Cresswell and other painters on Royal Navy expeditions, these were the first artists of European descent who depicted the Arctic.[citation needed] Soon, the Group made the decision that to be called a "national school of painters" there should be members from outside Toronto. As a result, in 1930 Edwin Holgate from Montreal, Quebec became a member, followed by Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald from Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1932.[8]
The Group's influence was so widespread by the end of 1931, and after J. E. H. MacDonald's death in 1932, they no longer found it necessary to continue as a group of painters. They announced that the Group had been disbanded and that a new association of painters would be formed, known as the Canadian Group of Painters. The Canadian Group — which eventually consisted of the majority of Canada's leading artists — held its first exhibition in 1933, and continued to hold exhibitions almost every year as a successful society until 1967.
Recognition
[edit]On September 18, 1970, Canada Post issued 'The Group of Seven', designed by Allan Robb Fleming and based on a painting, Isles of Spruce (1922), by Arthur Lismer and held in the Hart House Permanent Collection, University of Toronto. The 6¢ stamps are perforated 11, and were printed by Ashton-Potter Limited.[21]
On June 29, 1995, Canada Post issued 10 stamps, each based on a painting of a member of the group (7 original members and 3 additional members):
- Francis Hans Johnston, Serenity, Lake of the Woods[22]
- Arthur Lismer, A September Gale, Georgian Bay[23]
- James Edward Hervey MacDonald, Falls, Montreal River[24]
- Frederick Horsman Varley, Open Window[25]
- Franklin Carmichael, October Gold[26]
- Lawren Stewart Harris, North of Lake Superior[27]
- Alexander Young Jackson, Evening, Les Éboulements[28]
- Alfred Joseph Casson, Mill Houses[29]
- Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, Pembina Valley[30]
- Edwin Headley Holgate, The Lumberjack[31]
On May 7, 2020, Canada Post honoured the centennial of the Group's first exhibition, at the Art Gallery of Toronto (May 7, 1920), by issuing seven stamps, featuring paintings by each of the original members.[32] The stamps were produced in a booklet of seven self-adhesives, and on a souvenir sheet of seven gummed stamps. First day ceremonies were cancelled, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so designs were unveiled online on May 6, via the social media accounts of the postal service and several galleries across the country which own the works featured on the stamps:
- In the Nickel Belt (1928), by Franklin Carmichael
- Miners’ Houses, Glace Bay (circa 1925), by Lawren S. Harris
- Labrador Coast (1930), by A.Y. Jackson
- Fire-swept, Algoma (1920), by Frank H. Johnston
- Quebec Village (1926), by Arthur Lismer
- Church by the Sea (1924), by J.E.H. MacDonald
- Stormy Weather, Georgian Bay (1921), by F.H. Varley
In 2012–2013, the Royal Canadian Mint issued seven pure silver one-ounce coins, collectively reproducing one painting by each original member:[33]
- F.H. Varley Stormy Weather, Georgian Bay (April 2012)[34]
- Arthur Lismer Nova Scotia Fishing Village (July 2012)[35]
- Franklin Carmichael Houses, Cobalt (October 2012)[36]
- Lawren S. Harris Toronto Street, Winter Morning (January 2013)[37]
- Franz Johnston The Guardian of the Gorge (March 2013)[38]
- J.E.H. MacDonald Sumacs (June 2013)
- A.Y. Jackson Saint-Tite-des-Caps (September 2013)
Legacy
[edit]In 1966, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario incorporated the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, an art gallery with an institutional focus on the Group of Seven, along with "their contemporaries and on the aboriginal peoples of Canada".[39] In addition to housing a collection of works by the Group of Seven, the museum property also contains the burial ground for six members of the group, including A.Y. Jackson,[40] Arthur Lismer,[41] Frederick Varley,[42] Lawren Harris,[43] Frank Johnston,[44] and A.J. Casson;[45] along with four of the artists' wives. The McMichael cemetery is situated in a small patch of consecrated land bordered by trees, with graves marked by large chunks of the Canadian Shield. The idea to use the property as a burial ground for the group was first proposed to the institution by Jackson in 1968.[46]
In 1995, the National Gallery of Canada compiled a Group of Seven retrospective show, for which they commissioned the Canadian rock band Rheostatics to write a musical score. That score was released on album as Music Inspired by the Group of Seven.
Shows of Group of Seven members or single paintings in some combination are a perennial favorite of the Canadian exhibition world, particularly of the National Gallery of Canada. Usually the Group is simply regarded as part of Canadian art history and explored in depth, as, for instance, for the centenary, the Kelowna Art Gallery in 2020 organized Northern Pine: Watercolours and Drawings by the Group of Seven from the McMichael Canadian Art Collection curated by Ian M. Thom.[47] For the centenary as well, the National Gallery of Canada's Philip Dombowsky of the Library and Archives at the Gallery organized a show titled Group of Seven: Graphic Design.[48][49]
The Group of Seven has received criticism for reinforcing the concept of terra nullius by presenting the Canadian wilderness as pristine and untouched by humans, despite the fact that these areas had been lived in for centuries.[50]
See also
[edit]- Beaver Hall Group
- Canadian Group of Painters
- Eastern Group of Painters
- Indian Group of Seven (group of Canadian First Nations Artists)
- Jewish Painters of Montreal
- Painters Eleven
- Regina Five
References
[edit]Footnotes
[edit]- ^ For a thorough discussion of the activity of the group during the war, refer to Mellen 1970, 70; Larisey 1993, 34-36; Reid 1971, 109-120
References
[edit]- ^ Foreword to Group of Seven: Catalogue Exhibition of Paintings, May 7th – May 27th, 1920. Toronto: Art Museum of Toronto. 1920. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ^ a b c d Silcox, David (2003), The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson, Firefly Books, 2003, ISBN 9781552976050, retrieved 19 October 2011
- ^ Housser, F. B. (1926), A Canadian Art Movement, Toronto, Ontario, p. 24
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Chilvers, Ian, Glaves-Smith, John (27 August 2009), "Group of Seven", A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780199239665, retrieved 18 October 2011
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Meadowcroft, Barbara (1999). Painting friends: the Beaver Hall women painters. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Véhicule Press. ISBN 1-55065-125-0.
- ^ Harris, Lawren, Murray, Joan (1993), The Best of the Group of Seven, McClelland & Stewart, 1993, ISBN 9780771066740, retrieved 19 October 2011
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Ayre, Robert (2017). "Exhibition of 'Art of Our Day' by Contemporary Arts Society Found Haunting and Significant (1940)". Canadian Painters in a Modern World, 1925–1955 Writings and Reconsiderations by Lora Senechal Carney, p. 195. Montreal: McGill-Queen's/Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation Studies in Art History Series (number 23 in series). ISBN 9780773551152. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
- ^ a b Varley, Christopher, "Group of Seven", The Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Foundation, archived from the original on 15 May 2005, retrieved 18 October 2011
- ^ "article". www.gallery.ca. National Gallery of Canada. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
- ^ "McMichael gallery co-founder dies". CBC Arts. 5 July 2007. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ a b c Hill, Charles C. (2004). Group of Seven. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195415599. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ Brandon, Laura. (2008). Art and War, p. 46., p. 46, at Google Books
- ^ Davis, Ann. (1992). The Logic of Ecstasy: Canadian Mystical Painting, 1920–1940, p. 30., p. 30, at Google Books
- ^ Mellen, Peter (1970). The Group of Seven. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. p. 70. ISBN 978-0771058158.
- ^ a b c Roza, Alexandra M. (1997). Towards a Modern Canadian Art 1910-1936: The Group of Seven, A.J.M. Smith and F.R. Scott (PDF) (Thesis). McGill University. p. 26 n. 24.
- ^ Murray, Joan (2006). Rocks: Franklin Carmichael, Arthur Lismer, and the Group of Seven. Toronto: McArthur & Company. p. 52. ISBN 978-1552786161.
- ^ Silcox, David P. (2003). "Introduction". The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson. Toronto, Ontario: Firefly Books Ltd. p. 17. ISBN 1-55297-605-X.
Someone decided whom to invite to that historic meeting, and probably Harris, or Harris after conferring with MacDonald, was responsible.
- ^ Varley, Christopher. "Group of Seven". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 May 2005. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ Silverbrooke, M.D. "Dr. Percy James Robinson". askART.
- ^ Symington, Rodney. "Fairley, Barker". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 March 2005. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ "Canada Post stamp". Data4.collectionscanada.gc.ca. 18 September 1970. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Canada Post stamp". Data4.collectionscanada.ca. 29 June 1995. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Canada Post stamp". Data4.collectionscanada.ca. 29 June 1995. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Canada Post stamp". Data4.collectionscanada.ca. 29 June 1995. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Canada Post stamp". Data4.collectionscanada.ca. 29 June 1995. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Canada Post stamp". Data4.collectionscanada.ca. 29 June 1995. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Canada Post stamp". Data4.collectionscanada.ca. 29 June 1995. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Canada Post stamp". Data4.collectionscanada.ca. 29 June 1995. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Canada Post stamp". Data4.collectionscanada.ca. 29 June 1995. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Canada Post stamp". Data4.collectionscanada.ca. 29 June 1995. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Canada Post stamp". Data4.collectionscanada.ca. 29 June 1995. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ Canada Post celebrates centennial of Group of Seven's first exhibition, Canada Post news release, Ottawa, May 6, 2020
- ^ "Fine Silver Group of Seven 7-Coin Subscription (2012–2013)". Mint.ca. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Fine Silver Coin – Varley, Stormy Weather – Mintage: 7,000 (2012)". Mint.ca. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Fine Silver Coin – Lismer, Nova Scotia Fishing Village – Mintage: 7000 (2012)". Mint.ca. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Fine Silver Coin – Carmichael, Houses, Cobalt – Mintage: 7000 (2012)". Mint.ca. Archived from the original on 23 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "1 oz Fine Silver Coin – Lawren S. Harris, Toronto Street Winter Morning – Mintage: 7000 (2013)". Mint.ca. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "1 oz Fine Silver Coin – Franz Johnston, The Guardian of the Gorge – Mintage: 7000 (2013)". Mint.ca. Archived from the original on 19 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "McMichael Canadian Art Collection Amendment Act, 2011". www.ontario.ca. Queen's Printer for Ontario. 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- ^ A.Y. Jackson Archived 28 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
- ^ Arthur Lismer Archived 12 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
- ^ Frederick Varley Archived 12 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
- ^ Lawren Harris Archived 28 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
- ^ Frank Johnston Archived 12 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
- ^ A.J. Casson Archived 25 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
- ^ Larsen, Wayne (2009). A.Y. Jackson: The Life of a Landscape Painter. Dundurn. p. 210. ISBN 978-1-7707-0452-7.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "An Evening with Curator Ian Thom". www.youtube.com. youtube/kelowna art gallery, oct 23, 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
- ^ "Group of Seven: Graphic Design". www.gallery.ca. National Gallery of Canada. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
- ^ Dombowsky, Philip. "Exhibitions". www.gallery.ca. National Gallery of Canada. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ Silcox, David (2015). Tom Thomson: Life & Work. Toronto: Art Canada Institute. ISBN 9781487100759.
Further reading
[edit]- Boulet, Roger and Group of Seven and Tom Thomson (1982). The Canadian Earth. M. Bernard Loates, Cerebrus Publishing. ISBN 0920016103.
- Cole, Douglas (Summer 1978). "Artists, Patrons and Public: An Inquiry into the Success of the Group of Seven". Journal of Canadian Studies. 13 (2): 69–78. doi:10.3138/jcs.13.2.69. S2CID 152198969.
- Colgate, William (1943). Canadian Art: Its Origin and Development. Toronto: Ryerson Press.
- Davis, Ann (1992). The Logic of Ecstasy: Canadian Mystical Painting, 1920-1940. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- Dawn, Leslie (2006). National Visions, National Blindness: Canadian Art and Identities in the 1920s. Vancouver: UBC Press.
- Dejardin, Ian, ed. (2011). Painting Canada: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. London: Dulwich Picture Gallery.
- Duval, Paul (1972). Four Decades: The Canadian Group of Painters and Their Contemporaries, 1930-1970. Toronto: Clarke Irwin. ISBN 9780772005533.
- ——— (1978). The Tangled Garden. Toronto: Cerebrus/Prentice-Hall.
- ——— (1980). A.J. Casson; A Tribute. M. Bernard Loates, Cerebrus Publishing. ISBN 0920892027.
- ——— (1982). A.J. Casson; My Favourite Watercolours. M. Bernard Loates, Cerebrus Publishing. ISBN 0920016138.
- ——— (2010). Lawren Harris, Where the Universe Sings. M. Bernard Loates, Cerebrus Publishing. ISBN 9780981129709.
- Eisenberg, Evan (1998). The Ecology of Eden. Toronto: Random House of Canada.
- Grace, Sherrill E. (2004). Canada and the Idea of North. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.
- Harper, J. Russell (1966). Painting in Canada: A History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- Harris, Lawren (July 1926). "The Revelation of Art in Canada". Canadian Theosophist. 7: 85–88.
- ——— (1929). "Creative Art and Canada". In Brooker, Bertram (ed.). Yearbook of the Arts in Canada, 1928-29. Toronto: Macmillan. pp. 177–86.
- ——— (October 1943). "The Function of Art". Art Gallery Bulletin [Vancouver Art Gallery]. 2: 2–3.
- ——— (1948). "The Group of Seven in Canadian History". Canadian Historical Association: Report of the Annual Meeting held at Victoria and Vancouver, 16-19 June 1948. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 28–38.
- ——— (1964). The Story of the Group of Seven. Toronto: Rous and Mann Press.
- Hill, Charles C. (1995). The Group of Seven: Art for a Nation. National Gallery of Canada. ISBN 0-88884-645-2.
- Housser, F. B. (1926). A Canadian Art Movement: The Story of the Group of Seven. Toronto: Macmillan.
- Hubbard, R.H. (1963). The Development of Canadian Art. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada.
- Jackson, A.Y. (Summer 1957). "Box-car Days in Algoma 1919-20". Canadian Art. 14: 136–41.
- ——— (1958). A Painter's Country. Toronto: Clarke Irwin.
- Jessup, Lynda (Spring 2002). "The Group of Seven and the Tourist Landscape in Western Canada, or the More Things Change...". Journal of Canadian Studies. 37: 144–79. doi:10.3138/jcs.37.1.144. S2CID 141215113.
- King, Ross (2010). Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven. D & M Publishers. ISBN 9781553658078.
- Larisey, Peter (1993). Light for a Cold Land. Toronto: Dundurn Press.
- MacDonald, J. E. H. (22 March 1919). "The Canadian Spirit in Art". The Statesman. 35: 6–7.
- ——— (December 1919). "A.C.R. 10557". The Lamps: 33–39.
- MacDonald, Thoreau (1944). The Group of Seven. Toronto: Ryerson Press.
- MacTavish, Newton (1925). The Fine Arts in Canada. Toronto: Macmillan.
- Martinsen, Hanna (1984). "The Scandinavian Impact on the Group of Seven's Vision of the Canadian Landscape". Konsthistorisk Tidskrift. L111: 1–17. doi:10.1080/00233608408604038.
- McInnis, Graham C. (1950). Canadian Art. Toronto: Macmillan.
- Mellen, Peter (1970). The Group of Seven. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 9780771058158.
- Murray, Joan (1994). Northern lights: masterpieces of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. Toronto: Key Porter. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- Murray, Joan; Harris, Lawren (1993), The Best of the Group of Seven, McClelland & Stewart, ISBN 0-7710-6674-0
- O'Brian, John; White, Peter, eds. (2007). Beyond Wilderness: The Group of Seven, Canadian Identity, and Contemporary Art. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.
- Reid, Dennis (1970). The Group of Seven. Ottawa: The National Gallery of Canada.
- ——— (1971). A Bibliography of the Group of Seven. Ottawa: The National Gallery of Canada. pp. 109–120.
- Robson, Albert H. (1932). Canadian Landscape Painters. Toronto: Ryerson Press.
- Silcox, David P. (2011). The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson. Richmond Hill: Firefly Books. ISBN 9781554078851.