Group of Seven (artists)

This article is about the group of Canadian artists. For the group of Asian-American artists sometimes called the Group of Seven, see Metcalf Chateau.
Frederick Varley, A. Y. Jackson, Lawren Harris, Barker Fairley (not a member), Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, and J. E. H. MacDonald. Image ca. 1920, F 1066, Archives of Ontario, I0010313

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]

  1. ^ Foreword to Group of Seven: Catalogue Exhibition of Paintings, May 7th – May 27th, 1920. Toronto: Art Museum of Toronto. 1920. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  2. ^ Silcox, David (2003), The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson, Firefly Books, 2003, ISBN 9781552976050, retrieved 19 October 2011
  3. ^ Housser, F. B. (1926), A Canadian Art Movement, Toronto, Ontario, p. 24{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ 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)
  5. ^ Meadowcroft, Barbara (1999). Painting friends: the Beaver Hall women painters. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Véhicule Press. ISBN 1-55065-125-0.
  6. ^ 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)
  7. ^ 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.