Group Of Seven Paintings Inspire Canadian Artists

By Adrianna Notton

The Group of Seven paintings, the original artwork of a cluster of Canadian landscape painters working between 1920 and 1933, are to Canada what the modernists are to Europe and America. These artists managed to bring European experimentation to Canada at a time when it was not exactly appreciated. They also heralded what was the first official art movement of Canada. Today the works are highly prized.

There affiliation consisted of seven men though Tom Thomson served only as the original inspiration without officially joining them. The other six men are Arthur Lismer, Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, Franz Johnston, Frederick Varley and J. E. H. MacDonald. One woman managed to infiltrate the group, Emily Carr, though it would be many years before she gained official recognition.

In the year 1920, the first exhibition was held in the National Gallery of Ontario. It was met with mixed reactions, the criticism stemming from the view that the bleak Canadian landscape was unworthy as a subject matter. Today this seems reactionary: they painted the cold landscape boldly with animation and warmth.

They, having dabbled in Impressionism, moved through the various European art movements such as symbolism, expressionism and art nouveau. They, like their European counterparts, moved away from an exact rendering of nature into self-expression that characterized the individual temperament.

They made use of thick impasto, bright colours and bold drawing. Whether they painted in the studio or en plein aire, the artists developed similar styles. Eventually they simplified their approach and the canvases became more monochromatic with less attention paid to detail. It was said a visit to Lake Superior by Harris that earmarked a change. Harris was the only one of the group to adopt pure abstraction.

The members were all professional commercial illustrators and Art Nouveau was the popular style. They carried this into their fine artworks but each had a style that encompassed various movements. They did not adhere to one particular movement and as such, today there is a wide range of depictions seen in the museums of Canada.

Eventually the artists disbanded. They had made their point and earned official recognition. They had their last show as a group in 1931. But group affiliation was still preferred by some and a new organization was formed called The Canadian Group of Painters. Some of the former members were a part of it. Women were now allowed to join this new formation.

Today, the works are exhibited in the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Ontario. Robert and Signe McMichael began collecting the paintings in 1955. The paintings were purchased directly from the artists. The McMichael Canadian Art Collection houses more than six thousand of their works and six of the artists and their wives are buried in a graveyard on the site of the gallery.

The National Gallery showcased the Group of Seven Paintings in 1995 with a retrospective. They are the inspiration for Canadian artists today. The rock band Rheostatics wrote a musical score to accompany the exhibition and is available on CD. Prints of the works are widely sold in Canada. The originals are, for the most part, where they belong; in museums where public appreciation increases with each decade.

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