THE GROUP OF SEVEN

dmiring Canadian artist Lawren S. Harris’ Winter (1914) transports me to those wintry days when the heaviness of the season is sensed on the icy landscape, and a certain earlymorning frigidness that only mid-winter mornings bring is felt—even before stepping outside. At the same time, the poetic picture is a reminder of Canada’s natural beauty throughout the seasons. There’s a sense of familiarity too in this earthly scene that has us trek, albeit virtually, into the remote corners of Canada, one brushstroke

Aat a time. It is pure, unadulterated Canadiana.

Lawren S. Harris shared the love of the country’s natural environment with other like-minded nature lover artists, rubbing shoulders with J.E.H. Macdonald, Arthur Lismer, Frederick H. Varley, Frank Johnston, Franklin Carmichael and A.Y. Jackson, who collectively became known as the Group of Seven. Like Britain’s Fab Four (The Beatles), Canada’s Group of Seven became trailblazers

on the arts circuit. Art critics of the day hailed them as the “modernism of the future” with their avant-garde bold splashes of colour that broke from convention.

Through wild woods and rocky outcroppings, stomping on the oldest rock in the world, each artist was seduced by his muse—canada’s great outdoors.

The Group of Seven achieved fame for the unique Canadian landscapes they captured as these adventurous artists ventured into remote, yet now iconic areas including Algonquin Park, Killarney Provincial Park and Baffin Island in the North, often by boxcar and by canoe. On a mission to develop a distinct Canadian artistic style, what emerged was a style that depicts the rugged beauty of the Canadian landscape, influenced by modern art movements (Impressionism, Arts and Crafts, and Art Deco) popular at the time in Europe.

To help find your love of Canadian landscapes conceived on canvas, here’s a snapshot of galleries and places you can visit for Group of Seven collections.

In May 1920 the Art Gallery of Toronto (known today as the Art Gallery of Ontario and AGO) hosted the group’s first official exhibition featuring a collection of 120 paintings. Held over a three-week period, the exhibition attracted over 2,000 visitors, yet only six artworks sold. Today, the AGO has 791 artworks in its permanent collection.

Lawren S. Harris’ Winter Afternoon, City Street, Toronto or Sunday Morning (1918): On a bone-chillingly cold winter day you could relate to the passers by bundled up against the cold.

Arthur Lismer’s Sunlight in a Wood (1930): Sunlight shines onto a mossy forest floor.