GREAT G R O U P S

First Snow 1919- 1920 A.Y. Jackson oil on canvas, 107.1 x 127.7 cm

Although members of the GROUP OF SEVEN (1920–1933) depicted lots of other things, they are best known for their paintings of the rugged lakes, trees and rocks of northern Ontario using bold brushstrokes and colours.

Moose Dream Legend 1962 Norval Morriseau oil on wove paper, 54.6 x 75.3 cm

The PROFESSIONAL NATIVE INDIAN ARTISTS INC. was also known as the Indian Group of Seven. These now-famous artists came together in the 1970s to highlight modern Indigenous art.

Rollande 1929 Prudence Heward oil on canvas, 139.9 x 101.7 cm

Around the same time as the Group of Seven, the BEAVER HALL GROUP formed in Montreal, although it only lasted a few years. Unusually, it had almost even numbers of women and men. Members mostly painted portraits and city scenes rather than landscapes.

Mirage on the Plain 1956 Ronde Eveille oil on canvas/ board, 81.28 cm x 109.22 cm

LES AUTOMATISTES wanted to break away from Quebec’s past and welcome a chaotic future after the Second World War. Its members created abstract works and a famous statement of its views, the Refus Global manifesto, in 1948.