Writing Assignment on Environment, March 2025

 

 The Group of Seven

Depicting Canada’s Environment

               The Group of Seven is Canada's first internationally recognized art movement. All Canadian school children have been introduced to their works at some point in the art curriculum, and they are front and centre in Canadian museums and art collections.

Originally known as the Algonquin School, the Group of Seven was a group of Canadian landscape painters active from 1920 to 1933. Founding members were 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) in 1930, and L.L. FitzGerald (1890–1956) joined in 1932.

Tom Thompson (1877-1917) is often considered the most important member of the Group, even though he died in mysterious circumstances (the case has never been solved) prior to the official naming. A man more at home in the wilderness, it was he, and J. E. H. MacDonald, who worked the hardest to realize the dream of forming a national school of art that would celebrate Canada's most spectacular and precious natural resource. Lawren Harris later 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.

Emily Carr (1871-1945), one of Canada's most important modern artists, attributed her artistic renaissance to the influence of the Group of Seven.

"No man can roam or inhabit the Canadian North without it affecting him" Lawren Harris, the Group’s de-facto leader stated. "Because of his constant habit of awareness and his discipline in expression", he added, the Canadian artist was "more understanding of its moods and spirit than others are".

               They all believed that a distinct Canadian art could be developed through direct contact with the country's vast and unique landscape. There are influences of Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Naturalism and Art Nouveau in their work, but stylistically the Group of Seven was an uneven mix. They shared the belief (learned from their Scandinavian counterparts) that the artist's feelings towards their natural surroundings should determine the style of the painting. The different approaches of each artist also mirrored the span and variety of the Canadian landscape.

Farmers and industrialists, many of whom were recently arrived in the country, were intent on taming the Canadian wilderness. The Group of Seven sought to preserve, through their art, the country's unspoiled terrain. They harnessed the new patriotic spirit amongst Canadians which helped vanquish the prevailing attitude that all things European were culturally superior to their North American imitators.

Harris noted how the land was "different in its air, mood, and spirit from Europe and the Old Country" adding that it "invokes a response which throws aside all preconceived ideas and rule-of-thumb reactions. It has to be seen, lived with, and painted with complete devotion to its own life and spirit before it yields its secrets". They weren’t interested in straight realism/naturalism and sought to represent how the shifting landscapes of Canada touched their senses. Indeed, MacDonald stated that the Group's aim was "to paint the soul of things [...] the inner feeling rather than the outward form".

For the Group of Seven, the landscape was akin to a religion. After seeing their paintings, Dr. Salem Bland, a leading liberal theologian, stated he felt, "as if the Canadian soul was unveiling to me something secret and high and beautiful which I had never guessed; a strength and self-reliance, depth and mysticism I had not suspected". The Group's subjects were chosen for their grandeur and beauty and MacDonald told his students, "Think big, be generous, don't fiddle, enlarge yourselves". At the same time, the Group's paintings captured the Canadian wilderness in all its sublime solitude and tranquillity.

 

Lawren Harris, Lake and Mountains, 1928. Oil on canvas. Art Gallery of Ontario.

 

Franklin Carmichael, The Whitefish Hills, 1929, watercolour over graphite on wove paper. National Gallery of Canada.

A.Y. Jackson, March Storm, Georgian Bay, 1920. Oil on Canvas. National Gallery of Canada.

Frank Johnston, Fire Swept Algoma, 1920. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Canada.

Arthur Lismer, Isles of Spruce, 1922. Oil on canvas. Hart House.

J.E.H. MacDonald, Falls, Montreal River, 1920. Oil on canvas. Art Gallery of Ontario.

Frederick Varley, Wind and Sun, 1920. Oil on panel mounted to plywood. Private Collection * At the Cowley Abbott Auction, December 6, 2023, Auction Estimate: $70,000 – $90,000, sold for $984,000, a record price for a Varley.

A.J. Casson, October, Lake Superior, 1929. Oil on canvas. Private Collection in Ontario.

L.L. FitzGerald, Landscape with Trees, 1931. Oil on canvas mounted on board. National Gallery of Canada.

Edwin Holgate, Totem Poles, Gitsegiukla, 1927. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Canada.

Tom Thompson, The Jack Pine, Winter 1916–17. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Canada.

Emily Carr, Kitwancool, 1928. Oil on canvas. Private Collection * At the Cowley Abbott Auction, June 8, 2023, Auction Estimate: $1,000,000 - $1,500,000, sold for $1,920,000.