Group of
Seven - A group of
seven Toronto-based Canadian landscape
painters -- Lawren S. Harris (1885-1970), J.E.H. MacDonald (1897-1960),
Frederick H. Varley (1881-1969), A.Y. Jackson (1882-1974), Arthur
Lismer (1885-1969), Frank H. Johnston (1888-1949), and Franklin
Carmichael (1890-1945). These men held a joint exhibition
in 1920-- their first exhibition-- at the Art Gallery of Toronto.
Members often went on expeditions together to paint landscapes
in the Maritimes, Quebec, British Columbia, and, finally, the
Arctic, expressing their patriotic zeal through their use of intense color,
bold brushwork, and stylized curvilinear
forms. Although their work was
strongly criticized at first, it eventually won great favor.
Examples of their works:
F.H. Varley (Canadian, 1881-1969), Stormy Weather, Georgian Bay, c. 1920, oil on canvas, 132.6 x 162.8 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
Alexander Young Jackson (Canadian, 1882-1974), The Entrance to Halifax Harbor, 1919, oil on canvas, 64.8 x 80.6 cm, Tate Gallery, London. See Group of Seven.
Lawren Harris (Canadian, 1885-1970), North Shore, Lake Superior, 1926, oil on canvas, 102.2 x 128.3 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
Arthur Lismer (Canadian, 1885-1969), A September Gale, Georgian Bay, 1921, oil on canvas, 122.4 x 163 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
In 1933 the Group of Seven changed
its name to the Canadian Group of Painters.
