At a time when Canada had no art movements whatsoever, a small coterie of professional artists banded together and changed all that. The Group of Seven paintings, produced between 1920 and 1933 are modernist in style. Akin to what the Europeans and Americans were painting at that time, they gave Canada its first art movement. The works are highly esteemed today.
The seven artists were Franklin Carmichael, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, Franz Johnston, Lawren Harris, Frederick Varley and Tom Thomson. One woman, Emily Carr, was loosely affiliated, though not an official member. Thomson was not an official member either, but was the original inspiration for the group.
They held their first show with the sponsorship of the National Gallery. There was much criticism for this new style of painting and many thought the landscape not worthy of portrayal. In this they were proved wrong: the artists were able to render Canadian scenes with vigor, warmth and a great deal of visual movement.
Impressionism made an impression in Canada just as it had worldwide. But with the twentieth century came a flurry of artistic movements that left nineteenth-century techniques behind. As with modern movements in American and Europe, self-expression was the order of the day, with a strong dose of art nouveau and symbolism, popular in Europe. Individual temperament was sought over cold realism.
Working in thick impasto, using vivid colours with a bold drawing style, the works became more experimental as time passed. Some of the members worked toward a simplified, monochromatic palate. Harris eventually found his way toward abstraction but the others continued with representational motifs. They made use of various techniques; they were not in any sense carbon copies of each other.
The members worked as commercial artists in the city of Toronto. Art Nouveau was a popular style and was used in commercial illustrations for almost a decade. That style showed up in the personal artworks of the artists though it cannot be insinuated that they were a strictly Art Nouveau movement. They were not quite so limited but fans of Art Nouveau enjoy that aspect of the works.
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 you will find their works on exhibit in The Art Gallery of Ontario, The National Gallery and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Ontario. Mr. And Mrs. Robert McMichael collected more than six thousand works and started a gallery dedicated to them. In fact, so dedicated were the McMichaels, they built a small graveyard for the painters and their spouses on the grounds.
The National Gallery of Canada held a retrospective in 1995 that was a resounding success. The rock band Rheostatics wrote a musical based on the lives of the seven. The Group of Seven Paintings are sold as prints and continue to find fans with each new generation of Canadian artists. The originals are highly coveted with rising prices. What started without fanfare or appreciation has become the stuff of legend and a fine chapter in the history of Canadian art.
The seven artists were Franklin Carmichael, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, Franz Johnston, Lawren Harris, Frederick Varley and Tom Thomson. One woman, Emily Carr, was loosely affiliated, though not an official member. Thomson was not an official member either, but was the original inspiration for the group.
They held their first show with the sponsorship of the National Gallery. There was much criticism for this new style of painting and many thought the landscape not worthy of portrayal. In this they were proved wrong: the artists were able to render Canadian scenes with vigor, warmth and a great deal of visual movement.
Impressionism made an impression in Canada just as it had worldwide. But with the twentieth century came a flurry of artistic movements that left nineteenth-century techniques behind. As with modern movements in American and Europe, self-expression was the order of the day, with a strong dose of art nouveau and symbolism, popular in Europe. Individual temperament was sought over cold realism.
Working in thick impasto, using vivid colours with a bold drawing style, the works became more experimental as time passed. Some of the members worked toward a simplified, monochromatic palate. Harris eventually found his way toward abstraction but the others continued with representational motifs. They made use of various techniques; they were not in any sense carbon copies of each other.
The members worked as commercial artists in the city of Toronto. Art Nouveau was a popular style and was used in commercial illustrations for almost a decade. That style showed up in the personal artworks of the artists though it cannot be insinuated that they were a strictly Art Nouveau movement. They were not quite so limited but fans of Art Nouveau enjoy that aspect of the works.
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 you will find their works on exhibit in The Art Gallery of Ontario, The National Gallery and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Ontario. Mr. And Mrs. Robert McMichael collected more than six thousand works and started a gallery dedicated to them. In fact, so dedicated were the McMichaels, they built a small graveyard for the painters and their spouses on the grounds.
The National Gallery of Canada held a retrospective in 1995 that was a resounding success. The rock band Rheostatics wrote a musical based on the lives of the seven. The Group of Seven Paintings are sold as prints and continue to find fans with each new generation of Canadian artists. The originals are highly coveted with rising prices. What started without fanfare or appreciation has become the stuff of legend and a fine chapter in the history of Canadian art.
About the Author:
Mayberry Fine Art' team of highly trained conservators have many years of experience and are able to skillfully remedy the more complicated William Kurelek issues of restoration art such as the Group or Seven paintings.
No comments:
Post a Comment