Birth of modernity
As the Seven meet, forty years after Confederation, Canada is gradually asserting its political, economic and social identity. Despite its growing importance on the international stage, Canada was still lagging behind in the cultural and artistic fields. Landscape art did exist, but it was academic and showed little artistic innovation. Against this backdrop, a group of Toronto painters and advertising illustrators befriended each other in the early 1910s. They soon began discussing their work, techniques and thoughts on art at dinner parties held at the city's Arts and Letters Club. They shared a frustration with the conservatism of the local art scene. The Group of Seven was officially founded in 1920 as a modern art association. The artists sought to create a new Canadian pictorial style, "driven by strong emotions, born of our own landscape".
Members of the Group
Tom Thomson's influence on the formation of the Group of Seven was never denied by its members. Despite his early death in 1917, this park ranger certainly converted them to the pleasures of the outdoors. It was under his impetus that the future Seven began to depict Ontario's wild landscapes. He also introduced them to the untouched spaces of the Canadian Shield. Together, they sketched and painted in the wilderness, inspiring and criticizing each other. Tom Thomson, who drowned in Canoe Lake, was not present at the birth of the Group, but its members have never ceased to salute the major role he played in their evolution. Visit the Tom Thomson Art Gallery to learn more about this iconic painter.
The founding members of the Group of Seven are Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald and Frederick Varley. With the exception of Lawren Harris, they all work as advertising illustrators at Grip Ltd, a Toronto agency specializing in graphic design. More than a passion, advertising is an excellent compromise for them. The director gives them the freedom to take art courses or long summer vacations to pursue their creative expeditions. For his part, Lawren Harris inherits a farm equipment business. Not only does this give him financial independence, it also enables him to provide material support to the Group.
Artistic style
Despite their desire to assert an indigenous style, the Group's painters were influenced by the Post-Impressionists: Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Edvard Munch. Soldiers during the First World War, A. Y. Jackson and Frederick Varley had the opportunity to study the works of this period directly, as well as those of the Neo-Impressionists. We can't help but see in the dead trees or the dark, ravaged atmospheres of their later productions reminders of the battle scenes in which they were forced to participate.
In opposition to the naturalism of the 19th century, their ambition was to rebalance the relationship between art and nature. They combined the imitation of natural effects with the expression of their feelings about the motif depicted. They often worked together, whether on location or in the Studio Building, built in Toronto in 1914 by Lawren Harris and patron James McCallum. For this reason, the careers of each of the founding members developed along parallel trajectories.
Before that, 1912 marked a decisive turning point in their stylistic research. That year, MacDonald and Harris discovered contemporary Scandinavian painting at an exhibition in Buffalo, USA. They were captivated by the vision of Scandinavian painters, particularly their use of flat tints and bright colors to breathe life into their landscapes. They soon realized that this innovative approach could easily be applied to their art. Bold in their simplicity, they give pride of place to surface motifs.
In 1921, after a stay on the north shore of Lake Superior, Lawren Harris began to more radically schematize the colors and compositions of his paintings. Following in his footsteps, MacDonald, Carmichael and Varley were inspired by his methods of diluting pigments and stylizing their compositions. But Lawren Harris went even further. In the mid-1920s, he reduced his paintings to a few elementary, almost monochrome forms. Ten years later, he became one of the pioneers of Canadian abstraction.
Home and evolution of the Group
When the Group was formed, the Seven did not present themselves as landscape painters. It wasn't until their first exhibition at the Art Gallery of Toronto (now the Art Gallery of Ontario) in 1920 that they stipulated their exclusive attachment to landscape. From the outset, they provoked controversy. Critics compared their works to "the contents of a drunkard's stomach" and criticized them for representing "an outrage to public decency". The painters responded intelligently, passionately emphasizing the importance of their art as a truly national expression. They also had the unfailing support of Eric Brown, then Director of the National Gallery of Canada. Seven years before the Group was officially formed, Brown acquired some of their works to add to the Gallery's collection. To silence detractors, he saw to it that the Seven's paintings were shown at major art events, notably in Canada and at Wembley (UK). Their presence in the artistic landscape quickly established their legitimacy.
Between 1925 and 1931, the Seven strongly emphasized the importance of the subject, which they saw as the essential element of Canadian painting. They multiplied their expeditions, venturing ever further north in search of new forms and hues. Convinced that the spirit of Canada is felt in its most intimate substance, they fused their conception of an Arctic land with the vast, untamed territory.
Their success is partly due to the additional skills of some of them. Teachers, writers and excellent public speakers, they skilfully promote their work. This is how they gained exposure in the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Secondly, with their colorful simplicity, their works seem designed to appeal to the widest possible audience. In fact, mass reproductions of their paintings sold like hotcakes. By the time the Group of Seven disbanded in 1933, their style had rapidly developed into a traditional modern genre.
Career after the Group of Seven
Varley and MacDonald founded their own school in 1933, the British Columbia College of Arts, with the aim of bringing together painting, drama, dance and music. Unable to compete with the Vancouver School of Art during the Depression, the school was forced to close two years later. MacDonald relocated to Nootka, in an environment exposed to the elements. He set out to infuse his vast landscapes with spiritual expression. The result is a series of semi-abstract paintings he calls "modalities" and defines as "expressions of thought in relation to nature".
Varley moves to Lynn Valley, north of Vancouver. Ruined after the school closed, he dreamed of returning to England. A portrait commissioned by the National Gallery of Canada enabled him to move east in 1936. In Ottawa, he sold a few sketches and taught, but with the outbreak of war, his courses were cancelled and he moved to Montreal.
Posterity
In the twelve years of its existence, no one can deny that the Group has magnificently renewed Canadian painting. It could even be said that the romantic panoramas of the Canadian Shield contributed to the emergence of a "national vision". Their vast forests were elevated to the status of symbols of Canadian independence. By the mid-1950s, reproductions of their paintings adorned every Canadian school. Museums across the country owned and, above all, promoted the Group's works.
The nationalism that animated these seven painters was double-edged. While it initiated the Group's formation, it also limited its development. Its influence on the art scene gradually waned. Pictorial quality took a back seat. In this respect, not all members are equal in terms of artistic evolution. Those who became the most renowned were also the least daring. Fans will probably remember the vibrant oil sketches by MacDonald, Varley and Jackson.
Nevertheless, they deserve credit for proving that Canadian art is capable of shaking up genres and rising to international prominence. As a result, they encouraged the creation of museums and government agencies with a cultural vocation. The Group, and especially Lawren Harris and A. Y. Jackson, paved the way for generations of artists in Canada and abroad. Their influence can be felt in artists with very different styles: Scottish painter Peter Doig, abstract painter Jack Bush and the Groupe des Onze, of which he was a member. This alliance of artists was also born in Toronto, but twenty years after the breakup of the Group of Seven. The main aim was to exhibit abstract art in their city.
Today, most Canadian public museums house paintings by the Group of Seven, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.
