Painting Canada

"In early twentieth-century Toronto, Canada, the first stirrings of a new movement of painting were being felt. A group of artists started to engage with the awesome Canadian wilderness, a landscape previously considered too wild and untamed to inspire true art. Leading the way was Tom Thomson. In little more than three years of electrifying creativity before his premature death in 1917 he formulated an artistic language that captured the unique qualities of the Canadian landscape. Three years later his friends--Lawren Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley, Frank Johnston, Franklin Carmichael and A.Y. Jackson--formed the Group of Seven. They built on Thomson's legacy to produce a landscape style that to this day influences the way Canadians visualise their country, and their paintings are national icons in Canada. This book tells of the Group's collective quest to depict Canada in paint. It recounts their beginnings, the challenges they faced and the remarkable and often extreme journeys they undertook in search of new subject matter. Essays explore the artists' relationship with the Arctic north, and analyse Thomson's art through the prism of the prevalent scientific theories of the day. A fresh, European perspective on these Canadians is offered in essays exploring their links with Scandinavian art and European expressionism. Beautifully illustrated with over 120 colour reproductions of their work, and maps indicating the geographical range covered by this selection of paintings, this book offers an insight into the history of this important--yet little-known in Europe--artistic movement."--Publisher's website.