Canadian Art: The Group of Seven - Essay Example

Canadian Art: The Group of Seven Art as a form of expression has had many influences in history. In Canada in particular, a group of Toronto artists have dedicated most of their lives promoting their nationalistic beliefs. While they incorporated their own style, emotions, and philosophies into their landscape paintings, the Group of Seven mainly advocated the love of country and its resources. Significantly, the group encountered numerous criticisms for their form of art, but it did not stop them from continuing the legacy. It was in 1921 that the Group of Seven painters got together and formed their alliance (Anreus, A., Linden, D., & Weinberg, J., 2006). The original group members comprised of Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, F.H. Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. Macdonald, and F.H. Varley. Interestingly, they started out as magazine illustrators. Their main objective was to adhere to a uniquely Canadian method of painting landscapes (Smith, n.d.). In particular, Harris was an art student in Berlin before he came back to Toronto (Smith, n.d.). He started drawing inspirations from the Laurentians and the Alogonquin Park (Naasgard, 2008). He became specifically fascinated by the northern part of Canada because of its extensiveness and seeming mystique. It was in 1912 that Harris met Macdonald, Jackson, and eventually the rest of the unit members (Naasgard, 2008). The rest of the Group of Seven’s history sprang from there. It was inevitable though that some members would come and go. Johnston for instance, went away after their first art show and was replaced by A.J. Casson (Smith, n.d.). This makes Casson truly a part of the Group of Seven. Moreover, the group opened itself to other members who want to join in their exhibit. They didn’t have to be landscape artists in specific. Even a woman, in the person of Emily Carr, was one of those the group invited. What was important for the Group of Seven was that both members and non-members promote a different way of depicting Canadian art. In general, the Group of Seven art was characterized by a joyful and attractive style. Their works featured an original way of depicting landscapes by producing visuals of the Northern part of Canada that were not explored before. The colors that were often seen in the paintings included browns and burst of oranges (Adamczyk, 2008). But in the case of Harris, he also incorporated his uniqueness by the way he stripped some details off from his painting. To point out a few, he had the tendency to portray trees losing their leaves, water and clouds stiffening, and an overall mood showing aloofness and distance (Naasgard, 2008). It was in 1993 that the Group of Seven was disbanded to give way to a much bigger consortium called the Canadian Group of Painters (Smith, n.d.). Despite this however, the Group of Seven remained as the forerunners in the history of Canadian art (Anreus et al., 2006). The group had many followers and imitators whom they have largely influenced. The Group of Seven has been declared as English Canada’s national school. Most appropriately, a sense of patriotism is one of the most important contributions of the group to Canadian citizens. The Group of Seven’s landscape art was considered to be the savior in the objective to form Canada’s very own identity as a nation (Anreus et al., 2006). It opened up the eyes of many to their distinct art and culture that they will be more than proud to present to the rest of the world (Adamczyk, 2008). For those who have not witnessed the beauty that is Canada, the Group of Seven provided a very good glimpse of its picturesque lakes and bays (Kohlhaas, 2003). This was especially shown in their use of colors and actual presentation of the various sceneries. It presented the other beautiful side of Canada that is not only composed of ice and snow. It further featured the unpopulated Northern part with its virgin natural resources and attractive landscapes (Anreus et al., 2006). Thus, the beauty that was shown through the Group of Seven paintings activated the inspiration to cultivate their individuality and cultural heritage. They were so vivid and enticing that anybody who would take a look at them will tend to look at it more intensely. It shouted to the whole world its boldness, exquisiteness, and existence (Kohlhaas, 2003). A sense of connectivity seemed to be established and extended even to the later generations of people. Aside from the magnificence of Northern Canada, the Group of Seven’s paintings also promoted a theological statement that they had to struggle to defend from critics. Change is usually not a welcome concept that the group also experienced rejection when the presented their style (Smith, n.d.). Many people reacted in a negative manner to their paintings and did not dare to patronize them. Consequently, a small two percent of all artworks bought in Canada at that time were made by Canadians themselves. Others did not even accept their artworks in official exhibitions that they had to organize things on their own (Smith, n.d.). In addition to this idea, colonial mentality was one of those ideas that made patriotic change a struggle for the Group of Seven (Smith, n.d.). Most of the citizens had this belief that anything Canadian is inferior to its European counterparts. They even felt proud that more Dutch paintings were sold in Canada in comparison to the other places in North America. Similarly, the art companies did not dare to accept their works of art saying that the Canadian landscape was not a good subject for painting (Smith, n.d.). This is because the Canadian landscape is thought of as a something harsh because of the scorching sun. This was way to unattractive in comparison to the atmosphere in England and Holland which is mostly beautiful and enticing. The good thing is that this kind of rejection did not stop the Group of Seven in anyway to pursue what is uniquely Canadian. The group even mad more landscape paintings that featured downtown Toronto. The alluring villages in Quebec were also emphasized in various attractive paintings. Furthermore, they moved on and went beyond their way to make paintings of the wild side of the Canadian Shield which was an exciting endeavor considering that not one of these were ever featured before. Surprisingly they were not so proud of these paintings before (Smith, nd.). There was even one businessman who asked a guarantee from the Canadian government that such paintings will never be flown out of the country and shown to the rest of the world. That person had the strangest belief that it will cause other people from different nations to have an ugly and gross idea about Canada. He had even foreseen a bad effect of the paintings to the flow of immigrants to Canada. But all through the years of its existence, the Group of Seven fought for their ideals, debated with their critics, and continued to reiterate the love for Canada. They always pushed for the people of Canada to patronize their own through the paintings of the Group of Seven. The followers of the group in particular pushed for the use of Canadian style in their art more than the European ones. The Canada First movement was established because of this impetus (Smith, n.d.). Their main purpose was to encourage artists to abandon the European approaches not for any other reason besides wanting to have something that is their own. However, what is so distinct about the work of the group is that they did not allow the artistic movements at that time to completely influence them in an attempt to feature something exclusively Canadian (Kohlhaas, 2003). This idea presents a valuable lesson in history that even if it is difficult to convince people about the change, hard work and perseverance will bring invaluable fruits that can be passed on for many generations ahead. It is also of utmost importance to note that the Group of Seven work of art is reflective of a firm belief in religious morality that was patterned after the American Transcendalist Walt Whitman as well as the other theosophists (Anreus et al., 2006). Harris in particular said that paintings do not only reflect the physical nature of Canada. More importantly, it depicts the essential differences with those who live in the United States. Harris believes that Canada is beautiful because it is not overly populated and thus has this psychological atmosphere that is characterized by a sort of cleanliness. The landscape paintings show the whiteness of the North together with its isolation and ability to renew itself (Anreus et al., 2006). It is like saying that Canada is a potent resource for going back to the core and into the spirituality of things. The wideness of the spaces within the landscapes speak of a kind of serenity that is also reflective of more desirable values. In this way, the Group of Seven artists believe that their goal is not to incite any form of rebellion against anybody. In fact, it is opposed to the Marxist point of view of compliance to a higher authority not because of anything else besides loyalty and nationalism. On the other hand, it cannot be also denied that the Group of Seven has certain inevitable influences as a result of their training and background (Smith, n.d.). At the start of their evolutionary Canadian Art, the Group of Seven made use of some of the European styles from the nineteenth century. Lismer in particular incorporated some Impressionist methods in his work by showing brushstrokes typical transferring from different lights and colors. Fortunately, Jackson realized that this was not specific to Canadian art that he encouraged the use of brighter colors and brushstrokes of the Post-Impressionism and Art Nouveau era. The other artists of the Group of Seven followed suit. Meanwhile there was a time in 1913 in which the Art Nouveau influence was at its most intense for the group (Smith, n.d.). The Group of Seven had a trip to Buffalo, New York and there they witnessed some Scandinavian works of art. The Scandinavian artists also painted landscapes but theirs showed flat colors, curving, and lots of vine-like elements in the painting. It gave the Canadian artists more idea as to what to avoid in their to piantings to make it exclusive to Canada. Meanwhile, it is quite logical for this group to go through a little bit of influence and not so much of the originality at the beginning of their cause. For instance, Varley was born in England and was deeply rooted their. He obviously had an affection for England that is quite difficult to just instantly erase what his past has made him. Lismer himself also came from England. It is evident then that with just to Group of Seven artists depicted here as originating from another place besides Canada is more than enough sensible reason to justify their not so Canadian influences. What is important is that they made an effort to overcome this in order to reflect a truly Canadian painting or work of art. The same is quite true of Jackson whose hometown wasn’t Toronto but was an area that is still part of Canada. Jackson’s hometown is Montreal but he also studied in Paris and only went back home after some time. Once again, this explains the humble beginnings of the Group of Seven artist who could not do away with non-Canadian influence in their paintings in the beginning of their development. On the other hand, these influence could have provided them a point of view that will help them seek for what is truly Canadian. Since most of the Group of Seven landscape painters had foreign backgrounds they would have a great idea then as to what to steer clear of in their paintings. This goes to show that everything that happens in the lives of artists have a special purpose for their craft and giving them criticisms for their work can prove to be disadvantageous and harmful. It is a good thing though that the Group of Seven did not give up on their dreams of making Canada a country that is his own. On the other hand, what was impressive about the paintings of the Group of Seven is that despite the amount of outside influence they were still able to direct it to make it an authentic Canadian landscape (Smith, n.d.). As such, the subject matter that they used composed mainly of the Canadian picturesque scenes. This is quite a commendable move on their part especially that is difficult to abandon old habits and approaches when it comes to painting. They have truly done everything that is beyond their ordinary capacity to create Canadian art just so the rest of the generations will benefit from a sense of identity. To be more specific about it, the Group of Seven landscape artists from Toronto made exciting trips to the different areas of Canada (Smith, n.d.). This declaration is truly revealing and reflects a kind of understanding about the authenticity of their work. There could be nothing more original than actually going to the area to experience the scenery in comparison to just drawing them from imagination. What the Group of Seven did is to go to the wildest and most unexplored areas in the Northern part of Canada (Smith, n.d.). Interestingly they used the train and the canoe just to get there. There were even times when they had to go on foot but nothing could really stop these revolutionary and enthusiastic artists from showing the world that they are on the right track of their Canadian journey. When they arrived in Northern Canada they settled down and started doing their beautiful sketches (Smith, n.d.). They just used wooden panels that were 8 ½ inches by 10 inches size so that it will be easy to carry back home. Sketching in wooden panels is not an easy job but due to their desire to really capture the sceneries in an accurate manner, the Group of Seven willingly did so. They also made a matching box for the wooden panels in order to protect the very precious sketches that they have made. For those who have doubted in the capability and sincerity of the Group of Seven, knowing about this particular detail might make them realize that what this group is doing is of a serious engagement to them. It is no wonder that the present generation of Canadian citizens and artists have afforded them a status that is worthy of their perseverance and patience in their endeavor. Today, the Group of Seven has been hailed as the National School of Canada. If only these topnotch Canadian landscape artists from Toronto could just hear and know about the fruits of their labor then they too will realize that it was all worth it. In particular, there are now exhibits that show the influences of these historical artists in the art galleries. If their work were rejected and insulted before, this was not the case in the present generation. Most of the exhibitions feature the past landscapes paintings that were considered radical at that time. Today, the paintings are depicted as essential parts of the history of Canada and also feature the different styles and techniques of the Group of Seven (Adamczyk, 2008). A particular exhibit was made by an artist who has handed-down student from the Group of Seven teachers. Varley was a teacher of art and he was the one who taught the group. But aside from the adults, he also taught the children with utmost commitment in some art classes. This reflects how the members of the Group of Seven are very noble in their chosen profession enough to go out of their way to share their art. Varley in particular held classes at the Art Gallery of Ontario (Smith, n.d.). Meanwhile, a now gallery artist in the person of Badgery is a student of three of the members from the Group of Seven (Adamczyk, 2008). Badgery studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. His nephew and student in the person of Little is now an owner and curator of an art gallery. References Adamczyk, E. (2008). Art: Landscape exhibit arrives at Kenan Center. The Journal-Register. Retrieved March 29, 2009, from http://www.journal-register.com/art/gnnnightanddayarts_story_137095730.html Anreus, A., Linden, D., & Weinberg, J. (2006). The social and the real: Political art of the 1930s in the western hemisphere. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press. Kohlhaas, A. (2003). Art reviews. Lancette Arts Journal. Retrieved March 29, 2009, from http://www.lancette-arts-journal.ca/Archives_art_ThomThomson.htm Nasgaard, R. (2008). Abstract painting in Canada. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. Smith, D. (n.d.). Group of seven. Artchive. Retrieved March 29, 2009, from http://www.artchive.com/artchive/groupseven.html Read More