The Group of Seven’s legacy lives deep in the foundations of Canadian Art:
“The obedient in art are always the forgotten… The country is glorious but its beauties are unknown, and but waiting for a real live artist to splash them onto canvas.” A.Y. Jackson
Then from Lawren Harris “We lived in a continuous blaze of enthusiasm… Above all we loved this country and loved exploring and painting it…”
This illuminating later quote from A.Y. Jackson frames the times in which they lived:
“It’s probably hard for anyone looking at my landscapes today to realize that I was once regarded as a rebel, a dangerous influence; that I’ve been told I was on the verge of insanity, that my painting was nothing but meaningless daubs. Lawren Harris, the man most responsible for drawing the Group of Seven together, was accused of something perilously close to treason – his paintings, said his severest critics, were discouraging immigration.”
Painting at the time of Cubism and abstraction, their outlook doesn’t appear at all surprising, however, they felt very strongly about painting in Canada, followed their own paths and created something unprecedented around them.
Break-a-Brush!
David
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“Not all those who wander are lost” J.R.R. Tolkein