Group of Seven

The Group of Seven

The Group of Seven was a group of painters, they considered themselves Nationalists. The original members are Franklin Carmicheal (1890-1945), Lawren Harris (1885-1970), Alexander Jackson (1882-1974), Franz Johnston (1888-1949), Arthur Lismer (1885-1969), James Macdonald (1873-1932) and Fredrick Varley (1881-1969).

The painters came together because of the things they has in common. They all felt frustrated with the conservative and imitative quality of Canadian art. All of the painters were landscape painters, they believed Canada had great beauty and that’s what they painted, in modern style. They were brought together because of the landscape they wanted to paint, and to teach others their style.

The public found the Group of Sevens painting style unique and shocking because they didn’t expect Canadians to go against real Canadian art, and go and make a new style. They were surprised because their view on art was it had to be very realistic, and the Group of Seven changed the art to be more abstract.

The Group of Seven disbanded in 1933 a year after Macdonald died.

In 1917 at Algonquin Park, Canoe lake Thompson died while canoeing. He had a blow to the head but showed no signs of drowning. His death still remains a mystery.

The first member to resign from the group was Johnson in 1920 to move to Winnipeg.

The new member was Alfred Casson who joined in 1926.

Lionel FitzGerald was the last member to join in 1932.

A unique fact about Carmicheal is he was an active painter, teacher and industrial designer.

A unique fact about Harris…he was a leader in the creation and founder of the Group of Seven.

A unique fact about Jackson is he helped to make the visual image of Canada.

A unique fact about Johnson is his style became more realistic as time passed.

A unique fact about Lismer is he had a display room named after him called ‘Lismer Hall’.

A unique fact about MacDonald is he painted northern art to be accepted by Canadians.

A unique fact about Varley called himself an elite painter.