The Group of Seven
The group of seven achieved international acclaim, won their fight against the Canadian Academy, and found their way into the hearts of Canadians. The group of seven became ever more aware of the role they played towards art in Canada. They were like missionaries trying to convince the Canadian public of the need for national art. The group of seven fought hard to create a Canadian art tradition and established an environment of tolerance to new ideas. The group of seven, by popularizing the concept of an art founded on the Canadian landscape, gave Canadians a sense of national identity, and allowed Canadians to discover the beauty of their own country. For this particular reason “the members of the Group (of Seven) became the only important Canadian artists...”Skilled in the Impressionistic practices of painting outdoors directly from the natural world, the members of the Group of Seven set out from the disciplined, gentle landscapes of Impressionism . . .
Arthur Lismer stated, “It is necessary that as Canadians we should believe we are capable of producing great art as we believe we are capable of doing great deeds. ” The Group of Seven without end changed the style and spirit of Canadian art. The Group of Seven is historically recognized as the first group of European descent to capture the feel of Canada on Canvas. The impact of the Group of Seven is all the more significant because it existed officially for little more than a decade. Inspired by Canada’s vast wilderness, the Group of Seven developed a unique style of painting that broke away from the old and brought in the new. The Group of Seven succeeded by focusing on the Canadian wilderness as symbolic of a New World wholesomeness and unlimited potential. The dawn of the new nationalism or modernism in Canada began in every form. “Now it’s become part of our identity. From east to west it stretches 3,426 miles, crossing one-quarter of the world’s time zones. Second in size only to Russia, Canada covers 9,976,140 square kilometres. It was a movement of life and it was not restricted to schools of art or methods of painting. Yet it is sparsely populated, with eighty percent of Canadians living within 160 miles of the southern border of the United States. “They were part of building pride in the beauty of the wilderness, reviving the Romantic tradition of the sublime in nature,” says Megan Bice, a curator at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg. In 1920, the group put on their first exhibit and formally called themselves the Group of Seven.
Common topics in this essay:
Canadian Academy, Skilled Impressionistic, Collection Kleinburg, Arthur Lismer, Pacific Railway, Canadian Confederation, Russia Canada, Inspired Canadas, Canada Canvas, Megan Bice, canadian art, national identity, landscape canadians, discover beauty, megan bice, sense national, canadian landscape canadians, sense national identity, canadian landscape, believe capable, |
Acceptance Essays
