Group of Seven

1920-1932

The "Group of Seven" referred to a group of Canadian landscape painters, mainly in the 1920's. They met while working at a design firm in Toronto in 1913. After the first world war, they became the "Group of Seven". The group developed art techniques to represent the Ontario wilderness. They proved that the Canadian landscape was both paintable and worthy of being painted. It seems odd that this needed to be proven. The Canadian landscape is very beautiful in all seasons, and is every bit as worthy a subject to be painted as anywhere else on earth. In the 1920's, they held exhibitions to showcase their art. In December 1931, they announced they were disbanding and forming a new association called "The Canadian Group of Painters". With this name they weren't limited to seven members.

Artists in the Group of Seven

Franklin Carmichael
Lawren S. Harris Gallery
A. Y. Jackson Gallery
Frank Johnston (left the Group of Seven in 1921)
Arthur Lismer Gallery
J. E. H. Macdonald Gallery
Frederick Varley Gallery

Artist A. J. Casson joined the group in 1926.
Edwin Holgate became the eighth member of the "Group of Seven" in 1930.
LeMoine Fitzgerald joined in 1932, when J. E. H. Macdonald died.

Tom Thomson (he died in 1917, canoeing Algonquin Park) and Emily Carr were closely associated with the Group of Seven but were not members.