Group of Seven

Group of Seven. Group of Canadian painters, based in Toronto, who found their main inspiration in the landscape of northern Ontario and created the first major national movement in Canadian art. The group was officially established in 1920, when it held its first exhibition, in the Art Gallery of Toronto, the seven painters involved being Frank Carmichael (1890–1945), Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston (1888–1949), Arthur Lismer (1885–1969), J. E. H. MacDonald, and Fred Varley (1881–1969). Some members of the group had, however, been working together since 1913, and Tom Thomson, who was one of the early leaders, had died in 1917. Johnston resigned in 1926 and was replaced by A. J. Casson (1898–1992), and two other artists later joined, bringing the numbers up to nine: in 1930 Edwin Holgate (1892–1977), best known for his female nudes in landscape settings, and in 1932 LeMoine FitzGerald (1890–1956). The members made group sketching exhibitions and worked in a forceful Expressionist style characterized by brilliant colour and bold brushwork. After initial critical abuse, they won public favour, and Emily Carr was inspired by their example. The group held its last exhibition in 1931 and two years later it was disbanded and superseded by the Canadian Group of Painters; thereafter the members worked more as individuals and developed separately, Harris eventually becoming an abstract artist. In 1966 a gallery dedicated to the Group of Seven—the McMichael Canadian Collection—was opened in Kleinburg, Ontario.