The Canadian Society of Graphic Art (CSGA), originally called the Graphic Arts Club, was a non-profit organization of Canadian graphic artists. It was founded in 1904, and formally chartered in 1933. At one time it was one of the larger organizations of Canadian artists.

History

The Society of Graphic Art, or Graphic Arts Club, was organized in 1904 by the members of the Toronto Art Student's League and the Mahl-stick Club.

Charles William Jefferys Charles William Jefferys (August 25, 1869 – October 8, 1951), also known as C. W. Jefferys, was a Canadian painter, illustrator, author, and teacher, best known as a historical illustrator. Biography Jefferys was born in Rochester, Engl ...

was one of the founding members. In 1909 the

Canadian National Exhibition The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day, ...

granted the Society space at its annual fall fair. The

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

supported the Society from 1912.

Arthur Lismer Arthur Lismer, LL. D. (27 June 1885 – 23 March 1969) was an English-Canadian painter, member of the Group of Seven and educator. He is known primarily as a landscape painter and for his paintings of ships in dazzle camouflage. Early life ...

published a short essay on the Graphic Arts Club of Toronto and its relationship with the Canadian National Exhibition in ''The Year Book of Canadian Art 1913''. The Graphic Arts Club held its first public exhibition in 1924. This exhibition was held in the

Art Gallery of Toronto The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Beve ...

, where most of the annual shows were held until 1963. The society published ''The Canadian Graphic Art Year Book'' in 1931, with 24 pages and 38 illustrations, in a limited edition of five hundred copies. It was meant to showcase the national scope of Canadian graphics artists and the advances that had been made in the medium. The illustrations included bookplates, book illustrations, drawings and Christmas cards. The Society was formally granted a charter in 1933. At that time it changed its name to the Canadian Society of Graphic Art. The CSGA was exhibiting

serigraph Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mesh ...

s by the mid-1930s. The CSGA was one of the larger of the Canadian artists' organizations by the late 1930s. The CSGA exhibited at the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...

. An exhibition was held in the Art Gallery of Toronto in March–April 1950 for the 50th anniversary of the gallery. All the visual art schools, styles and media were represented. The CSGA was among the eight art societies that contributed to the show. In June–August 1971, the Canadian Society of Graphic Art and the

Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers The Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers (CPE) was a non-profit organization of Canadian etchers and engravers. History The Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers (CPE) was founded in 1916 as a successor to the short-lived ...

held a joint exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. They merged in 1976 to form the Print and Drawing Council of Canada.

Noted members

Bruno Bobak Bruno Bobak, LL.D., D.Litt (born Bronislaw Jacob Bobak; 27 December 1923 – 24 September 2012) was a Polish-born Canadian war painter and art teacher. His main medium was watercolour painting but he also produced woodcuts. Early years and war a ...

(1923–2012) *

Victor Child Victor Llewellyn Child (1897–1960) was a Canadian painter, etcher and newspaper illustrator. A senior pen-and-ink commercial artist at the ''Toronto Telegram'' for much of his professional career, in private life he produced landscapes and po ...

(1897–1960) *

Albert Edward Cloutier Albert Edward Cloutier (1902–1965) was a Canadian painter and graphic designer who painted in a form of intensified realism with abstract plastic forms. Life Albert Edward Cloutier was born in 1902 of Canadian parents in Leominster, Massachuse ...

(1902–1965) *

Charles Comfort Charles Fraser Comfort, LL. D. (July 22, 1900 – July 5, 1994) was a Scotland-born Canadian painter, sculptor, teacher, writer and administrator. Career and biography Early life Born near Edinburgh, Scotland, Comfort moved to Winnipeg in 1 ...

(1900–1994) *

Rody Kenny Courtice Rody Kenny Courtice (born Roselyn Margaret Kenny; 1891–1973) was a modernist Canadian painter. She was associated with the Group of Seven early in her career, but later moved away into a more individual style. She was active in associations of ...

(1891–1973) * Walter R. Duff (1879-1967) * Michael Forster (1907–2002) * Simone Hudon-Beaulac (1905–1984) *

(1869–1951) * André Lapine (1866–1952) *

Ivor Lewis Ivor Rhys Lewis (1882 – November 1958) was a Canadian artist and business director. Lewis was born in Wales, but emigrated to Canada as a small boy. He trained as an artist at the Ontario College of Art and Design, Ontario School of Art, a ...

(1882–1958) * Jo Manning (born 1923) *

Christopher Pratt John Christopher Pratt (December 9, 1935 – June 5, 2022) was a Canadian painter and printmaker.Moe Reinblatt Moses Reinblatt (June 20, 1917 – August 24, 1979) was a Canadian painter, printmaker, sculptor, and art teacher. He was associated with the Jewish Painters of Montreal. Biography Moe Reinblatt was born in Montreal to Jewish parents Manya (, 19 ...

(1917–1979) * Margaret Shelton (1915–1984) * Lorne Kidd Smith (1880 – c. 1966) *

Avrom Yanovsky Avrom Yanovsky (April 3, 1911 – May 22, 1979) was a Canadian graphic artist and editorial cartoonist, whose work appeared in a variety of leftist publications. He was known professionally as Avrom, though some of his work was also signed Armand, ...

(1911 – 1979)

References

Citations Sources * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Society of Graphic Art Arts organizations based in Canada 1904 establishments in Canada Canadian artist groups and collectives