The Canadian Group of Painters (CGP) was a

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

of 28 painters from across

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

who came together as a group in 1933.

Formation

The Canadian Group of Painters succeeded the disbanded

Group of Seven The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". It is official ...

, whose paintings of the Canadian wilderness had been a strong influence on Canadian art. In the early 1930s, the Group of Seven's prominence had caused controversy as many believed that the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

exhibited favouritism for their work and they were the only Canadian artists to receive global recognition. Concern over the Gallery's potential bias and exclusion of modern artists led to the formation of the Canadian Group of Painters in February 1933. The group was made up of 28 different English-speaking painters from across Canada with

Lawren Harris Lawren Stewart Harris LL. D. (October 23, 1885 – January 29, 1970) was a Canadian painter, best known as a leading member of the Group of Seven. He played a key role as a catalyst in Canadian art and as a visionary in Canadian landscape art. ...

as their inaugural president. Several of the other Group of Seven painters were also included in the new group including

A. J. Casson Alfred Joseph Casson LL. D. (May 17, 1898 – February 20, 1992) was a member of the Canadian group of artists known as the Group of Seven. He joined the group in 1926 at the invitation of Franklin Carmichael, replacing Frank Johnston. Cas ...

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 ...

A. Y. Jackson Alexander Young Jackson LL. D. (October 3, 1882April 5, 1974) was a Canadian painter and a founding member of the Group of Seven. Jackson made a significant contribution to the development of art in Canada, and was instrumental in bringing toget ...

, F.H. Varley and

Franklin Carmichael Franklin Carmichael (May 4, 1890 – October 24, 1945) was a Canadian artist and member of the Group of Seven. Though he was primarily famous for his use of watercolours, he also used oil paints, charcoal and other media to capture the Ontari ...

. Although the group never created a manifesto, they lived and worked with two objectives: to foster closer cooperation between Canadian artists and to encourage and cultivate Canadian artistic expression.

History

Their first exhibition of "nationalist art" was held in

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

, New Jersey in November 1933. They showcased 57 works at the Heinz Art Salon, which proved to be a great international venue to showcase their brand. However, the pieces that gained the most recognition and press were still the Group of Seven works. The first CGP exhibition in Canada was held in November 1933. The exhibit was less restrictive in style and featured a wider range of works that fell outside of the Canadian

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

style. Their next exhibition was not held until January 1936 at 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 Bev ...

. The significant delay was caused by a variety of scandals between group members, including an affair between Lawren Harris and Bess Larkin Housser, fellow artist and the wife of CGP's secretary, Fred Housser. Harris stepped down as president and

took the lead with vice presidents

and

Prudence Heward Prudence Heward (July 5, 1896 – March 19, 1947)Ferrari, Prudence. "Prudence Heward: Painting at Home." (2001). In ''Framing Our Past: Canadian Women's History in the Twentieth Century,'' S.A. Cook, L.R. McLean, and K. O'Rourke, eds. Montreal: Mc ...

in 1936. The group held a number of exhibitions under their new leadership and were making strides towards a unified style. The

Eastern Group of Painters The Eastern Group of Painters was a group of Canadian artists formed in 1938 in Montreal, Quebec for exhibition purposes and showing together as a group till 1950. It included Montreal artists whose common interest was painting and an art for art' ...

was formed in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

in 1938 to counteract the influence of the Canadian Group of Painters.

Influence

As active painters and as a group they continued to produce and influence Canadian art for many years. The Canadian Group of Painters organized exhibitions of the works of the

Beaver Hall Group The Beaver Hall Group refers to a Montreal-based group of Canadian painters who met in the late 1910s while studying art at a school run by the Art Association of Montreal. The Group is notable for its equal inclusion of men and women artists, as w ...

. Walter Yarwood, who was a member of the Canadian Group of Painters, was also a founding member of

Painters Eleven Painters Eleven (also known as Painters 11 or P11) was a group of abstract artists active in Canada between 1953 and 1960. They are associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement. History Since the 1920s, artists in English Canada had been h ...

. ''A Vital Force: The Canadian Group of Painters'' (CGP) (2013), which was curated by Alicia Boutilier for the

Agnes Etherington Art Centre The Agnes Etherington Art Centre is located in Kingston, Ontario, in the heart of the historic campus of Queen's University. Situated on traditional Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory, the gallery has received a number of awards for its exhib ...

, was the first major touring exhibition to focus exclusively on the CGP in an exhibition of major paintings from public and private collections across Canada.

Members

1933 founding members

* Bertram Brooker *

Emily Carr Emily Carr (or M. Emily Carr as she sometimes signed her work) (December 13, 1871 – March 2, 1945) was a Canadian artist and writer who was inspired by the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the painters in Canada to ado ...

A.J. Casson Alfred Joseph Casson LL. D. (May 17, 1898 – February 20, 1992) was a member of the Canadian group of artists known as the Group of Seven. He joined the group in 1926 at the invitation of Franklin Carmichael, replacing Frank Johnston. Ca ...

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 ...

* L.L. FitzGerald * Bess Harris *

* Randolph S. Hewton *

Edwin Holgate Edwin Headley Holgate (August 19, 1892 – May 21, 1977), was a Canadians, Canadian artist, painter, muralist, and wood-cut artist. Holgate played a major role in Montreal's art community, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, where he both st ...

Yvonne McKague Housser Yvonne McKague Housser, (1897–1996) was a Modernist Canadian painter, and a teacher. Early life and education Yvonne McKague was born in Toronto in 1897 to Hugh Henry McKague and Louise Elliott. She studied at the Ontario College of Art (OCA) ...

A.Y. Jackson Alexander Young Jackson LL. D. (October 3, 1882April 5, 1974) was a Canadian painter and a founding member of the Group of Seven. Jackson made a significant contribution to the development of art in Canada, and was instrumental in bringing toget ...

Jock Macdonald James Williamson Galloway Macdonald (31 May 1897 – 3 December 1960), commonly known in his professional life as Jock Macdonald, was a member of Painters Eleven (Painters 11, or P11), whose goal was to promote abstract art in Canada. Macd ...

Thoreau MacDonald Thoreau MacDonald (April 21, 1901 at Toronto, Ontario – May 30, 1989 at Toronto) was a Canadian illustrator, graphic and book designer, and artist. Career MacDonald was the son of Group of Seven member J. E. H. MacDonald. He was self-taught, ...

* H. Mabel May *

Isabel McLaughlin Isabel McLaughlin, (10 October 1903 - 26 November 2002) was a Modernist Canadian painter, patron and philanthropist. She specialized in landscapes and still life and had a strong interest in design. Biography Born in Oshawa, Ontario, McLaughl ...

Lilias Torrance Newton Lilias Torrance Newton LL. D. (November 3, 1896 – January 10, 1980) was a Canadian painterWill Ogilvie * George Pepper * Sarah Robertson *

Albert H. Robinson Albert Henry Robinson , also known as Albert H. Robinson and as A. H. Robinson (January 2, 1881 – September 7, 1956) was a Canadian landscape painter, an invited contributor to the first Group of Seven exhibition in 1920, as well as a founding ...

* Anne Savage * Charles H. Scott * F. H. Varley *

W. P. Weston W. P. Weston (November30, 1879 December12, 1967), also known as William Percival (Percy) Weston, was a painter and printmaker, best known for his landscapes of British Columbia, and as a teacher. Career Weston was born in Battersea, London, Eng ...

* W. J. Wood

1935–1940 additions

André Charles Biéler André Charles Biéler (8 October 1896 – 1 December 1989) was a Swiss-born Canadian painter and teacher. His work was modernist, at first with strong emphasis on line, later with more interest in light and colour. He is known for his genre pictu ...

* John Martin Alfsen * Paraskeva Clark *

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 ...

Bobs Cogill Haworth Bobs Cogill Haworth (1900–1988) was a South African-born Canadian painter and potter. She practiced mainly in Toronto, living and working with her husband, painter and teacher Peter Haworth. She was a member of the Canadian Group of Painters ...

* Pegi Nicol MacLeod *

Kathleen Daly Kathleen Frances Daly (or Kathleen Daly Pepper) (28 May 1898 – 31 August 1994) was a Canadian painter. She is known for her depictions of First Nations and the Inuit in Canada. Life Kathleen Frances Daly was born in Napanee, Ontario. She came ...

* Carl Schaefer * Gordon Webber * Caven Atkins *

Peter Haworth Peter Haworth (1889 – 7 May 1986) was a British-born Canadian painter. He was known for his stained glass work. Early years Peter Haworth was born in 1889 in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, England. During World War I (1914–1918) he served in th ...

Jack Humphrey Jack Weldon Humphrey (12 January 1901 – 23 March 1967) was a Canadian landscape and figure painter, mainly in watercolour. Art historian J. Russell Harper called him the "most significant eastern Canadian painter of his generation". Biograph ...

Mabel Lockerby Mabel Irene Lockerby (March 13, 1882 – May 1, 1976) was a Canadian artist. Career Lockerby`s birth year is sometimes attributed as 1887 from her own curriculum vitae but she was actually born in 1882 She was born in Montreal to Alexander ...

* Henri Masson * David Milne *

Kathleen Morris Kathleen "Kay" Moir Morris (December 2, 1893 – December 20, 1986) was a Canadian painter and member of the Beaver Hall Group. Biography The fourth child and only daughter of Montague John Morris and Eliza Howard Bell, she was born in Montr ...

* Louis Muhlstock * Ethel Seath

1942–1954 additions

* Fritz Brandtner *

Goodridge Roberts William Goodridge Roberts (1904–1974) was a Canadian painter known for his landscape paintings, still lifes, figure paintings and interiors. He was also a teacher. Career Goodridge Roberts was the son of poet and novelist George Edward Theod ...

Marian Dale Scott Marian Mildred Dale Scott (; 1906–1993) was a Canadian painter. Life She was born Marian Mildred Dale in Montreal on 26 June 1906.https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/marian-mildred-dale-scott She showed talent at an early age: he ...

* Jack Nichols * William Winter * Edna Taçon *

E. Michael Mitchell E. Michael Mitchell (1920 – September 6, 2009) was a Canadian-born artist reputed to be one of the few close friends of author J.D. Salinger and designer of the dust jacket for the first edition of Salinger's 1951 novel, ''Catcher in the Rye' ...

* E. J. Hughes *

Jack Bush John Hamilton Bush (March 20, 1909 – January 24, 1977) was a Canadian abstract painter. A member of Painters Eleven, his paintings are associated with the Color Field movement and Post-painterly Abstraction. Inspired by Henri Ma ...

* B. C. Binning * Stanley Cosgrove * L. A. C. Panton *

Jacques de Tonnancour Jacques Godefroy de Tonnancour, LL. D. (3 January 1917 – 13 January 2005) was a Canadian artist and art educator from Montreal, Quebec. Life and work Jacques Godefroy de Tonnancour was born on 3 January 1917 in Montreal, Quebec. He studied a ...

Roloff Beny Roloff Beny (1924–1984) was a Canadian photographer who spent the better part of his life in Rome and on his photographic travels throughout the world. Born Wilfred Roy Beny in Medicine Hat, Alberta, he later took as his first name ''Roloff'', ...

* Lionel Thomas

Select group exhibitions

* 1933: Heinz Art Salon, NJ * 1936:

Art Gallery of Ontario 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 ...

* 1937: Art Gallery of Ontario * 1937: Art Gallery of Ontario * 1938:

* 1939: New York World's Fair, NY * 1940:

Art Association of Montreal The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square ...

, QC * 1951:

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square ...

, QC * 1953: Art Gallery of Ontario * 1993: ''Pilgrims in the Wilderness: The Struggle of the Canadian Group of Painters (1933-1969)'', the

Robert McLaughlin Gallery The Robert McLaughlin Gallery is a public art gallery in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest public art gallery in the Regional Municipality of Durham, of which Oshawa is a part. The gallery houses a significant collection of Canadian conte ...

, Oshawa * 2013: ''A Vital Force: The Canadian Group of Painters'',

, Kingston

References

{{ACArt Canadian artist groups and collectives