Canadian art
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- This article discusses broad developments in Canadian visual art. For more specific information see List of Canadian artists or Canadian literature, Canadian music, Canadian Cinema and Canadian Culture for other information on the arts in Canada.
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[edit] Traditional First Nations and Inuit Art
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[edit] French Colonial Period (1665-1759)
Early explorers such as Samuel de Champlain made sketches of North American territory as they explored, but the Roman Catholic Church in and around Quebec City was the first to actively provide artistic patronage.[1] Abbé Hughes Pommier is believed to be the first active painter in New France. Pommier left France in 1664 and worked in various communities as a priest before taking up painting extensively. Painters in New France, such as Pommier and another key painter Claude Francois, known primarily as Frère Luc, believed in the ideals of High Renaissance art, which featured, religious depictions often formally composed with seemingly classical clothing and settings.[2] Few arists during this early period signed their works making attributions today difficult.
Near the end of the 17th-century, Quebec's population was growing steadily but the territory was increasingly isolated from France. Fewer artists arrived from Europe, but Quebecois artists continued with commissions from the church. Two schools were established in Quebec to teach the arts and there were a number of artists working throughout Quebec until the British Conquest.[3] Pierre Le Ber from a weathly Montreal family is one of the most recognized artists from this period. Believed to be self-taught since he never left Quebec, Le Ber's painting is widely admired. In particular, his depiction of the saint Marguerite Bourgeoys, was hailed as "the single most moving image to survive from the French period" by Canadian art historian Dennis Reid. [4]
While the early religious painting told little about everyday life, numerous Ex-Votos completed by amateur artists offer vivid impressions of life in New France. Ex-Votos, or votive painting was made as a way to thank God or the Saints for answering a prayer. For example, one of the best known examples of this type of work is Ex-voto des trois naufragés de Lévis (1754). Five youths were crossing the Saint-Lawrence at night when their boat overturned in rough water. Two girls drowned, wieghed down by their heavy dresses, while the two young men and one woman were able to hold on to the overturned boat until help arrived. Saint Anne is depicted in the sky, saving the three youths. This work was donated to the church at Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré as an offering of thanks for the three lives saved.[5]
[edit] Early Art in British North America
The early ports of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland did not experience the same degree of artistic growth, largely due to their Protestant beliefs in simple church decoration which did not encourage artists or sculptors. However, itinerant artists, painters who travelled to various communities to sell works, frequented the area. Dutch-born artist Gerard Edema is believed to have painted the first Newfoundland landscape in the early 1700s. [6]
[edit] English Colonial Period (1759-1867)
[edit] British Army Topographers
The battle for Quebec left numerous British soldiers garrisoned in strategic locations in the territory. While off-duty, many of these soldiers sketched and painted the Canadian land and people, which were often sold in European markets hungry for exotic, picturesque views of the colonies. Furthermore, drawing was also required by soldiers to record the land, as photography had not been invented.[7] Thomas Davies is championed as one of the most talented. Davies recorded the capture of Louisburg and Montreal among other scenes.[8] Socttish-born George Heriot was one of the first artist-soldiers to settle in Canada and later produced Travels Through the Canadas in 1807 filled with his aquatint prints.[9]
[edit] Quebec's Golden Age
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[edit] Krieghoff and Kane
The works of most early Canadian painters followed European trends. During the mid 1800s, Cornelius Krieghoff, a Dutch born artist in Quebec, painted scenes of the life of the habitants (French-Canadian farmers). At about the same time, the Canadian artist Paul Kane painted pictures of Indian life in western Canada.
[edit] Art under the Dominion of Canada
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[edit] Early 20th Century
[edit] Nationalism and the Group of Seven
A group of landscape painters called the Group of Seven aimed to develop the first distinctly Canadian style of painting. All these artists painted large, brilliantly, coloured scenes of the Canadian wilderness.
The original members of the group consisted of Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley. Tom Thomson (who died in 1917) and Emily Carr were also closely associated with the Group of Seven, though neither were ever official members.
In the 1930s, members of the Group of Seven decided to enlarge the club and formed the Canadian Group of Painters made up of 28 artists from across Canada.
[edit] Contemporaries of the Group of Seven
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[edit] 1930s Regionalism
Since the 1930s, Canadian painters have developed a wide range of highly individual styles. Emily Carr became famous for her paintings of totem poles of British Columbia. Other noted painters have included the landscape artist David Milne.
[edit] Beginning of Non-Objective Art
[edit] After World War II
Government support has played a vital role in their development, as has the establishment of numerous art schools and colleges across the country.
The abstract painters Jean-Paul Riopelle and Harold Town and multi-media artist Michael Snow. The abstract art group Painters Eleven, particularly the artists William Ronald and Jack Bush, also had an important impact on modern art in Canada.
Canadian sculpture has been enriched by the walrus ivory and soapstone carvings by the Inuit artists. These carvings show objects and activities from the daily life of the Inuit.
[edit] Post-Modern Canadian Art
[edit] Groups in Canadian Art
- Group of Seven
- Canadian Group of Painters
- Eastern Group of Painters
- Les Automatistes
- Painters Eleven
- Regina Five
- General Idea
- Photoconceptualism
- Woodlands School
- Indian Group of Seven
[edit] Dealers
- Max Stern, 1904-1987, art dealer
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Harper, Russell. Painting in Canada: A History 2nd ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1981. ISBN 0802063071
- Reid, Dennis A Concise History of Canadian Painting 2nd Edition. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1988. ISBN 019540663X.
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