This page is designed to give you a very brief overview of Canadian art and artists. For each work of art you will notice a short biography of the artists and information about the time period these artists worked in.
Along with familiarizing yourself with such important Canadian art and artists, the statements and questions posed on this site will provoke you to think about what you are seeing and to make connections between Canadian art history and personal experience.
We encourage you to ask yourselves questions about the art work you are experiencing and to further research the artists and their work. Each link will bring you to sites which focus on more detailed information about Canadian artists, related sources and art galleries throughout Canada.
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William Berczy, Sr. Robert R. Whale Ozias Leduc Tom Thomson A.Y. Jackson Edwin Holgate Alfred Pellan Alex Colville Paterson Ewen Joanne Tod
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William Berczy, Sr. (1744 - 1813)
The Woolsey Family (1809), Oil on canvas, 59.8 X 87.2 cm
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William Berczy was born in Saxony and brought up in Vienna. His work exhibited the style of the Miniaturists. He took a leave from painting for a few years to become a land agent. Being a land agent, he began recruiting Germans to settle in New York state. It was through this endeavour that Berczy found land in Upper Canada for his settles. After being imprisoned for a short time in London for dept problems, he returned to Canada in 1801 where he began a somewhat sporadic art career. |
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Robert R. Whale. (1807 - 1887)
View of Hamilton (1853), Oil on canvas, 90.6 X 120.8 cm
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Robert R. Whale was part of a large English artist immigration to Canada in 1852. Whale was in his forties when he came to Canada and resided primarily near Brantford. The bulk of his work came from commissions for portraits and landscape paintings. What makes his work interesting is that he combined two popular genres: awe-inspiring aspects of the New world landscapes and a "portrait" of one of the day's most progressive in technical developments. Whale's paintings encompassed broad and idealized views of nature. |
Ozias Leduc. (1864 -1955)
L'Enfant au pain (1892-99), Oil on canvas, 50.7 X 55.7 cm
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Ozias Leduc's work assumes simple and solid values that contrast extravagant decoration.. Leduc was a product of rural Quebec life; a life filled with obstacles and strife. His work expresses lies, not in the objects that can be seen but in what cannot be seen; the emotions that grow out of making music. |
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Tom Thomson. (1877 -1917)
White Birches , Oil on board, 21.6 X 26.7 cm
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Tom Thomson could be described as a loner. He was somewhat self conscious about his art work at first. Thomson was in his 30's before he began to paint seriously. He laboured as a designer and illustrator in Toronto at the firm of Grip Ltd.. It was here that he met J.E.H MacDonald and Arthur Lismer, who encouraged him to paint. Thomson absorbed the atmosphere and talents of those artists who would come to form the Group of Seven; A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer and Lauren Harris were among the group. They saw in thomson an ability to capture the perception of the landscape and the character of painting. |
A.Y. Jackson. (1882 -1974)
Lake Cognaschene, (1920), Oil on canvas, 63.5 X 81.3 cm
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It can be said that A.Y. Jackson represented the heart of the Group of Seven. His commitment to advocating membership to the Group was key to the formation of the Canadian Group of Painters in 1933. Jackson remained a pivotal figure in Canadian Art. The beginnings of Jackson's career was difficult. He began work at the age of twelve, earning a living as a commercial artist by day, while taking art classes at night. He made brief visits to Europe absorbing all the culture he could. He was urged to join the Toronto painters in 1913; this period was to usher in his most influential work. |
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Edwin Holgate. (1892 -1977)
Ludivine, (1930), Oil on canvas, 76.3 X 63.9 cm
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Edwin Holgate joined the Group of Seven in 1930 and later became a member of the Canadian Group of Painters. He was an active member of the art scene in Montreal all through the 1920's and 30's. He travelled to Paris in 1912 with the army and spent three years there. He studied with a Russian Painter named Adolf Milman. It was in Paris where he met james Wilson Morrice. Holgate became inspired by Morrice's work and soon Morrice could be seen as a major influence in Holgate's work. |
Alfred Pellan. (1906 -1988)
Floraison, (c. 1956), Oil on canvas, 180.3 X 146.1 cm
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The work of Alfred Pellan encompasses many different styles that range from the abstract to the representational. In the 1940's, Pellan began to develop themes that he would expand on in later years. In the 1950's Pellan travelled to Paris for three years. It was in Paris that he had a major exhibit at the Musee National d'Art Moderne in 1955. It was due, to a large part, to this show that Pellan garnered the respect of and was accepted by the modern masters. |
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Alex Colville. (born 1920)
To Prince Edward Island, (1965), Acrylic emulsion on masonite, 61.9 X 92.5 cm
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Complex geometric schemes compose the work of Alex Colville. Colville takes great pains to carefully measure and place subject matter. His paintings assume an almost cold asymmetrical and perfectly balanced harmony. Almost all of Colville's work deals with two distinct worlds; the world of human beings and the world of animals. |
Patterson Ewen. (born 1925)
The Great Wave: Homage to Hokusai, (1974), Mixed media on gouged plywood, 243.9 X 243.9 cm
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Ewen studied geology at McGill University after returning home from the war. He left after a year and decided to pursue art. In the 1950"s Ewen associated with artists who were following the work of Paul-Emil Borduas. In 1968 Ewen left Montreal for London, Ontario. It was here that he became dissatisfied with the direction of his work. Thus he began experimenting with new techniques in painting and he began to recall images of childhood fascinations and started to incorporate these images into his work. |
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Joanne Tod. (born 1953)
Having Fun? The Time of Our Lives, (1984), Oil on canvas, two panels each, 199.0 X 199.0 cm
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The work of Joanne Tod exudes a subtlety that hides its meaning deep beneath each initial appearance. Her work assumes the role of photographs. Just as photographs appear candid and natural, so does the work of Tod. She works with this ambiguity, this ability to layer the surfaces of appearances, contrasting the naturalness of situations. The blatant and stark directness of her images seem to display the reality of the situation and then, destroys it. |
ART IS PERSONAL
ART IS PEOPLE
ART SHAPES MATERIAL
ART HAS STRUCTURE
ART RECORDS HISTORY
ARTISTS ARE SOCIAL CRITICS
Knowing how to view art becomes a step closer to the understanding and to the appreciation of art as it connects to your personal experiences.
When viewing art it is important to move from personal and individual responses to a wider understanding of the cultural, intellectual, and spiritual values of objects and works of art.
Important things to consider when looking at works of art:
What words come to mind when you look at these art works?
What kinds of colours do you see?
What devices or sections call our attention?
What kind of feelings are invoked?
Why do you think the artists' motivation was in the creation of this work?
Describe the art work in as many words as you can.
What technique(s) has the artist used?
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