Defiant Spirits

December 12, 2011
Award-winning art historian King (The Judgment of Paris) recounts the evolution of the Algonquin School in this biography of seven remarkable Canadian artists. On the eve of WWI, a small group of talented painters converged in the art department of the Toronto design firm, Grip Limited. While the firm had introduced the nation to Art Nouveau and metal engraving, its designers had loftier ambitionsâto develop an artistic identity for Canada. Head Grip designer J.E.H. MacDonald found kindred spirits in Tom Thomson, Franklin Carmichael, A.Y. Jackson, Franz Johnston, Arthur Lismer, and Frederick Varley. The group's challengeâto capture with "âCanadian' eyes" the harsh landscape of the north on canvasâled to extensive exploration of Algonquin Provincial Park. In 1914, the seven gathered at the purpose-built Studio Building for Canadian Art, where they would hone their skills and their vision, resulting in their first group exhibition at the Art Gallery of Toronto in 1921. After a productive decade and mounting criticism that their work had begun to settle into clichés, the group finally disbanded in 1931. Their paintings reflected what fellow artist Emily Carr called the "naked soul." King's book does an excellent job of exploring the roles of these visionary individuals in the shaping of an artistic cultural identity. With 24 pages of color plates and 43 black and white photos

November 1, 2011

King's (Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling) writing is characterized by clarity, compassion, and humanist intelligence. He brings all these to his comprehensive portrait of the Group of Seven, a collective of modernist painters working in early 20th-century Canada. The artists who made up the group (membership varied over the years) strove for a uniquely Canadian art, rooted in their nation's geography yet with an expressive approach to landscape. Artistically audacious and inspired by the work of avant-garde innovators such as Cezanne, Gauguin, and Picasso, the group had high aspirations, which set them on a collision course with tradition-bound collectors, critics, and most of the public. The personal, political, and aesthetic obstacles they encountered are described here with sympathy, so that we feel we've actually met these individuals--the goal of any good biography. Included are color and black-and-white plates as well as notes. VERDICT While it may lack a detailed scrutiny of working methods or an overarching theory that an art scholar would seek, this book will be of interest to general readers invested in the visual arts of Canada and, more broadly, early 20th-century painting.--Michael Dashkin, Forest Hills, NY

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