100 Years: The Group of Seven and Other Voices' Presented by Capital Powered Art

2021

Experience ‘100 Years: The Group of Seven and Other Voices’, a celebration of artwork from some of Canada’s most celebrated artists—The Group of Seven. Hear from Minister Leela Aheer (Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism, and Status of Women), Darcy Trufyn (Senior Vice President Operations, Engineering & Construction, Capital Power), Catherine Crowston (Executive Director and Chief Curator, Art Gallery of Alberta) and Danielle Siemens (Collections Manager and Curatorial Associate, Art Gallery of Alberta) as they introduce your AGA’s latest Capital Powered Art exhibition, ‘100 Years: The Group of Seven and Other Voices.’

‘100 Years’ commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Group of Seven’s first formal exhibition and charts their development from the early 1910s to the middle of the 20th century. This exhibition also includes work from the AGA collection by artists who were mentors, colleagues and students of the Group, or who worked entirely independent of their influence, offering a more expansive view of Canadian art from this period.

‘100 Years: The Group of Seven and Other Voices’ is organized by the Art Gallery of Alberta, and curated by Danielle Siemens. Presented by Capital Powered Art, an exhibition series sponsored by Capital Power Corporation.

Special thanks to Capital Power, sustaining partner since 2010.Experience ‘100 Years: The Group of Seven and Other Voices’, a celebration of artwork from some of Canada’s most celebrated artists—The Group of Seven. Hear from Minister Leela Aheer (Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism, and Status of Women), Darcy Trufyn (Senior Vice President Operations, Engineering & Construction, Capital Power), Cath …

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Tom Thompson
Tom Thompson
2:57

Tom Thompson

2:57

Arthur Lismer
Arthur Lismer
3:50

Arthur Lismer

3:50

Lismer
Lismer
3:54

Lismer

3:54

Autogenerated Transcript from YouTube (if available)

Use CTRL+F to find key words if it is a longer transcript​.

0:00

0:06

This year we relied
on the arts to uplift

0:09

us, connect us, and
inspire us more than ever

0:11

The visual, performing,
and written arts tell

0:14

our province’s story,
and keeps our past

0:16

alive. The Group of Seven
were amongst the

0:18

first Canadian artists
to capture the natural

0:21

wonders of our home.
Their iconic landscapes,

0:24

striking colours, and
dynamic shapes have

0:27

us in, and sparked our
imaginations for 100 years.

0:31

Artists continue to enrich our
lives, promote creativity and

0:34

innovation and contribute
to our economy.

0:37

I encourage all Albertans
to support local artists,

0:40

galleries, theatres,
and venues in any

0:43

way that you can.
We will need the support

0:46

now; more than ever
so that they can tell

0:48

our story for the next
100 years and beyond.

0:50

0:52

Hello – my name is Catherine
Crowston, and I am the

0:55

Executive Director and Chief
Curator here at the Art Gallery

0:58

of Alberta. It is my pleasure to
welcome you to this special

1:01

preview of our most
recent exhibition: 100 Years:

1:04

The Group of Seven and
Other Voices, presented

1:07

by Capital Power.

1:09

2020 marks the 100th
anniversary of the famous

1:12

Canadian group of artists,
known as The Group of Seven.

1:15

The Group of Seven formed
in Toronto in 1920, and was

1:19

Canada’s first self-proclaimed
organization of modern artists.

1:23

1:25

The original 7 members of the
Group befriended each other

1:29

in the years between 1911
and 1913, and at that time

1:34

their circle included Tom
Thomson who was an

1:36

an integral and influential
force, but was never actually

1:40

a member of the Group
itself due to his death in 1917

1:43

It was only after their first
exhibition at the Art Museum

1:46

of Toronto (now the Art Gallery
of Ontario) in May of 1920

1:50

that the Group first presented
themselves as a unified

1:54

collective. To the outrage
of the artistic establishment

1:57

at the time, these artists
shifted their work away from

2:01

close imitation of nature
in painting – toward a more

2:05

evocative expression of
emotion and mood, with

2:08

vibrant colours, brushwork
and rugged wilderness scenes.

2:11

This exhibition: 100 Years
The Group of Seven and Other

2:15

Voices features paintings by
Tom Thomson and the 10

2:19

members of Canada’s of
the Group from the AGA

2:22

collection. The exhibition also
includes work by other artists

2:25

who were mentors, colleagues
and students of Group

2:28

members, as well as
some who worked entirely

2:31

independent of their
influence, to offer a more

2:33

expansive view of Canadian
art from this time period.

2:36

The exhibition was curated
by Danielle Siemens, the

2:39

Collections Manager and
Curatorial Associate here at

2:42

the AGA, who will talk a little
bit about a few of the works

2:45

in the exhibition and give
you an introduction

2:48

to these wonderful artists.

2:50

2:52

So we’re going to start our
preview tour with these two

2:56

paintings by Tom Thompson.
Now contrary to popular

3:00

belief, Tom Thompson wasn’t
an official member of the

3:03

group. However he
was very important to

3:05

to their early years. And
he was very influential in

3:09

his style and approach to
the landscape. Now we’re

3:13

this painting on the bottom,
it’s titled “November” and

3:16

it’s from 1913. This
painting here might not

3:20

have the bold, expressive
colours that we’re used to

3:24

seeing from the group, but
it’s a really nice example of

3:27

their early development.
If you get up close, you can

3:30

see rough, quick brush work.
So you really get the sense of

3:33

this capturing a fleeting
moment in time. The colour

3:37

palette is muted and really
quite dark and moody, giving

3:41

us the sense of the
changing seasons in the fall

3:44

on a cool autumn day.

3:46

3:47

So now we’re going
to look at a work by

3:50

Arthur Lismer, it’s
entitled “Winter”, and it

3:53

comes from 1920. Lismer,
like most of his Group

3:56

of Seven colleagues started his
career in commercial graphic

4:00

art, and you really get a sense
of his design sensibility in the

4:04

carefully laid out composition.
So you have this lone tree in

4:08

the foreground that really
draws your eye in and a clearly

4:11

delineated mid-ground
and background.

4:14

With these kind of curvilinear
lines that draw your eye

4:16

into and throughout
the image.

4:18

He was also working in
an expressionistic style, so

4:22

If you get up real close,
you can see these rough,

4:25

quick little brush strokes and
this really bold sense of colour

4:29

and light. So you can get a
sense of the light reflecting

4:32

from the snow in the foreground
in the foreground tree

4:34

as well as this really
bright orange which gives us

4:37

the sense of a winter sunset.
And this lends itself to what

4:41

the Group of Seven was trying
to cultivate: this idea that

4:44

landscape was uninhabited
and ripe for exploration.

4:47

So I hope that you can make
it down to the AGA to see this

4:50

exhibition: 100 years, the
Group of Seven and Other

4:53

Voices which is sponsored
by Capital Power.

4:55

4:57

From stunning mountains to
everlasting bright blue prairie

5:00

skies, we are extremely lucky
as Albertans to be surrounded

5:03

by some of the greatest
natural views in the world.

5:06

I think we’ve all looked to
nature to ground and uplift

5:08

ourselves, be it spending
time wandering the river

5:11

valley or gathering around
a fire with those closest to us

5:14

nature truly has a way of
inspiring us, reminding us of

5:18

what’s important and calming
our most pressing concerns.

5:21

COVID-19 is no small concern
and has greatly challenged our

5:25

way of life, but as a
community, I continue to be

5:28

inspired by the ways and
means we, as resilient

5:31

Edmontonians and Albertans,
have found to support each

5:34

other and continue to find
joy together, including

5:38

retreating to nature as
we enjoy the remaining sunny

5:40

skies of summer. On
behalf of Capital Power

5:43

I invite you to experience
Canada’s natural treasures

5:46

through the eyes of Canada’s
preeminent 20th century

5:49

landscape artists: The Group
of Seven. Together with your

5:53

Art Gallery of Alberta, Capital
Power is pleased to present

5:56

the 100 Years: The Group of
even and Other Voices exhibit

6:00

from August 29th to March 13th.

6:04

Come to your Art Gallery of
Alberta and escape in the

6:07

visions of exceptional
artists and safely take

6:10

time to enjoy ourselves.
Thank you.

6:12

.

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