Canadian art club toronto

The Canadian Art Club was first organized in Toronto in 1907 by disgruntled members of the Ontario Society of Artists (see AskART Glossary). They resigned the O.S.A. and formed the club over a dispute with O.S.A. President F.M. Bell-Smith???s opposition to the selection of paintings for purchase by the Ontario government and for their perception of restrictions imposed on them by senior members of the O.S.A. Membership to the club was by invitation only and included artists and collectors. Its focus was on exhibiting the highest quality art with "a Canadian Spirit". It is viewed by Charles C. Hill, the author of "The Group of Seven ??? Art for a Nation", and by Lawren Harris (founder of the Group of Seven) as a model and stimulus for the eventual formation of the Group of Seven (see AskART Glossary). The club had its first exhibition in 1908 and it???s last in 1915. Its demise is largely attributed to the death, in 1913, of its primary driving force Edmund Morris. Artist members included, Albert Curtis Williamson, William E. Atkinson, Homer Watson, Archibald Browne, Horatio Walker, William Brymner, Maurice Cullen, Marc-Aurele de Foy Suzor-Cote, Ernest Lawson, A. Phimister Proctor, James Wilson Morrice and Franklin Brownell (see all artists in AskART). Sources: "The Group of Seven- Art for A Nation" (1995), by Charles C. Hill and "A Concise History of Canadian Painting" (1973), by Dennis Reid (see AskART Book references). Prepared and contributed by M.D. Silverbrooke, Art Historian and Collector, West Vancouver, British Columbia.