Between 1860 and 1940, Russia and Canada had radically different cultural and artistic environments. Literature, theatre, music, ballet and the visual arts reached new heights in Russia at the turn of the twentieth century, due to enlightened patronage. In Canada, although there was some emerging activity in the 1860s, the development of the arts was more modest because artists were still marginal figures in a society that was essentially concerned with its economic growth.
Nonetheless, the painters of both countries were driven by the desire to represent the local landscape and to highlight its special characteristics. Their works reflected the importance of landscape in Russian and Canadian identity. Their modes of representation gradually cast off outside influences. The painters focused mainly on rural scenes yet cityscapes sometimes drew their attention, attesting to changing lifestyles and their subsequent effect on the architectural environment.
This "national" affirmation went through a variety of phases. In Russia, from the very first travelling exhibition of itinerant artists known as the Wanderers in 1871, artists asserted their intention Read More
Nonetheless, the painters of both countries were driven by the desire to represent the local landscape and to highlight its special characteristics. Their works reflected the importance of landscape in Russian and Canadian identity. Their modes of representation gradually cast off outside influences. The painters focused mainly on rural scenes yet cityscapes sometimes drew their attention, attesting to changing lifestyles and their subsequent effect on the architectural environment.
This "national" affirmation went through a variety of phases. In Russia, from the very first travelling exhibition of itinerant artists known as the Wanderers in 1871, artists asserted their intention Read More
Between 1860 and 1940, Russia and Canada had radically different cultural and artistic environments. Literature, theatre, music, ballet and the visual arts reached new heights in Russia at the turn of the twentieth century, due to enlightened patronage. In Canada, although there was some emerging activity in the 1860s, the development of the arts was more modest because artists were still marginal figures in a society that was essentially concerned with its economic growth.
Nonetheless, the painters of both countries were driven by the desire to represent the local landscape and to highlight its special characteristics. Their works reflected the importance of landscape in Russian and Canadian identity. Their modes of representation gradually cast off outside influences. The painters focused mainly on rural scenes yet cityscapes sometimes drew their attention, attesting to changing lifestyles and their subsequent effect on the architectural environment.
This "national" affirmation went through a variety of phases. In Russia, from the very first travelling exhibition of itinerant artists known as the Wanderers in 1871, artists asserted their intention to reject foreign painting conventions. Later, other painters would draw inspiration from Russian popular culture in order to arrive at a new form of art. In Canada, as early as the 1870s, the Luminist painters adopted a more American perspective on painting. At the end of the nineteenth century, some artists adapted Impressionist techniques to conditions specific to Canada. In the 1920s, the Group of Seven were taken with the uncharted wilderness, leading to a distinctive image of the Canadian landscape.
Nonetheless, the painters of both countries were driven by the desire to represent the local landscape and to highlight its special characteristics. Their works reflected the importance of landscape in Russian and Canadian identity. Their modes of representation gradually cast off outside influences. The painters focused mainly on rural scenes yet cityscapes sometimes drew their attention, attesting to changing lifestyles and their subsequent effect on the architectural environment.
This "national" affirmation went through a variety of phases. In Russia, from the very first travelling exhibition of itinerant artists known as the Wanderers in 1871, artists asserted their intention to reject foreign painting conventions. Later, other painters would draw inspiration from Russian popular culture in order to arrive at a new form of art. In Canada, as early as the 1870s, the Luminist painters adopted a more American perspective on painting. At the end of the nineteenth century, some artists adapted Impressionist techniques to conditions specific to Canada. In the 1920s, the Group of Seven were taken with the uncharted wilderness, leading to a distinctive image of the Canadian landscape.
© 2003, CHIN. All Rights Reserved.
Yan, Q.C.I, by Emily Carr (1871-1945), 1912.
Emily Carr
Art Gallery of Hamilton - Gift of Roy G. Cole, 1992
1912
oil on canvas
98.8 x 152.5 cm
© Art Gallery of Hamilton
Yan, Q.C.I was painted just after Emily Carr returned from study in England and France, where she had come under the influence of the Post-Impressionists. Here we see her using the bright colours and flat, broken brushwork of the Fauves to depict an abandoned Haida village of the Northwest Coast. Carr was moved by the totem poles that stood as silent witness to the vanishing populations, wiped out by a smallpox epidemic introduced by European settlers. In these paintings, she struggles to find a balance between her interests as a painter and her desire to document what is left behind by these Native cultures.
Yan, Q.C.I was painted just after Emily Carr returned from study in England and France, where she had come under the influence of the Post-Impressionists. Here we see her using the bright colours and flat, broken brushwork of the Fauves to depict an abandoned Haida village of the Northwest Coast. Carr was moved by the totem poles that stood as silent witness to the vanishing populations, wiped out by a smallpox epidemic introduced by European settlers. In these paintings, she struggles to find a balance between her interests as a painter and her desire to document what is left behind by these Native cultures.
© 2003, CHIN. All Rights Reserved.
In the Northland, by Tom Thomson (1877-1917), 1915.
Tom Thomson
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts - Gift of the Friends of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
1915
oil on canvas
101.7 x 114.5 cm
© The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Tom Thomson, a self-taught artist and outdoorsman, promoted the idea of the Canadian forest as an immense, uninhabited and virtually undeveloped expanse. Inspired by a plein air sketch completed in Algonquin Park, this painting excludes all traces of human presence. The foreground is taken up by a downward sloping branch that pierces the vertical grid of birch trees. Thomson worked in Northern Ontario, where forestry and mining had already begun to take their toll on the environment. The artist seemed to share the idea that Canada’s natural resources were inexhaustible.
Tom Thomson, a self-taught artist and outdoorsman, promoted the idea of the Canadian forest as an immense, uninhabited and virtually undeveloped expanse. Inspired by a plein air sketch completed in Algonquin Park, this painting excludes all traces of human presence. The foreground is taken up by a downward sloping branch that pierces the vertical grid of birch trees. Thomson worked in Northern Ontario, where forestry and mining had already begun to take their toll on the environment. The artist seemed to share the idea that Canada’s natural resources were inexhaustible.
© 2003, CHIN. All Rights Reserved.
Herbert River, Rawdon, N.S., by Robert Harris (1849-1919).
Artist: Robert Harris, Photo: Gary Castle
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia - Purchase, 1978
no date
oil on board
14.6 x 20.3 cm
© Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Robert Harris was born in Wales but immigrated to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, with his family when he was just a boy. Harris was trained in England and France and adopted an Impressionist approach to painting, although he tended to favour a somewhat darker-toned palette. He often painted en plein air, capturing scenes in quick sketches. The treatment of Herbert River, Rawdon, N.S. is painterly, with broad brush strokes visible over its surface. The figure on the bank is turned from the viewer and seems lost in his activity. The painting conveys a strong sense of place through the quality of light and movement of water.
Robert Harris was born in Wales but immigrated to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, with his family when he was just a boy. Harris was trained in England and France and adopted an Impressionist approach to painting, although he tended to favour a somewhat darker-toned palette. He often painted en plein air, capturing scenes in quick sketches. The treatment of Herbert River, Rawdon, N.S. is painterly, with broad brush strokes visible over its surface. The figure on the bank is turned from the viewer and seems lost in his activity. The painting conveys a strong sense of place through the quality of light and movement of water.
© 2003, CHIN. All Rights Reserved.
Overlooking the Vallée du Gouffre, Charlevoix, by Clarence Alphonse Gagnon (1881-1942), around 1915.
Clarence Alphonse Gagnon
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts - Dr. Max Stern Bequest
c. 1915
oil on panel
12 x 18 cm
© The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
The Charlevoix region, which was linked by railway to the City of Québec in 1909, attracted many Francophone and Anglophone painters. It was an enclave of life relatively untouched by modernism, somewhat like Brittany, in France, which had earlier captivated Paul Gauguin and his friends. Clarence Gagnon spent much of his time working in the Charlevoix region. He not only encouraged local people to preserve the picturesqueness of their region, but tried to convince them that this would attract more tourists. His painting shows the Gouffre River delta between two snow-covered hills. The play of light in the background is striking.
The Charlevoix region, which was linked by railway to the City of Québec in 1909, attracted many Francophone and Anglophone painters. It was an enclave of life relatively untouched by modernism, somewhat like Brittany, in France, which had earlier captivated Paul Gauguin and his friends. Clarence Gagnon spent much of his time working in the Charlevoix region. He not only encouraged local people to preserve the picturesqueness of their region, but tried to convince them that this would attract more tourists. His painting shows the Gouffre River delta between two snow-covered hills. The play of light in the background is striking.
© 2003, CHIN. All Rights Reserved.
Hillside Acadian Village, by Georges Chavignaud (1865-1944), 1917.
Artist: Georges Chavignaud, Photo: Gary Castle
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Purchase, 1917
1917
Watercolour on paper
22.4 x 29.6 cm
© Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Born in France, George Chavignaud arrived in Halifax in 1912 to take the position of principal of the Victoria School of Art and Design. Chavignaud embraced an Impressionist outlook but employed the darker palettes of the Barbizon and Hague schools. He found his subjects in the local landscape, working in oils and his preferred medium, watercolour. Chavignaud, who described himself as “a painter of Canadian sunshine and colour,” brought about a surge in the popularity of watercolour over the years he ran the School of Art. In Hillside Acadian Village, the landscape is tamed rather than rugged, with neat fields stretching over the hills that surround the small town.
Born in France, George Chavignaud arrived in Halifax in 1912 to take the position of principal of the Victoria School of Art and Design. Chavignaud embraced an Impressionist outlook but employed the darker palettes of the Barbizon and Hague schools. He found his subjects in the local landscape, working in oils and his preferred medium, watercolour. Chavignaud, who described himself as “a painter of Canadian sunshine and colour,” brought about a surge in the popularity of watercolour over the years he ran the School of Art. In Hillside Acadian Village, the landscape is tamed rather than rugged, with neat fields stretching over the hills that surround the small town.
© 2003, CHIN. All Rights Reserved.
The End of Winter, Gosselin River, by Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté (1869-1937), 1918.
Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté
Edmonton Art Gallery
1918
oil on canvas
101.6 x 137.5 cm
© Edmonton Art Gallery
Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté’s success in Europe earned him a reputation that preceded his return to Canada in 1907. With a renewed interest in the Canadian landscape and a deep love for Quebec, the artist devoted the years that followed to painting the inhabitants and landscapes surrounding his native village of Arthabaska (today Victoriaville, Quebec). The area’s Gosselin River, in particular, provided him with endless inspiration. Rather than paint from memory in his studio, he chose to execute his canvases outdoors. This remarkable painting of a riverbank in winter reveals his fascination with movement, and successfully captures the spectrum of colours that radiate from the snow.
Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté’s success in Europe earned him a reputation that preceded his return to Canada in 1907. With a renewed interest in the Canadian landscape and a deep love for Quebec, the artist devoted the years that followed to painting the inhabitants and landscapes surrounding his native village of Arthabaska (today Victoriaville, Quebec). The area’s Gosselin River, in particular, provided him with endless inspiration. Rather than paint from memory in his studio, he chose to execute his canvases outdoors. This remarkable painting of a riverbank in winter reveals his fascination with movement, and successfully captures the spectrum of colours that radiate from the snow.
© 2003, CHIN. All Rights Reserved.
Above Lake Louise, by Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith (1846-1923), circa 1910.
Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith
Edmonton Art Gallery
c. 1910
oil on canvas
72 x 91.5 cm
© Edmonton Art Gallery
After the first Montréal to Vancouver passenger train crossed the country in 1886, settlers began to arrive in the newly accessible lands in large numbers. Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith was one of the first eastern-based artists to travel to the West on the new railway. He returned frequently, and enjoyed such success with his Rocky Mountain pictures that he was able to give up teaching. One of the leading English-born watercolourists in Canada, he applied many of his watercolour techniques to oils, which were more suited to the harsh climate. Here he depicts one of the most visited spots in the Rockies, capturing the stunning glacial panorama of Mount Lefroy through the use of atmospheric effects and delicate, refined colour.
After the first Montréal to Vancouver passenger train crossed the country in 1886, settlers began to arrive in the newly accessible lands in large numbers. Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith was one of the first eastern-based artists to travel to the West on the new railway. He returned frequently, and enjoyed such success with his Rocky Mountain pictures that he was able to give up teaching. One of the leading English-born watercolourists in Canada, he applied many of his watercolour techniques to oils, which were more suited to the harsh climate. Here he depicts one of the most visited spots in the Rockies, capturing the stunning glacial panorama of Mount Lefroy through the use of atmospheric effects and delicate, refined colour.
© 2003, CHIN. All Rights Reserved.
Cloud Shadows, by George Agnew Reid (1860-1947), around 1915.
George Agnew Reid
Edmonton Art Gallery
c. 1915
oil on canvas
90.8 x 122.5 cm
© Edmonton Art Gallery
George Agnew Reid is one of the best-known Canadian genre painters of his generation. Like Brymner, he studied in Paris, but consistently painted from a Canadian perspective. In this depiction of a rolling landscape with rising cloud formations, he firmly places the emphasis on atmospheric effects, investing his canvas with a sense of inner light similar to Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté’s untitled landscape of 1895. In Cloud Shadows, the farm buildings that are scattered across the field are absorbed by the dark monochromatic palette of the lower part of the canvas, heightening the distinction between shadowed foreground and luminous background sky.
George Agnew Reid is one of the best-known Canadian genre painters of his generation. Like Brymner, he studied in Paris, but consistently painted from a Canadian perspective. In this depiction of a rolling landscape with rising cloud formations, he firmly places the emphasis on atmospheric effects, investing his canvas with a sense of inner light similar to Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté’s untitled landscape of 1895. In Cloud Shadows, the farm buildings that are scattered across the field are absorbed by the dark monochromatic palette of the lower part of the canvas, heightening the distinction between shadowed foreground and luminous background sky.
© 2003, CHIN. All Rights Reserved.
Highland Landscape with Farm, by Edith Agnes Smith (1867-1954).
Artist: Edith Agnes Smith, Photo: Gary Castle
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia - Purchase, 1980
no date
oil on canvas laid down on board
22.7 x 30.2 cm
© Estate of Edith A. Smith
Halifax-born Edith A. Smith began her art education under George Harvey at the Victoria School of Art and Design. For a time, Smith shared a Halifax studio with her brother, Lewis Smith, from where she offered private art classes. Edith Smith was a dedicated art teacher and taught at both the Victoria School of Art and Design, and at Halifax Ladies’ College. Smith emphasized the importance of good drawing in her art classes and told her students to, “Go to nature, the great teacher for inspiration.” Edith Smith tended to paint on a small scale, working in both watercolour and oils. In Highland Landscape with Farm, a road leads the viewer’s eye past the foreground trees to a farmstead nestled in a valley. The composition emphasizes the smallness of the houses in relation to the height of the surrounding hills.
Halifax-born Edith A. Smith began her art education under George Harvey at the Victoria School of Art and Design. For a time, Smith shared a Halifax studio with her brother, Lewis Smith, from where she offered private art classes. Edith Smith was a dedicated art teacher and taught at both the Victoria School of Art and Design, and at Halifax Ladies’ College. Smith emphasized the importance of good drawing in her art classes and told her students to, “Go to nature, the great teacher for inspiration.” Edith Smith tended to paint on a small scale, working in both watercolour and oils. In Highland Landscape with Farm, a road leads the viewer’s eye past the foreground trees to a farmstead nestled in a valley. The composition emphasizes the smallness of the houses in relation to the height of the surrounding hills.
© 2003, CHIN. All Rights Reserved.
Bedford Basin, by Lewis E. Smith (1871-1926), 1915.
Lewis E. Smith
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia - Acquisition, 1927
1915
oil on canvas
26.8 x 37.8 cm
© Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
On October 5, 1926, the Halifax Morning Chronicle published a eulogy to the late Lewis E. Smith saying, “Mr. Smith knew his own province and has painted it from end to end. The clouds, the colour, the light, the water, the great rocks, trees, boats, ships, buildings are so real that one is reminded again of the loveliness of Nova Scotia.” Lewis Smith was the younger brother of Edith Smith and received his first art training at the Victoria School of Art and Design. Smith was greatly influenced by the English academism of his first teacher, George Harvey, a style that later became modified by Impressionism and other influences. Lewis Smith worked for a time at the Grip Ltd. in Toronto, where he formed a lasting friendship with J.E.H. MacDonald.
On October 5, 1926, the Halifax Morning Chronicle published a eulogy to the late Lewis E. Smith saying, “Mr. Smith knew his own province and has painted it from end to end. The clouds, the colour, the light, the water, the great rocks, trees, boats, ships, buildings are so real that one is reminded again of the loveliness of Nova Scotia.” Lewis Smith was the younger brother of Edith Smith and received his first art training at the Victoria School of Art and Design. Smith was greatly influenced by the English academism of his first teacher, George Harvey, a style that later became modified by Impressionism and other influences. Lewis Smith worked for a time at the Grip Ltd. in Toronto, where he formed a lasting friendship with J.E.H. MacDonald.
© 2003, CHIN. All Rights Reserved.
Learning Objectives
The learner will:- Develop an understanding of the geographic influences on culture
- Understand that art can represent the experience of people
- Examine how major dominant European art movements influenced the interpretation of the landscape in Canadian painting
- Be aware of similarities and differences in landscape painting between Russia and Canada prior to 1940
- Appreciate the development of a distinctly Canadian style of landscape painting
- Respond critically to a variety of art styles
- Recognize the emotional impact of art
