Carr And Humphrey Influence On Canadian Art

While the painters after the Impressionism period were collectively called the “Post-Impressionists,” the label is quite reductive. Each artist had their own unique style, from Seurat’s pointillism to Signac’s mosaic-like divisionism, Cezanne, Émile Bernard, and others. These artists were all connected in that they were reacting to the aesthetics of Impressionism. Two of the more influential painters from this movement were Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, who aimed to connect with viewers on a deeper level by access Nature’s mystery and meaning beyond its superficial, observable level. However, each artist’s approach to achieving this goal was different. In close examination of Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait (Dedicated to Paul Gauguin) and Paul Gauguin’s Self-Portrait with Portrait of Émile Bernard (Les misérables), one may clearly see the two artists’ contrasting styles on display.

The Canadian North, a rugged landscape often glamorized as a land of adventure and promise, hides a dark history. From the early day’s of the gold rush, when the land was first colonised, to the attempted cultural assimilation of the indigenous peoples through residential schools, the people native to the area are still in a struggle of identity and culture, and the resulting effects such as high suicide rates, poverty and drug abuse,. It is through this lens that I will examine the work of Ted Harrison, a prolific English artist who spent the majority of his life living in the Yukon and painting the contemporary society that he saw around him. There is no doubt that his work was highly intertwined with the indigenous culture, and as such his identity brings up questions regarding the appropriation of native american culture. To that end, this essay will look at the context of his biography, the subject matter of his work, and compare it to contemporary Native American artists in order to clarify the nature of his art.

Jane Peterson belongs to the group of Impressionist artists. Features of Impressionist artists include vibrant colors, genre subject matter, everyday life scenes, and thick, quick brushstrokes (2). She developed a thriving career as a female artist in the early to mid 1900s, which was uncommon. During this time women were seen as passive, weak, and were not allowed to do things men were allowed to do, according to the class notes. Peterson is an American artist, born in Illinois, and attended art school in New York then later studied in Europe. While studying in Europe the artist that influenced her most was Joaquin Sorolla. She met Sorolla when she was studying in Madrid, Spain. Sorolla is a Spanish Impressionist best known for landscape and genre paintings (5). During the early 1900s Peterson traveled all over the world including: Europe, the Middle East, and Coastal New England (6). While traveling she created paintings of scenic landscapes. Peterson’s journey to Egypt in 1910 supplied her with the subject matter for multiple paintings including Boats on the Nile, Dawn. Key elements of the impressionistic style in Boats on the Nile, Dawn include heavy brushstrokes and vibrant colors. This painting portrays a sunrise at dawn with “two traditional Egyptian sailboats known as, “feluccas, gliding along the Nile (4).”

Emily Carr is one of the most recognizable and celebrated Canadian artists. Her art embodies the fusion of modernist European techniques with a uniquely Canadian subject matter. Although troubled as a woman, Emily Carr became a progressive Canadian artist because of her unprecedented use of modernist styles in a Canadian setting. To explore her painting style first I will examine her role as a woman in the art world. Secondly, I will analyze her artistic inspiration from modernist movements. Thirdly, I will explore how her consistent subject matter of landscapes and indigenous culture. Together, these elements combine to make Emily Carr a distinctive painter in Canada.

Dwight Macdonald, in his essay “Masscult & Midcult”, draws a clear distinction between the high and low cultures of the US. He describes the High culture being traditional, where art is intentional and used to portray the artist’s inner emotions (9-10). In high culture art, the audience gets a direct message from the artist through his work, there is no subjectivity towards the individual. The next rung in the declining ladder is that of Folk art. Macdonald classifies Folk art to be like High culture art; however, only for the poor and the secluded, its voice coming from people without power yet its purpose specific towards a singular message (11). It is not for the elite like high culture, yet it is not degrading and exploitive like Masscult

The Groups masterworks have a perseverance and impact that represent some aspect of the Canadian experience. However, it is important to remember that the Groups perspective was that of a white, liberal, nationalist who believes Canada is a vast and empty land, waiting to be occupied. In his lecture, Andrew Hunter emphasizes the importance of challenging the relevancy of the Groups work as well as brought to light the cultures and individuals these painters forgot or excluded from the Canadian image.

The painting of Prof. Felix Walter (Figure 1) made with watercolour on paper on stretcher by Charles Fraser Comfort stands out as an intriguing piece of artwork because of the visual choices C. F. Comfort has produced. I was able to appreciate this work as I had the privilege of attending the Nuit Blanche exhibit at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg on the first of October, 2016 where Prof. Felix Walter was in display at. I found this particular artistry stood out because of its placement in dominance from the other paintings, the use of contrasting styles using the same medium and the bold textures that divulge the prominence of the subject. The artist, C. F. Comfort is worth being aware of because of his exceptional work such as this painting. The composition fashioned by the art gallery should also be duly noted as it took part in making this particular piece stand out.

While creating a dialog of indigenous self representation and colonial responsibility, it can be challenging in the academic setting to fully grasp understandings and indigenous ways of knowing. Even as an identifying urban Mi'kmaw woman, I originally had difficulty wholly navigating through the various narratives explored through the Survey of Indigenous Arts' material. Often we are blinded by the ingrained colonial gaze and compounds brought about in our Eurocentric Canadian institutions; which decolonization and relearning trained perceptions about indigenous peoples, can be hard for both settler and Aboriginal peoples alike. Understanding that colonization has intergenerational and systematic impact on indigenous peoples, and that Traditional and Contempery art practice has been a key part of reclamation, healing, and resistance, can help create conversations visually and conceptually within our communities. While for over half a millennium since before the time of Canadian confederation, beginning at contact, early euro-Canadians created concepts of "Indianness" and "Authenticity". During the course of Survey of Indigenous

Hugh Mackenzie began his career as a technical artist and spent part of his career as an art educator at Ontario College of Art since 1968-1991. Mackenzie began his career as a high realist painter before turning his work into more abstraction. He often switches his art between the figure and industrial landscape. Mackenzie has exhibited extensively across the country, is the subject of numerous catalogues and publications and is represented in such major collections as the Art Gallery of Ontario, Carleton University Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the Montreal Museum of Fine Art. The artist also has a large and avid following of private

The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back came a few months later when she wrote a response to another article that had appeared in the New Frontier, a literary publication that was often used as a forum for other Canadian artists. Another artist, Wyn Wood, who belonged to the new generation of Canadian artists, had brazenly come out in her letter by criticizing established icons like Frank Hill and suggesting that the role of artists was to create art, and that they were exempt from having to participate in social or political events, and more importantly, that art should also avoid being political (Panayotidis, 2008). At the time, there was a lot of criticism of artists from Europe who were seen as having to have gone ‘red or dead’,

The term “secret handshake” is a specific gesture known between two parties; this connection is only meant to be understood by Canadians. Coupland’s exhibition investigates Canadian cultural identity by using imagery and objects that is symbolic to Canadians.2 The souvenirs that he has of Canada in this exhibition, reminds people about their complexity of their nation and its origins, something that is easily forgotten because multiculturalism/ pluralism overwrites/is more important than Canada’s unique history. Apart of this exhibition is the G7 Series, which appropriates many iconic works of The Group of Seven. Coupland chooses the Group of Seven to feature in his works because their representation of Canadian wilderness still shapes Canadians’ ideas about their homeland and about art, making them a national symbol. In his novel, Souvenir of Canada, Coupland writes, “they brought Canada alive… The paintings of the Group of Seven are like a code... a ‘secret handshake among Canadians,’ something meaningless to audiences outside the country.” (48) His G7 series, that is shown at the MOCCA exhibition includes: Harris Maligned Lake, Sampson-Matthews Variant, 2011., Harris No.11, Green Mountain, 2011., and Thomson Campfire, 2013. The series are based on degraded digital images of the Group of Seven most iconic works that were found on the internet. Coupland creates a geometric language through Adobe Photoshop to reduce the composition of these well-known landscapes into polygons, determining the hues based on his own colour sense.3 Coupland uses appropriation in a subtle way by titling the artist, and keeping the name of the painting, however he also includes ‘Sampson-Matthews Variant’ indicating an important time for Canadian art history. The Sampson-Matthews Silkscreens was a tool used by the

David Milne was a painter, printmaker, and writer, who captured the essence of Canadian art. Milne showed a pure aesthetic approach to his work that was dependant of his specific formula. Essentially Milne sought to reduce a painting to the basic form. David Milne was born on January 8, 1882, in a southern Ontario village named Burgoyne. David was the last of ten children to his Scottish immigrant parents. David Milne was born to be an artist, he began drawing even before starting kindergarten, and ironically enough the only subject he had ever failed in elementary school was drawing. Although Milne spent most of his artists’ career in the United States and received much adulation in New York, in Canada he was well known as a Canadian nationalist and monarchist. In his practices David used predominately oil paint, water color and drypoint printmaking. Milne’s work was similar in context and location compared to the Group of Seven, he primarily choose landscape as an image of interest. Unlike the Group of Seven, David approached his paintings with a more modern feel and developed his own particular style that was beautiful and simple. His landscapes and still images portrayed a sense of touch and feel. While the subject of Milne’s choice was from the visible world, streets, people and landscapes he portrayed a modernist style that he had learned in New York. Milne formally believed that the elements such as line, color, shape, and composition were predominating in any piece

This essay will discuss the significant similarities and differences between Paul Cézanne’s work, Still Life with Pot of Flowers and Pears painted in 1880-90 and Louise Moillon’s work, Still Life with Bowl of Curaçao Oranges painted in 1634. Although both painters were born in France, they were painting during time periods. Moillon was born in 1609 in Paris and was painting during the Baroque era, which encompassed intense shadow and rich colours (Harrison, 2010). Cezanne was born in 1839 in Aix-en-Providence and was paining in the Post-Impressionism era, which included thick applications of paint and had a more expressive effect (Harrison, 2010). Both works are created with oil paint, however, Cezanne has chosen to paint his work on canvas, whereas Moillon’s work is displayed on panel.

A great artist once wrote, “If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced”. This artist was Vincent van Gogh, soon to be an appraised artist known all around the world for his works, such as Starry Night. He is one of the very first artists of the post-impressionist style than is now adored in every continent. However, there is much more to the man than one painting. Creating a full timeline that stretches beyond Gogh’s life, this paper will discuss the life of Vincent van Gogh and the impression he made on the world.

John Everett Millais and his colleagues were famously known for painting items sourced from the modern world and literature while at the same time utilizing traditional attires. These artists carried out their work directly from nature. Their role model was John Ruskin who inspired artists to go to nature and work wholeheartedly. John Everett Millais and his colleagues used pure color and defined structures. They focused primarily on the truth and reality.