The Group of Seven, along with Tom Thomson and Emily Carr, changed the way Canadian art was seen. At a time when European traditions still shaped much of the art world, these artists turned their attention to the forests, lakes, skies, rocks, villages, and rugged landscapes of Canada. They were not simply painting scenery. They were trying to show the country in a way that felt honest, bold, and separate from older traditions.
Each artist followed a different path, but they shared a belief that the Canadian landscape deserved to be painted with strength, colour, and originality. Their work challenged older ideas of what fine art should look like and left a lasting influence on the artists who came after them.
A.J. Casson:
Alfred Joseph Casson, known as A.J. Casson, was born on May 17, 1898, in Toronto, Ontario. He became the youngest member of the Group of Seven when he joined in 1926. While many members of the group focused on remote wilderness, Casson became especially known for his paintings of Ontario villages, rural roads, churches, barns, and small-town landscapes.
His work often has a quiet structure to it. Casson had a careful eye for shape, colour, and composition, likely strengthened by his long career in commercial art and design. His paintings showed that the Canadian landscape was not only found in vast forests and northern lakes, but also in the familiar places people passed every day.
Beyond painting, Casson stayed involved in Canada’s art community. He was active with the Ontario Society of Artists and served as its president, helping support Canadian artists and preserve the country’s art history. By the time he died on February 20, 1992, in Toronto, he had left behind a large body of work tied closely to Ontario and Canadian art.
A.Y. Jackson:
Alexander Young Jackson, known as A.Y. Jackson, was born on October 3, 1882, in Montreal, Quebec. As one of the founding members of the Group of Seven, he helped push Canadian art toward its own identity by treating the country’s landscapes as serious subjects for painting. Jackson travelled widely across Canada, painting from the Atlantic coast to the Rocky Mountains, often working outdoors to study the land directly. Over his lifetime, he produced more than 2,500 paintings, making him one of the most prolific artists connected to the group.
Jackson also served in the First World War. He was wounded during the war and later became an official war artist, an experience that added another layer to the way he saw people, place, and landscape. After the Group of Seven disbanded in 1933, he continued to play an important role in Canadian art through the Canadian Group of Painters, which formed that same year.
He also taught at the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta and the Ontario College of Art, now OCAD University, in Toronto. Through both his paintings and his teaching, Jackson influenced many artists who came after him. He died of natural causes on April 5, 1974, in Kleinburg, Ontario, at the age of 91.
Lawren Harris:
Lawren Stewart Harris was born on October 23, 1885, in Brantford, Ontario, and became one of the central figures behind the Group of Seven. He was not only a founding member, but also one of the people who helped make the group possible. Coming from a wealthy family, Harris had the means to support artists, organize sketching trips, and help create space for a new kind of Canadian art to develop. His role went beyond painting. He helped give the movement direction, confidence, and momentum.
Harris helped shape the idea that Canadian landscape painting could stand on its own, separate from European tradition. His early work focused on places such as Algoma, Lake Superior, and the Arctic, using strong shapes, clear light, bold colour, and simplified forms. His landscapes often feel still and powerful, almost stripped down to their essential forms.
By the 1930s, Harris had moved away from realistic landscape painting toward abstraction. His interest in spirituality and theosophy influenced this shift, and his later work became more symbolic and less tied to specific places. In 1940, he moved to the United States, living for a time in Santa Fe, New Mexico, before eventually settling in Vancouver, British Columbia, where his work continued to change.
Some of his best-known works include “Lake Superior” (c. 1923), “North Shore, Lake Superior” (c. 1926), and “Mount Lefroy” (c. 1930). Harris also supported other artists, helped organize exhibitions, and used his position to strengthen Canadian art at a time when it was still fighting for recognition. He died of natural causes on January 29, 1970, in Vancouver, at the age of 85.
J.E.H. MacDonald:
J.E.H. MacDonald was born on May 12, 1873, in Durham, England, and moved to Canada with his family in 1887. He became one of the founding members of the Group of Seven and played an important role in shaping the movement’s early direction. Before becoming known for his landscape paintings, MacDonald worked in graphic design, which helped sharpen his sense of composition, colour, and structure.
MacDonald painted many parts of Canada, including Algoma, Georgian Bay, and the Rocky Mountains. His work often carried a strong emotional quality, with rich colour and movement used to express how the landscape felt, not only how it looked. Two of his best-known works are “The Solemn Land” (1921) and “Mist Fantasy, Northland” (1922).
One lesser-known part of MacDonald’s career was his work on St. Anne’s Anglican Church in Toronto. In 1923, he was hired to design the church’s interior artwork and brought in nine other artists to help complete the project, including Franklin Carmichael and Frederick Varley. The murals were later recognized as part of a national historic site, making the church a rare example of religious artwork connected to members of the Group of Seven.
MacDonald was also active as a teacher, mentor, and important figure in Toronto’s art community. His work is held in major collections across Canada, including the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario. He died after a stroke on November 26, 1932, at the age of 59, leaving behind work that helped shape how the Canadian landscape was painted and understood.
Arthur Lismer:
Arthur Lismer was born on June 27, 1885, in Sheffield, England, and later moved to Canada, where he became one of the founding members of the Group of Seven. His paintings are known for energetic brushwork, bold colour, and expressive interpretations of the landscape. While many of his fellow group members focused on the Canadian wilderness, Lismer often brought a sense of movement and personality to his work.
Although he played an important role in the Group of Seven, much of Lismer’s influence came through education. In 1927, he became Vice Principal of the Ontario College of Art, now OCAD University. He later developed art education programs at the Art Gallery of Toronto, now the Art Gallery of Ontario, and at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. His teaching encouraged creativity, observation, and personal expression, helping shape the way art was taught in Canada.
Lismer continued painting throughout his life and produced a substantial body of work, with approximately 800 pieces attributed to him. He died of natural causes on March 23, 1969, at the age of 83. His influence remains important not only because of what he painted, but because of how many people he helped bring closer to art.
Frederick Varley:
Frederick Horsman Varley was born on January 2, 1881, in Sheffield, England, and became one of the founding members of the Group of Seven. While he helped transform the Canadian landscape into a serious subject for painting, his work extended far beyond landscape alone. Varley was deeply drawn to portraiture and the emotional life of the people he painted. This was not just a stylistic difference from other members of the group. It was tied to his own experiences, struggles, and sensitivity as an artist.
Throughout his life, Varley faced financial instability and personal difficulties, which influenced both his focus and his output. Unlike many of his contemporaries, who concentrated heavily on the Canadian wilderness, Varley often turned toward the human face and spirit. His portraits are often remembered for the way they capture both the appearance and personality of the people he painted. His 1931 painting “Vera” is often considered one of the great works of Canadian portraiture.
Varley was also an educator, teaching at the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts, now Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and the Ontario College of Art, now OCAD University. Through his teaching, he influenced younger artists with his belief in the emotional and expressive power of art. Despite the challenges he faced, Varley produced more than 1,000 works over his lifetime, including both landscapes and portraits. He died of natural causes on September 8, 1969, at the age of 88.
Franklin Carmichael:
Franklin Carmichael was born on May 4, 1890, in Orillia, Ontario, and became the youngest founding member of the Group of Seven. He brought a distinct voice to the group through his use of colour, design, and watercolour, helping broaden how the Canadian landscape could be painted.
Carmichael worked in both oil and watercolour, and his style often moved between loose, atmospheric painting and a more structured, graphic approach. His attention to light, colour, and season gave his landscapes a clear sense of place without making them feel overly literal. In 1925, he became a founding member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour, helping promote the medium at a time when it was often treated as secondary to oil painting. Works such as “Autumn in Orillia,” “Mirror Lake,” and “October Gold” show his ability to capture the changing character of the Canadian landscape with strong composition and vivid colour.
Carmichael’s contribution to Canadian art also extended into teaching. He taught at the Ontario College of Art, now OCAD University, where he influenced younger artists and encouraged openness to both traditional and evolving approaches to painting. The exact number of works he created is difficult to confirm, but he produced hundreds of paintings, drawings, and watercolours over his career. He died of a heart attack on October 24, 1945, in Toronto, Ontario, at the age of 55.
Frank Johnston:
Frank Johnston, who later adopted the name Franz Johnston, was born on June 19, 1888, in Toronto, Ontario. He studied at the Central Ontario School of Art and Design and became one of the founding members of the Group of Seven in 1920. Although his time with the group was relatively short, he was part of its earliest formation and contributed to its push toward a more distinctly Canadian approach to landscape painting.
Johnston officially left the Group of Seven in 1924 and began following a more independent path. After adopting the name Franz Johnston, his work moved beyond the group’s usual focus on wilderness landscapes. He painted city scenes, floral subjects, northern lights, lakes, and other views of Canada, showing a wider range than he is sometimes given credit for.
His paintings are known for strong colour, movement, and energy. Over his career, he produced a significant body of work, although the exact number of paintings and artworks he created is difficult to confirm. Johnston also taught at the Winnipeg School of Art and the Ontario College of Art, influencing younger Canadian artists through his teaching as well as his own painting.
Franz Johnston died of natural causes on July 19, 1949, in Toronto, at the age of 61. His work remains part of many public and private collections across Canada, and his place in the Group of Seven story is important, even though he chose a separate direction early on.
Emily Carr:
Emily Carr was born on December 13, 1871, in Victoria, British Columbia, and became one of the most important figures in Canadian art. Although she was never a formal member of the Group of Seven, her work shared a similar desire to move away from European tradition and find a more direct way to paint the Canadian landscape. As the only woman discussed in this article, Carr’s path stands apart. She had to build her career in a period when women artists were often taken less seriously, and her recognition came after years of persistence, isolation, and doubt.
Carr is best known for her paintings of the forests, coastlines, and Indigenous cultural sites of the Pacific Northwest. Her work often carried a strong spiritual feeling, with trees, skies, and carved forms painted with movement, weight, and presence. After studying in Europe, she returned to British Columbia with a stronger sense of modern painting, but she developed a voice that was her own. Her style was shaped by post-impressionism, modernism, and her deep connection to the landscape of the West Coast.
Her 1927 exhibition with the Group of Seven became an important turning point in her career. It brought her work to a wider national audience and connected her more closely with artists who were also trying to define a Canadian approach to painting. Even though she remained outside the group, Carr is often discussed alongside them because her work helped expand the idea of what Canadian art could be.
Carr was also a writer. Her book “Klee Wyck” won the Governor General’s Award and reflected on her life, travels, and experiences with Indigenous communities. Today, her work is held in major collections, including the National Gallery of Canada and the Vancouver Art Gallery. Emily Carr died on March 2, 1945, after a heart attack and years of health problems, at the age of 73. Her paintings and writing remain central to Canadian art, especially for the way she gave the forests and landscapes of British Columbia such a powerful voice.
Tom Thomson
Tom Thomson was born on August 5, 1877, in Claremont, Ontario, and is often discussed alongside the Group of Seven, even though he died before the group was officially formed. His influence on the artists who later became the Group of Seven was enormous, especially in the way he painted the Canadian wilderness with directness, energy, and feeling.
Thomson is most closely associated with Algonquin Park, where he worked as a guide and spent long periods sketching outdoors. In less than a decade of serious painting, he produced about 400 oil sketches on small wood panels and roughly 50 larger canvases. His work is known for bold colour, strong brushwork, and a direct response to the land around him. Paintings such as “The Jack Pine” and “The West Wind,” both from 1916 to 1917, remain among the best-known images in Canadian art.
Part of Thomson’s lasting place in Canadian culture also comes from the mystery surrounding his death. On July 8, 1917, he was found dead in Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park at the age of 39. The exact circumstances have never been fully settled, and over time his death became part of the larger story around his life and work. That tragic and unresolved ending helped turn Thomson into more than an influential painter. He became a lasting figure in the Canadian imagination, tied to the wilderness he painted and the questions that still surround his final days.
His career was short, but his effect on Canadian art was lasting. Thomson helped open the door for a more personal and distinctly Canadian way of painting the landscape, and his influence can be seen in the work of the Group of Seven and many artists who followed.
Frederick Varley, A. Y. Jackson, Lawren Harris, Barker Fairley (not a member), Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, and J. E. H. MacDonald. Image ca. 1920, F 1066, Archives of Ontario, I0010313
The Group of Seven, Tom Thomson, and Emily Carr each helped shape the way Canadian art is understood today. They did not all follow the same path, but they shared a belief that the Canadian landscape deserved to be painted with strength, originality, and feeling. Their work still matters because it helped artists and viewers see this country differently.
For me, learning more about their lives makes the paintings feel even more alive. The work is important on its own, but the stories behind it add another layer: the places they travelled, the risks they took, the personal struggles they faced, and the way they kept pushing toward something that felt distinctly Canadian.
If you want to explore more of their work or learn more about the Group of Seven, Tom Thomson, and Emily Carr, these resources are a good place to start:
Thank you for reading
Jeff
© 2026 Jeff Dillon Fine Art
Studio: 301-72 St. Leger St, Kitchener, ON, N2H 6R4
