The Group of Seven, once known as the Algonquin School, was a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920 to 1933, with "a like vision". It originally consisted of Franklin Carmichael (1890–1945), Lawren Harris (1885–1970), A. Y. Jackson (1882–1974), Frank Johnston (1888–1949), Arthur Lismer (1885–1969), J. E. H. MacDonald (1873–1932), and Frederick Varley (1881–1969). A. J. Casson (1898–1992) was invited to join in 1926, Edwin Holgate (1892–1977) became a member in 1930, and Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald (1890–1956) joined in 1932.
Emily Carr was a Canadian artist who was inspired by the monumental art and villages of the First Nations and the landscapes of British Columbia. She also was a vivid writer and chronicler of life in her surroundings, praised for her "complete candour" and "strong prose". Klee Wyck, her first book, published in 1941, won the Governor General's Literary Award for non-fiction and this book and others written by her or compiled from her writings later are still much in demand today.
Frederick Horsman Varley was a member of the Canadian Group of Seven.
Sophia Theresa "Sophie" Pemberton was a Canadian painter who was British Columbia's first professional woman artist. Despite the social limitations placed on female artists at the time, she made a noteworthy contribution to Canadian art and, in 1899, was the first woman to win the Prix Julian from the Académie Julian for portraiture. Pemberton also was the first artist from British Columbia to receive international acclaim when her work was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London (1897).
Myfanwy Pavelic, DFA née Spencer, was a portrait artist.
James Williamson Galloway Macdonald, commonly known in his professional life as Jock Macdonald, was a member of Painters Eleven, whose goal was to promote abstract art in Canada. Macdonald was a trailblazer in Canadian art from the 1930s to 1960. He was the first painter to exhibit abstract art in Vancouver, and throughout his life he championed Canadian avant-garde artists at home and abroad. His career path reflected the times: despite his commitment to his artistic practice, he earned his living as a teacher, becoming a mentor to several generations of artists.
Olive Allen Biller, an artist and illustrator, was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire on 17 October 1879 and died on 15 October 1957 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She published illustrations under her maiden name Olive Allen and her married name Olive Allen Biller.
Molly Lamb Bobak was a Canadian teacher, writer, printmaker and painter working in oils and watercolours. During World War II, she was the first Canadian woman artist to be sent overseas to document Canada's war effort, and in particular, the work of the Canadian Women's Army Corps (C.W.A.C), as one of Canada's war artists.
Kathleen Frances Daly was a Canadian painter. She is known for her depictions of First Nations and the Inuit in Canada.
Harold Mortimer-Lamb was an Anglo-Canadian mining engineer, journalist, photographer, and artist perhaps best known for championing the Group of Seven in the 1920s. He was the father of New Brunswick artist Molly Lamb Bobak.
Charles Hepburn Scott was a Scottish-born Canadian artist.
Lillian Irene Hoffar Reid was a Canadian painter. She was in the first graduating class, June 1929, at the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Art. She taught at the Vancouver School of Art from 1933 to 1937.
Philip Surrey LL. D. (1910-1990) was a Canadian artist known for his figurative scenes of Montreal. A founding member of the Contemporary Arts Society, and Montreal Men's Press Club, Surrey was part of Montreal's cultural elite during the late 1930s and 1940s. In recognition of his artistic accomplishment he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, awarded a Canadian Centennial Medal in 1967 and was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1982.
Edith Beatrice Catharine Lennie was a Canadian painter and sculptor. She is primarily known for her public sculptures in Vancouver, British Columbia, many of which remain in Vancouver today. Lennie was more concerned with rendering an idea than with a realistic depiction of her subject.
Lilias Marianne Ar de Soif Farley was a Canadian painter, sculptor, designer, and muralist in realism and abstraction. In 1967, she was awarded the Centennial Medal for Service to the Nation in the Arts. She was an alumna of the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts and was a member of the school's first graduating class.
The death of Tom Thomson, the Canadian painter, occurred on 8 July 1917, on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Provincial Park in Nipissing District, Ontario, Canada. After Thomson drowned in the water, his upturned canoe was discovered later that afternoon and his body eight days later. Many theories regarding Thomson's death—including that he was murdered or committed suicide—have become popular in the years since his death, though these ideas lack any substantiation.
Hilda Katherine Ross (1902–unknown) was a Canadian potter, painter, and educator working primarily in Vancouver, British Columbia.
John Vanderpant was a Dutch-Canadian photographer, gallery owner and author. He made his living doing portrait work while becoming known as a major member of the International Modernist photography movement in Canada. He was a key figure in Vancouver's artistic community.
Katerina Atanassova has been the Senior Curator of Canadian Art at the National Gallery of Canada since 2014. She is an art historian and museum administrator of diverse interests, from medieval to contemporary Canadian art. At the National Gallery of Canada, she is responsible for developing the national collections of Canadian painting, sculpture, prints and drawings, and decorative arts, dating up to 1980, and she has re-installed the permanent collection of Canadian art as well as curating exhibitions.
