Painted in Peel: The Peel Landscape by the Group of Seven & Their Contemporaries
Nov. 3, 2004 – Jan. 2, 2005
Group of Seven Programming

Alfred Joseph Casson (Cdn. 1888-1992) Credit Forks, c. 1930 Graphite and watercolour on wove paper (#1327) Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Gift from Friends of Canadian Art Fund, 1930

Utilizing the Gallery’s collection and a number of other public collections in Ontario , this exhibition will showcase paintings of the Peel landscape by Group of Seven artists A.J. Casson, F.H. Varley, Franklin Carmichael and A.Y. Jackson, as well as work by their students and contemporaries like David Milne.

Exhibition Tours
Saturday and Sunday afternoons
Nov. 3, 2004 – Jan. 2, 2005 at 1:00 p.m.
Free with admission

Pre-Arranged Group Tours
Thursday evenings, Saturday and Sunday afternoons $5 per person, minimum of 10 people, maximum of 30 Cost includes a copy of the catalogue Painted in Peel Call to pre-book a tour for your group, 905-791-4055, ext. 3633

A brief introduction to the formation of the Group of Seven, how they influenced other Canadian painters and their connection to Peel.

Group of Seven Lecture Series

Curtis Williamson (Cdn. 1867-1944) Belfountain, c. 1930s Oil on board Collection of the Art Gallery of Peel Gift of the Art Gallery of Peel Association, 1991

Featuring some of the leading scholars on the Group of Seven, this lecture series will highlight the exhibition and some of the more famous members of the Group. The price of the lecture includes admission to the show, a one hour lecture, and a copy of the exhibition catalogue.

Although today one of the fastest growing communities in the GTA, during the early half of the twentieth century the landscape of Peel Region attracted some of Canada’s best known painters. This special exhibition features works on loan from the National Gallery of Canada, the McMichael Canadian Collection, Museums London, the Art Gallery of Ontario and several other institutions across the province, and includes paintings, drawings and prints by F. H. Varley, Franklin Carmichael, A.J. Casson and, A.Y. Jackson, as well as numerous contemporaries of the Group of Seven such as David Milne.

George Broomfield (Cdn. 1906-1992) Inglewood Road, Caledon Mountain, c.1950 Oil on panel Collection of the Art Gallery of Peel Gift of the Art Gallery of Peel Association

“Residents of Peel today may be surprised to see the number of artists who were drawn to this area owing to its scenic landscape and close proximity to Toronto. From paintings of the Caledon Hills and Credit River to the picturesque communities of Belfountain and Cheltenham, this exhibition will afford a rare glimpse of the Peel landscape, seen through the eyes of some of our country’s premier artists,” says David Somers, Curator.

Lawren Harris, one of the greatest painters of Canadian art, was a leader in the creation of the Group of seven and many other artists' organizations. author joan murray shows the remarkable distance travelled by Harris -- from traditional representation to the quintessence of avant-garde art.

Born in New York, in 1943, Ms. Murray studied art history at the University of Toronto, receiving an Honours B.A. (1965). After earning her M.A. at Columbia University (1966), she returned to University of Toronto for her doctorate. From 1970 to 1973, she worked as the first Curator of Canadian Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

From 1974 to 1999, Ms. Murray directed the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa . Since then, she has curated over 100 exhibitions and written many books on Canadian Art. Now, as Director Emerita (she retired in 2000), she is organizing two shows for the Gallery, one, The Birth of the Modern: Post-Impressionism in Canadian Art, c. 1900 to 1920, the second, a show of the recent work of Carl Beam. The National Gallery of Canada and Art Gallery of Ontario hired her to assist with a retrospective of Tom Thomson in 2002.