On the 23rd of October in 1885, a Man was born with no knowledge that he will become one of the seven artists of capturing Canada’s identity. A representational painter was his first inspiration in his early years of painting within Canada. Yet, he soon came to realize that his passion in painting would take a shift more towards abstraction within his paintings which resulted in his up rise within Canadian history. He became the founder and leader of “The group of seven” as more people took recognition of his attempts to portray the beauty of Canada through landscape paintings with an abstract theme. According the book, “Lawren Stewart Harris, a painters progress,” the group consisted of seven people, specifically painters, that emphasized
2 Robertson Davies, “Canadian Nationalism in Arts and Science”, Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada (Series IV, Volume XlII, 1975), p. 35
Much has been written about the ways in which Canada's state as a nation is, as Peter Harcourt writes, "described" and hence, "imagined" (Harcourt, "The Canadian Nation -- An Unfinished Text", 6) through the cultural products that it produces. Harcourt's terms are justifiably elusive. The familiar concept of "Canadian culture", and hence Canadian cinema, within critical terminology is essentially based on the principle that the ideology of a national identity, supposedly limited by such tangible parameters as lines on a map, emerges from a common geographical and mythological experience among its people. The concept that cultural products produced in Canada will be somehow innately "Canadian" in form and content first presupposes the existence of such things as inherently Canadian qualities that can be observed. Second, it presupposes a certain commonality to all Canadian artists and posits them as vessels through which these said "inherently Canadian qualities" can naturally flow. Third, it also assumes the loosely Lacanian principle that Canadian consumers of culture are predisposed to identify and enjoy the semiotic and mythological systems of their nation, and further connotes that Canadians have fair access to their own cultural products. Since these assumptions are indeed flawed but not altogether false, this paper will deal with the general relationship between the concept of Canada, its cultural texts, and its mythological and critical discourse as an unresolved problematic that should be left "open" in order to maximize the "meaning potential" of films as cultural texts within the context of "national identity," an ideological construct that remains constantly in flux.
Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775-1851, born the son of a London Barber and Wigmaker, is considered one of the greatest European artists of the 19th century. Turner, the English romantic landscape painter, watercolourists and printmaker, was regarded as a controversial and revolutionary figure by his contemporaries despite his training being similar to other artists of the time. His work ‘Walton Bridge’, Oil on Canvas 1806-10, reflects much of his training as a young artists as well as his well-known Romantic style. In this essay I will follow the beginnings of Turners artistic life, showing how his influences, training and opinions surrounding landscape painting have influenced his work ‘Walton Bridge.’ I will further explore how art critics, fellow artists and the wider public of the 19th Century received ‘Walton Bridge’ and his Landscape paintings in general.
“Painting is a way to examine the world in ways denied me by the United States justice system, a way to travel beyond the walls and bars of the penitentiary. Through my paints I can be with my People—in touch with my culture, tradition, and spirit. I can watch little children in regalia, dancing and smiling; see my elders in prayer; behold the intense glow in a warrior’s eye. As I work the canvas, I am a free man.” – Leonard Peltier
Starting with a brief introduction about our artist, Norval Morrisseau; he is an Aboriginal Canadian who lived from 1931 to 2007, and had been raised by his maternal grandparents. They were Christian devoted, who taught Morrisseau the religion's dogma. Morrisseau
Hermann Ottomar Herzog was a prominent artist born in Bremen, Germany in 1832.He was primarly known for his magnificents landscapes. While living in Germany he entered the Düsseldorf Academy at the age of seventeen. Herzog, painted in several countries of the European Continent, until he came to America in 1869. His early commercial success in Europe granted him clients among the nobility in Europe, among his most famous clientele were Queen Victoria and Grand Duke Alexander of Russia. In 1860, Herzog settled permannently near Philadelphia, he painted across the western states, arriving in California in 1873. From this trip he painted one his masterpieces a series of oil canvas inspired in Yosemite Valley. It was “Sentinel Rock” this collection that got him an award at the in 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. He is considered by many as part of the Hudson River School, although his art is more realistic and less dramatic than the artwork from his peers Frederick Edwin Church or Albert Bierstadt.
It is hard to imagine Davidson, an internationally recognized Haida artist, being nervous for any reason. He has championed the Northwest, Native American art form for decades. Davidson has received three honorary doctorates, and he is the member of the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada. As a leading figure in the Haida Renaissance, his prints and wo...
George Francis Gillman Stanley was born on 6 July 1907 in Calgary, Alberta. He was a man who contributed significantly to the Canadian society; he was a historian, soldier, public servant, author teacher and designer of the Canadian Flag. (Wikipedia, 2017)
The article Artists Mythologies and Media Genius, Madness and Art History (1980) by Griselda Pollock is a forty page essay where Pollock (1980), argues and explains her views on the crucial question, "how art history works" (Pollock, 1980, p.57). She emphasizes that there should be changes to the practice of art history and uses Van Gogh as a major example in her study. Her thesis is to prove that the meaning behind artworks should not be restricted only to the artist who creates it, but also to realize what kind of economical, financial, social situation the artist may have been in to influence the subject that is used. (Pollock, 1980, pg. 57) She explains her views through this thesis and further develops this idea by engaging in scholarly
Mark Rothko is recognized as one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century and during his lifetime was touted as a leading figure in postwar American painting. He is one of the outstanding figures of Abstract Expressionism and one of the creators of Color Field Painting. As a result of his contribution of great talent and the ability to deliver exceptional works on canvas one of his final projects, the Rothko Chapel offered to him by Houston philanthropists John and Dominique de Menil, would ultimately anchor his name in the art world and in history. Without any one of the three, the man, the work on canvas, or the dream, the Rothko Chapel would never have been able to exist for the conceptualization of the artist, the creations on canvas and the architectural dynamics are what make the Rothko Chapel a product of brilliance.
There were many important events that occurred in between the First World War (1914 – 1918) and the Second World War (1939 – 1945), but the event that is the most significant to Canada's history is the career of Emily Carr (1871 – 1945). Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Emily helped shape Canada as we know it today, her art serving as a doorway into Aboriginal culture even as she became an inspiration for women in particular and is now very well-known in Canada and even internationally (The Canadian Encyclopedia, paragraph #1). This report will explore the muses, challenges and eventual success of possibly one of the most important women in Canada's history.
Gardner, Helen, and Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective. N.p., 2014. Print.
Thomas Cole was born on February 1, 1801 in Bolton, Lancashire, England. Due to financial problems his family endured, Cole, at the ripe old age of just fourteen, had to find work to assist with the family needs. He entered the work force as a textile printer and wood engraver in Philadelphia. In 1819, Cole returned to Ohio where his parents resided. Here, a portrait painter by the name of Stein, would become Cole’s primary teaching vehicle and inspiration for his oil techniques we’ve come to be familiar with. During this time, Cole was extremely impressed by what he saw in the landscapes of the New World and how different they were from the small town of England from whence he hailed. Self taught, art came naturally to Cole.
Archibald Motley Jr. was born in 1891 in New Orleans. Ever since, Archibald was a child he had the desire to be an artist. His family moved to a Chicago neighborhood in the 1890’s, but the family would take frequent trips back to New Orleans in the summer. Later we find out that these two similar settings were the determining factor for Archibald’s paintings. He decided to study art at the Institute of Chicago and was recognized by being one of the few African American artists during that time.
Canada is of the major influences of Grandfather Connor’s identity. When Vanessa was eleven years old she was interested in pioneers and how they had build the nation she calls home. She shows this interest through her book called “Pillars of a Nation” and found out her grandfather was considered a pioneer. Vanessa’s Grandfather Connor is the stereotypical Canadian during the 1930s. He was a hardworking man trying to make a living while helping build a town in the prairies during the depression. He was “the first blacksmith in Manawaka” and was also able to start up his own hardware store (7). In the short story “The Mask of the Bear” Vanessa describes her grandfather as his “bear fur coat”, like a quintessential Canadian. Rough and grizzly, no emotion or feelings, Grandfat...