Tom Thomson

Tom Thomson
Life & Work by David P. Silcox
Arts and Crafts
A precursor to modernist design, this decorative arts movement developed in the
mid-nineteenth century in England in response to what its proponents saw as the
dehumanizing effects of industrialization. Spearheaded by William Morris, the Arts
and Crafts movement valued craftsmanship and simplicity of form and frequently
incorporated nature motifs in the design of ordinary objects.
Arts and Letters Club of Toronto
A Toronto-based club established in 1908 to promote culture, it provided a space in
which artists, architects, writers, musicians, and art patrons could practise and perform
their art as well as engage in discussion in a convivial atmosphere. Founding members
of the Group of Seven frequently met there to relax, exhibit, and promote their work. The
club, which still operates today, was originally male-only; however on February 19, 1985,
female members began to be admitted.
Arts Club of Montreal
Founded in 1912 by a group of successful artists, sculptors, architects, and writers
of high social status and modelled on the English gentlemen’s clubs of London in the
nineteenth century. Notable members were architect William Maxwell Sutherland
(founder and first president); painter and professor of art history William Brymner;
Maurice Cullen; A. Y. Jackson; Henri Hébert; Alfred Laliberté; and James Wilson
Morrice. In 1996 the membership was opened to women and the club is now a
professional association representing a wide range of artists.
Barbeau, Marius (Canadian, 1883–1969)
A pioneering anthropologist and ethnologist, Barbeau is considered the founder of
folklore studies in Canada. Based at the National Museum of Canada, Ottawa, he
studied French Canadian and indigenous communities, collecting songs, legends, and
art, and documenting customs and social organization. His interests led him to work with
several artists, including Emily Carr, A.Y. Jackson, and Jean Paul Lemieux.
Beatty, J.W. (Canadian, 1869–1941)
An influential painter and educator at the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD University)
who sought to develop a uniquely Canadian style of painting. Beatty was a contemporary
of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven, though his painting style retained more
traditional aesthetics than their work did. His most renowned painting, The Evening
Cloud of the Northland, 1910, is held at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
Blaue Reiter
Formed in 1911, a collective of artists of disparate styles and concerns—including
Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, August Macke, and Franz Marc—regarded as
representing the apex of German Expressionism. The group had only two exhibitions
before disbanding with the onset of the First World War.
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