Rail, River, Canvas – What a Trip

About 6 months ago, we went to the McMichael Gallery to see the latest show – a husband and wife team had, in their retirements, made it their mission to track down and photograph the exact locations that the Group of Seven sat when they painted some of their most famous paintings. I had never before realized how these painters were real outdoorsman – canoeing and hiking for miles through the Canadian wilderness, painting into the fall with snow on the ground. The show was amazing and reinforced the unique beauty of Canada.

This week in the Globe and Mail, Conor Mijhell highlighted an amazing canoe vacation that follows the Group of Seven’s footsteps and allows participants to compare the sites with the actual paintings.  I am guessing that this was made possible by the photos and documentation of the couple tracking down the locations earlier. From 1918 – 1922, the Group of Seven made many trips north, spending a lot of time on the Agawa River, travelling via the Algoma Central Railway. The area defined their style and each artist interpreted the landscape in their own way. Paintings such as Algoma Waterfall by JEH MacDonald, Sombre Hill by Lismer and Algoma Hills by Harris were all created during these trips.

It is amazing that, almost 100 years later, the geography has not changed – even down to the location of the trees. I have now added this trip to my bucket list!