Lawren Harris - in my opinion the greatest of the great Group of Seven painters - when he lived in Toronto, created colourful, appreciative renditions of life in "the Ward", the ramshackle, crowded, slummy enclave between College and Queen Streets, University and Bay Streets, that was eventually demolished, flattened and rebuilt into Viejo Revel's vision of a city hall.
Harris achieved his greatest fame with his abstracted and idealized versions of the north. According to the notes on the wall next to the pictures in the Art Gallery of Ontario on July 1, 2016, Harris' paintings helped to build the Canadian identity, articulating in images our experience of the north - meaning the fact that half the year is cold and covered in snow (or at least it used to be).
People who may not be entirely sure who Lawren Harris is were aware of the fact that an American performer - Steve Martin - curated the show. I heard a couple of people in the large, happy, noisy Canada Day crowd in the gallery talking about it.
The show took care to note that, while Harris painted pictures, as a visitor, of the north and the Ward, there were people who lived there. Some pains were taken to point out the experience of the north of Inuit peoples and the experiences of black residents of the Ward who were bereft of their churches and cemeteries when their neighbourhoods were demolished. This care contributed to the numbers, the noisiness and the happiness of the people in the gallery.
It's a good show. If you can, you should go.
As satisfying as was the trip to the AGO on Canada Day, we still needed to experience a few other aspects of the Canadian identity.
Such as a refreshing beverage on a sunny patio:
Thanks for reading!
Happy Canada Day!
Karen
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