1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:07,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you should know, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 2: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 2: Chuck and Jerry's here too, believe it or not. And 4 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 2: this is stuff you should know. The Artsy edition. 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:25,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, the uh, the O Canada or the Oak Canada Edition. 6 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 2: I don't know. I think it's a Well let me 7 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 2: ask you this, had you heard of any of the 8 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 2: members of the Group of Seven, we should probably just 9 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:37,159 Speaker 2: say Group of Seven is Canada's most famous art school. 10 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 2: In that school like you go and Sydney classroom and learn, 11 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 2: but like a group of painters who work together, influence 12 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 2: one another, support one another, right. 13 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:47,520 Speaker 1: Like a school of fish, except a paint. 14 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 2: Right, school of fish with paint brushes. Yeah, so like 15 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 2: like this is these guys were working in the teens, 16 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 2: nineteeneen's and nineteen twenties and they're still like the foundation 17 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 2: of Canada's art right. 18 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: Yeah. To answer you, I don't think I had, at 19 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 1: least as far as name recognition, but I feel like 20 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: I have seen some of these works of art before 21 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 1: in my many museum visits. 22 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 2: I didn't recognize any of them. But I have to say, 23 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 2: at first, I'm not a big fan of like nineteen 24 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:27,960 Speaker 2: twenties thirties in particular esthetic. There's a lot of brown 25 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 2: and yeah, just dark stuff. But I actually, just from 26 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 2: researching this and looking at more and more of their paintings, 27 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 2: I actually did become a fan of that school, but 28 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 2: a couple of them in particular. 29 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, I really like this stuff. It's not the kind 30 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: of thing that personally I would like hang in my house, 31 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: because that's just not my house aesthetic that we're cultivating. 32 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: But I really enjoy these landscapes of the northern realm 33 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: of Canada, which is where as you'll see shortly, they 34 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: mainly concentrated on the sort of woodlands north of the 35 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: major cities and to some criticism, kind of ignoring the 36 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: beautiful coastlines of Canada. 37 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:13,799 Speaker 2: Yeah, and even the central prairies too. 38 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: Yeah. So it was this pretty specific thing. Seven sometimes six, 39 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 1: sometimes eight, sometimes ten, oh as many as ten. 40 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:24,119 Speaker 2: I think there was ten overall. 41 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: Okay, that kind of came and went, some passed on, 42 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: some were fringe members that they were like, you're really 43 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 1: one of us, but maybe not an official group of 44 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: seven zero woman, Yeah, and in her case for sure. 45 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: But yeah, so let's let's dig into this, okay. 46 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 2: So we said that the Group of seven kind of 47 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 2: formed the foundation of Canada's artistic identity. And there's a 48 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 2: number of reasons why, like really solid reasons why that 49 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 2: go well beyond these these guys artistic abilities, which makes 50 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 2: the whole thing that much more interesting if you ask me. 51 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 2: But one of the reasons why is because they came 52 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 2: together and started painting Canada's wilderness, in particular at a 53 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 2: time when Canada was looking to develop its national identity, 54 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,239 Speaker 2: because it wasn't until eighteen sixty seven that Canada formed 55 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 2: the Dominion of Canada with the Province of Canada which 56 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 2: is now Ontario and Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, 57 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,639 Speaker 2: and then I think of five years later they brought 58 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,799 Speaker 2: BC into the mix. But that's what rushed things about 59 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 2: when they sing about marching to Bastille day aboard the 60 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 2: Thailand Express. 61 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, totally. And that's you know, they were trying, like 62 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:46,280 Speaker 1: you said, to form a national identity sort of d Angliz, Yeah, 63 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: can get something you do in a kitchen, actually, right, 64 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: d anglies And you know, in other words, shake off 65 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: a bit of that Britishness that lingered on both, you know, politically, economically, 66 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: and as we'll see are artistically. Their formal formation started 67 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty, but as you said, they were pretty 68 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: well acquainted with each other in the nineteen tens and 69 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:19,480 Speaker 1: nineteen teens. Most of them were living in and around Toronto, Canada. Toronto, Canada, 70 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: don't I get bagged on for saying that. 71 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, like Atlanta, USA. 72 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right. We're doing our best. Still. We love 73 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,240 Speaker 1: Canada and they love us, so they forgive us of 74 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: these indiscretions. 75 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 2: Most of them love us, for sure. 76 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, some of them don't. But you know, there's people 77 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: everywhere that don't like us. 78 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:37,839 Speaker 2: I don't agree with that. 79 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: Where are some places where everybody likes us? 80 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 2: Germany? 81 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, Germans dooth tend to like us, huh. 82 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 2: Australia. I don't think there's a single Australian that doesn't 83 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 2: like us. 84 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you're right. And there were a couple 85 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:58,280 Speaker 1: of key sort of employment places and institutions that kind 86 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:02,280 Speaker 1: of helped foster this cohesiveness. One was a design firm 87 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: called the Grip because most of these, if not all 88 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: of them, at some point worked for the Grip as 89 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: commercial designers. And they had a manager there named Albert 90 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: Robson that really or Robesen maybe, who helped sort of 91 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: foster their outside art, not outsider art, different thing, but 92 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 1: just saying like, hey, we love your design work, and 93 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: you should also do this other stuff because all boats 94 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: will rise. And then a place called the Arts and 95 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:27,480 Speaker 1: Letters Club, which was a private club, a social club 96 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: for men and for artists in particular, so they would 97 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: get together with other Canadian musicians and writers and actors there. 98 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: They had patrons there that could they could get a 99 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:41,040 Speaker 1: little juice to help support themselves, right, And those two 100 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: places were sort of the nuclei of which they spun around. 101 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, And there was actually a person who you could 102 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 2: kind of point to as the nuclei of the group, 103 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,719 Speaker 2: in part because he was the oldest of them. Apparently 104 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 2: he was a father figure to some of the younger ones. 105 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 2: But his name was J. E. H. McDonald and he 106 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 2: was originally born in the UK and he moved to 107 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 2: Ontario when he was a teenager. And he was the 108 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:09,920 Speaker 2: first one to work at the Grip all the way 109 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,280 Speaker 2: back in eighteen ninety five. And by the time most 110 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 2: of the other members of the group of seven got 111 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 2: their jobs at the Grip, he was already head designer. 112 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:21,919 Speaker 2: One of the things that kind of differentiated him and 113 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 2: made it not surprising but noteworthy and remarkable that he 114 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 2: was kind of the center or the head of the 115 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,480 Speaker 2: group of seven is that part of being a member 116 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 2: of the group of seven was getting out there in nature, 117 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 2: in rugged country that was way far away from the cities, 118 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 2: and really, you know, like most of the people in Canada, 119 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:46,679 Speaker 2: in the towns did not go north at that point, 120 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 2: so it was a pretty kind of rebellious thing to do. 121 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:49,720 Speaker 1: And J. H. 122 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:52,600 Speaker 2: McDonald was always kind of frail. He was prone to 123 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 2: falling ill very easily. So he didn't make it on 124 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:59,480 Speaker 2: all of these excursions. And yet he was doing as 125 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 2: good a work because any of them, if not better 126 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 2: in my opinion. In some cases, yeah. 127 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,480 Speaker 1: His stuff is pretty great. He was a trans and dentalist. 128 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 1: Though he was he just got sick a lot, and 129 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: as we'll see, he died fairly young. And he kept 130 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: trying to tell everyone like, I really love this stuff. 131 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 1: I'm not an indoor kid. I promise, I just can't 132 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 1: go bushwhacking this weekend. 133 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 2: We have one more thing about him too. I don't 134 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 2: know if you saw this or not, But he had 135 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 2: a painting called Missed Fantasy. Huh that appears in the 136 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 2: shining in the background. 137 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:33,600 Speaker 1: Of which scene you know? Is it the famous office 138 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: interview scene. 139 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 2: It's in the fireplace room. Oh okay, and then I 140 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:42,160 Speaker 2: think it's also I think it also moves and is 141 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:46,160 Speaker 2: in like the main lobby where mister Olman is giving 142 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 2: Jack like the beginning of the tour. 143 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:52,239 Speaker 1: Yeah, so one of those from that documentary that probably 144 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: means something very significant. 145 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, that painting's moving around. That's where I learned about 146 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,640 Speaker 2: it from. I screamed two three seven and that's eye 147 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 2: screen two three seven dot com, which, Man, if you 148 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 2: want a deep dive into just Missed Fantasy and what 149 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 2: it means, just start there. Yeah. 150 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 1: Okay. There was another guy named and these are we're 151 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: going to kind of jump around as far as introducing 152 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: these people, or I guess it's not jumping around because 153 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: it's fairly chronological, okay, but these are sort of the 154 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 1: pre dudes before it was official McDonald's. One was a 155 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: guy named Tom Thompson. He passed away before the group 156 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: was officially founded in nineteen seventeen. It was founded in 157 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty. Like I said, so he was never an 158 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: official member, but he was a really influential guy in 159 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:41,960 Speaker 1: that he was a one of just a few Native Canadians. 160 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: He was born. I believe he was born in Ontario, 161 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:50,520 Speaker 1: in rural Ontario. Big time outdoorsman also worked at the 162 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:53,240 Speaker 1: Grip in nineteen oh eight. I don't think I mentioned 163 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 1: I mentioned they were designed for him, but they mainly 164 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: worked on designed for department stores, so I guess early 165 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: Canadian department stores. And it was at the firm where 166 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 1: he met McDonald and they were like, hey, we should 167 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: like get together and start going out in the woods 168 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: and sketching and painting. 169 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,160 Speaker 2: Yeah. So apparently Tom Thompson. So he's one of Canada's 170 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:19,200 Speaker 2: most famous artists by far. He must have been inherently 171 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:21,360 Speaker 2: likable because I read that he hung around the Arts 172 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 2: and Letters Club even though he wasn't a member. They 173 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 2: didn't check him out. All of the members who met 174 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 2: him of the Group of seven took him under their 175 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 2: wing because he was a really talented artist but didn't 176 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 2: have any formal training. So he introduced the Group of 177 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,440 Speaker 2: seven to the wilderness that became like the basis of 178 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 2: all of their paintings and their whole school and they 179 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:44,840 Speaker 2: taught him in turn formal techniques. 180 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's pretty cool. 181 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, and he actually is well. See he died young 182 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:52,840 Speaker 2: at thirty nine, and his career was very short. It 183 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 2: was five years. But in that five years he painted 184 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 2: fifty canvases and left behind four hundred sketches and he 185 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 2: got really good and sadly he died just as he 186 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 2: was really starting to get going. 187 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, that was definitely a sad thing because 188 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: he was just getting cooking. I feel like, yep, for sure, 189 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: there's got him Lauren Harris law r e n. He 190 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: may be the second. I mean, I don't want to 191 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: judge how famous they are, but he seemed to be 192 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:26,560 Speaker 1: pretty famous. He notably, I think, has sold at auction 193 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: the most valuable painting ever from a Canadian artist, at 194 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:34,679 Speaker 1: eleven million bucks. It was called Mountain Forms, And I 195 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 1: like the painting. It looks quite a bit different, I 196 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,559 Speaker 1: think than a lot of this other stuff as far 197 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 1: as steering away from like a Van go like post 198 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:50,200 Speaker 1: impressionistic look. It looks a little more graphic designing. But 199 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:52,440 Speaker 1: it's super cool. But you know, eleven million bucks. I 200 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:54,719 Speaker 1: know Steve Martin's a big fan, yes, because he went 201 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:56,640 Speaker 1: to some show of his ia on YouTube and was 202 00:10:56,720 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: kind of going on about his love for Harris. 203 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:03,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, he mounted a touring exhibition back in twenty fifteen, 204 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 2: Like he's a big Superquan and one of the others. 205 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,160 Speaker 2: And Harris is a really good example of this. A 206 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:12,320 Speaker 2: lot of people consider Lauren Harris the first abstract painter 207 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 2: in Canada, and you can kind of make a pretty 208 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 2: good example that the Group of Seven represents the transition 209 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 2: from traditional painting to modern painting. They're the kind of 210 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 2: portal that it goes through in Canada, and it's really 211 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:31,640 Speaker 2: neat to see their early work before they all kind 212 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 2: of came together, and then to see starting about nineteen nineteen, 213 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:40,200 Speaker 2: nineteen twenty, all of them start to kind of resemble 214 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 2: one another, even though it's very distinct and different, you 215 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 2: can see that kind of through line that really did 216 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:48,600 Speaker 2: make them like a cohesive school. 217 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think that's kind of the point. 218 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: I don't even think that stuff is necessarily done on purpose. 219 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: I think similar sensibilities hanging out with each. 220 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:00,040 Speaker 2: Other, ripping each other off, ripping each other. 221 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 1: Going to place, you know, the same places you know, 222 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 1: as we'll see that went on these excursions, and this guy, 223 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: he was one of the more adventurous ones. He went 224 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 1: as far as the Arctic to paint, you know, in 225 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 1: the colder climbs, including that eleven million dollar work as 226 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,960 Speaker 1: a snowcap mountain. But he was a rich kid. He 227 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 1: was even though he was born in Ontario. He was 228 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: the heir to a British fortune from the Massy Harris 229 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: company that made agricultural equipment, so they're still around. He 230 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,599 Speaker 1: didn't have to you know, there's no other way to 231 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 1: say it. He didn't really have to work to support 232 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:36,320 Speaker 1: himself as an artist, so he was very free to 233 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:36,760 Speaker 1: do his thing. 234 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:39,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, and he was a very dedicated artist too, so 235 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:42,840 Speaker 2: he wasn't just like I don't feel like doing anything today. 236 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:44,840 Speaker 1: He was for some days. 237 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:48,920 Speaker 2: He was also heavy into spiritualism, which was pretty predominant 238 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 2: at the time. Remember, Yeah, we did a whole episode 239 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 2: on that. And so if you put together McDonald's transcendentalism, 240 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 2: Tom Thompson's Exposure of Everybody to the woods Canadian forests, 241 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:10,240 Speaker 2: and then Lauren Harris's non spirit or non religious spiritualism, 242 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 2: those kind of form like that. Ethosthys I can remember 243 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:18,319 Speaker 2: which one it is. I remember one time I said 244 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:21,280 Speaker 2: ethos and we were on a zoom call with Scott 245 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,080 Speaker 2: Ackerman and he just kind of said, almost to himself, like, wow, 246 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:25,400 Speaker 2: you got both vowels wrong. 247 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: Did he really? 248 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:28,560 Speaker 2: Yeah? He did in no way. 249 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:30,239 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the kind of thing that sticks. 250 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,280 Speaker 2: With you for sure. I'll never forget it. But I 251 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,000 Speaker 2: still don't remember which way to say it. 252 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:37,520 Speaker 1: I thought it was always ethos, So according to Scott Ackerman, 253 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 1: it would be ethos, ethos ethos. Yeah, but if you 254 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 1: said ethos, you didn't get both wrong. 255 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:52,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, So so I said no ethos I think is yeah. Wow, Okay, 256 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:55,640 Speaker 2: I think that was it. Regardless, I still don't say 257 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:57,640 Speaker 2: it right, I'm sure, and if I do, it's accidental. 258 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:02,400 Speaker 2: People know what I'm saying exactly. Yeah, you're Josh Clark. 259 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:04,839 Speaker 2: We're known for mispronouncing. We really are. 260 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: So before they got together as a group again, which 261 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 1: was nineteen twenty, they took a pretty formidable trip in 262 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 1: May of nineteen twelve, when Thompson and another staff member 263 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: at the GRIP named Harry B. Jackson took this train 264 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:28,520 Speaker 1: from Toronto to the Algonquin Provincial Park, or to Algonquin 265 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:33,280 Speaker 1: Provincial Park. There's no d there and they just started sketching. Again. 266 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,880 Speaker 1: Like you said, at the time, you know, you had 267 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: to be pretty adventurous to start venturing into those wild climbs. 268 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:45,360 Speaker 1: It was rough and rugged territory. So certainly there probably 269 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:47,320 Speaker 1: were not a lot of artists doing that. I mean 270 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:50,720 Speaker 1: there were There's have always been Canadian men and women 271 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 1: who were like, yeah, I'm very comfortable out there and 272 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:56,840 Speaker 1: it doesn't scare me. But I think artists to be 273 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: going out there was a pretty radical thing. 274 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:01,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, these guys are They were rebels 275 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:03,680 Speaker 2: in their time. You just got to kind of remember that, 276 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 2: even though retrospectively now you're like, what's a big deal, 277 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 2: But yeah, at the time, this is all very new. 278 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:12,640 Speaker 2: It was very big and also, as we'll see, they 279 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:17,680 Speaker 2: were basically making like in your face style of art 280 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:20,760 Speaker 2: that just was not the taste of Canada at the time. 281 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, they spent a lot of time in that park, 282 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,440 Speaker 1: and specifically Thompson at a certain point he was spending 283 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: you know, eight months out of the year there. He 284 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: left in the winter finally because it was pretty rough, 285 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:36,400 Speaker 1: but he really really loved Algonquin Provincial Park, and I 286 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: think they even like the media initially started calling them 287 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 1: the Algonquin School before they settled on a name, and 288 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,440 Speaker 1: some really beautiful paintings came out of that pre nineteen 289 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: twenty formation. 290 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 2: Yeah. The jack Pine is a very very famous painting 291 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:58,680 Speaker 2: in Canada that was by Tom Thompson, I think from 292 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 2: nineteen sixteen. It's basically when he started it. But you 293 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,760 Speaker 2: can really clearly see the Art Nouveau influence that he 294 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 2: developed as a commercial graphic designer. 295 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 1: Yeah. 296 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 2: Another one is a Y Jackson's The Red Maple. I 297 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 2: like A Y Jackson's work, but I don't like the 298 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,400 Speaker 2: Red Maple, but it's about equally famous as the jack 299 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:20,360 Speaker 2: Pine in Canada. 300 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: I like that one too, Again, not for my house, 301 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:26,400 Speaker 1: but I would dive into it in a museum with Gusto. 302 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:28,720 Speaker 2: They would not like that. The security guards would be 303 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 2: on you, like white on rice. 304 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 1: Oh. Sometimes I just want to touch those Oh. 305 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, you can't do it. It's like the call of 306 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 2: the void. 307 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 1: It is a call of the void. Or yeah, I 308 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:44,000 Speaker 1: could either touch the painting in the Guggenheim or pull 309 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,880 Speaker 1: the gun out of the cops holder to his security 310 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:47,640 Speaker 1: at the Guggenheim. 311 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:52,480 Speaker 2: So one of the things that these guys did too 312 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 2: that was pretty smart is they got out there in 313 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 2: the wilderness. But it's not like they set up their 314 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 2: easels and were just sitting there painting the final paintings 315 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 2: that they showed to the public. They would do kind 316 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,360 Speaker 2: of sketches. Tom Thompson was apparently very good and prolific 317 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 2: at it. I saw that he captured transient moments of 318 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 2: light and atmosphere by making these sketches out in the 319 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 2: actual like seeing the actual thing and then just kind 320 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 2: of bringing it back and translating that into the actual 321 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:23,640 Speaker 2: finished canvas. And all of them basically did that. But yeah, 322 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:28,879 Speaker 2: something about Tom Thompson's eye being translated to color and 323 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:32,439 Speaker 2: texture in his paintings was really it was really something. 324 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. One of my favorite things now. And 325 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: I've noticed this because did I tell you Emily started painting. 326 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:41,640 Speaker 2: No, how awesome what medium. 327 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:47,159 Speaker 1: Paint on canvas? Oil? Mainly? Oh wow, she dabbled in 328 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:49,720 Speaker 1: watercolor a little bit, but she's mainly painting oil on canvas, 329 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: And like she's good, and it's it's sort of like 330 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,159 Speaker 1: surprising and annoying. It's like, oh, okay, so you can 331 00:17:55,200 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 1: actually paint. That's that's super cool. Yeah, but it's she 332 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 1: started to you know, now they make these little travel 333 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:06,439 Speaker 1: kits that or you can do your own in like 334 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:09,399 Speaker 1: an Altoy ten of you know, very small little paint 335 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 1: sets that can like fit inside of a notebook, and 336 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:16,400 Speaker 1: she takes them along and we'll just paint little things 337 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 1: or sketch little things and in nature, because that's mainly 338 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:22,240 Speaker 1: what she's painting. And we went on this last trip 339 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:24,160 Speaker 1: when we went to New York to see Guling Gary 340 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: Glenn Ross, which was awesome. By the way, we went 341 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 1: to the New York Botanical Gardens for the first time 342 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:32,040 Speaker 1: in the Bronx we had been to Brooklyn's and I 343 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:36,160 Speaker 1: noticed there were artists just everywhere, sitting on benches, sketching 344 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 1: and painting stuff around them, and it's it's just such 345 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,200 Speaker 1: a lovely thing to witness because it's just so quiet 346 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 1: and peaceful, and they're creating art inside of, you know, 347 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:46,320 Speaker 1: the natural wonder of nature's art, and I just I 348 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:46,800 Speaker 1: just love it. 349 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:50,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, I envy that. I admire it too. I've always 350 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 2: wanted to be able to at least draw too. I mean, 351 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:56,359 Speaker 2: can't do any kid. I was friends with like artists 352 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:58,920 Speaker 2: that could draw like real like it was. They were 353 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,440 Speaker 2: just natural talents at it, and I would just try, try, 354 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 2: try and take classes and I just couldn't do it. 355 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,439 Speaker 1: I couldn't either. My whole family. My father wasn't, but 356 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 1: my mother is an artist and an art major and 357 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 1: a painter. My brother could always draw. I believe my 358 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,439 Speaker 1: sister could draw, and I can't draw a stick figure. 359 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 2: That's all right? Yeah, I was gonna say, anybody who's 360 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 2: seen my drawing of a horse on Instagram knows that 361 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 2: I can. 362 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:23,680 Speaker 1: That was better than what I could do, I think. 363 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:27,720 Speaker 2: Oh. Also, by the way, if Emily's making art kits 364 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:30,399 Speaker 2: out of Altoyd tins, that makes her a Tentovator. 365 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,040 Speaker 1: Chuck, Well, she's not doing that. She bought a kit, 366 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:36,360 Speaker 1: but from a Tivator. I will not be a Tnovator 367 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: because of that episode. Can we just get that one off? 368 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:42,080 Speaker 1: Can we scrub that? 369 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 2: I'm sure we can. Should we also do scuba cat? Yeah? 370 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:47,920 Speaker 1: Those are two that really should go away? 371 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 2: So yeah, well we'll look into that. We'll have to 372 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:52,359 Speaker 2: ask Jerry. 373 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:53,680 Speaker 1: Should we take a break? 374 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:55,440 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I guess we should. We kind of got 375 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 2: away from ourselves, so. 376 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:58,400 Speaker 1: All right, let's take a break. We're gonna ask Jerry 377 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:00,440 Speaker 1: if we can scrub a couple of episodes. That means 378 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:01,679 Speaker 1: we're gonna have to do two more at the end 379 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:04,920 Speaker 1: of our career. Of course, that's fine, because we don't 380 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: want to short change ourselves. So we'll debate all that 381 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 1: and then we'll be back to talk more about the 382 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:09,960 Speaker 1: Group of Seven. 383 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:39,400 Speaker 2: So I think, with the exception chuck of Tom Thompson, 384 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 2: all of the rest of the Group of seven artists, 385 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:45,200 Speaker 2: all of them over the years, even went and studied 386 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:48,160 Speaker 2: in Europe at some point or another. They were formally trained. 387 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 2: I read that Lauren Harris was encouraged by his math 388 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 2: professor to study art in Berlin. Now I'm guessing then 389 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:02,440 Speaker 2: that he wasn't very good at math. Right, you like 390 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:04,840 Speaker 2: to draw, you play the piano, and I think, can 391 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 2: you do anything? Yeah. But when they were trained in Europe, 392 00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:11,879 Speaker 2: this is the time of the Impressionists. They were trained 393 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:17,840 Speaker 2: in traditional conservative landscapes, and they brought all that back. 394 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 2: But they found, to their dismay that they were having 395 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 2: a really hard time translating the European techniques that they 396 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:29,760 Speaker 2: had learned to the Canadian wilderness. It just wasn't working 397 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 2: quite right. And there was a really big, important turning 398 00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 2: point that happened in nineteen twelve when Lauren Harris and j. E. H. 399 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:42,200 Speaker 2: MacDonald traveled to Buffalo, New York to see an art 400 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:46,600 Speaker 2: exhibition of Scandinavian artists and they were just blown away. 401 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:51,080 Speaker 2: It completely freed them to create the art that went 402 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:54,240 Speaker 2: on to become synonymous with them. And I saw that. 403 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:58,480 Speaker 2: I think McDonald said that these were artists that were 404 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:00,960 Speaker 2: not trying to express themselves so much as they were 405 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,680 Speaker 2: trying to express something that took hold of themselves. 406 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:04,120 Speaker 1: Oh wow. 407 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, So these guys were like overwhelmed with nature and 408 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 2: they were painting the feeling that nature brought out in them. 409 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,280 Speaker 2: And that's what the group of seven started doing. 410 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's cool. I know. Van Go is another inspiration, 411 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: in particular from the European school, and that a technique 412 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,639 Speaker 1: that I really love, the imposto technique where you just 413 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: goop that paint on there so you see the brushstrokes, 414 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: and in the case of some of these artists and 415 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,199 Speaker 1: Mango and of course many others, it's you know, when 416 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: you get up close to these paintings, don't touch, but 417 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: you can lean in and get a really good look 418 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:41,120 Speaker 1: at just how caked on it is in some places. 419 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:42,480 Speaker 1: I just really really love that. 420 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, And if you're really sly, you can kind of 421 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:46,679 Speaker 2: touch it with the tip of your nose and just 422 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 2: be like, oops, I got too close. Yeah, sorry, Yeah, 423 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:55,359 Speaker 2: that Jack Pine Thompson's Jackpine. If you look at the 424 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 2: sky or the lake, you can really see his use 425 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:01,920 Speaker 2: of that. It's really it's a really cool painting. I'm 426 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:02,960 Speaker 2: just gonna say it again. 427 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,400 Speaker 1: Agreed. Another. You know something I've learned a lot more 428 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:10,199 Speaker 1: having known an artist in my adulthood is that a 429 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,000 Speaker 1: big part of doing your art is just having a 430 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:14,080 Speaker 1: space to do it. Not everyone can just set up 431 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 1: in their dining room or whatever, and so studio space 432 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:21,160 Speaker 1: is cherished and not. It's sometimes hard to come by, 433 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,399 Speaker 1: sometimes too expensive, and so patrons are very important in 434 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:26,920 Speaker 1: that regards. And there was a guy named doctor James 435 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:31,360 Speaker 1: McCallum who built a building along with Harris, I think 436 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:34,600 Speaker 1: funded by James McCollum. It's called the Studio Building in 437 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:37,440 Speaker 1: the Rosedale neighborhood of Toronto, and that was a real 438 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:45,359 Speaker 1: sort of cohesion cohesive thing. Cohesion unit, is that a 439 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: thing yeah, like a rank leader. Yeah, it was like 440 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: two units of cohesion when they built that building. 441 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,719 Speaker 2: For sure, which is not there anymore. Unfortunately, I think 442 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 2: they built a high rise apartment over it. They tore 443 00:23:57,320 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 2: it down first and then built the high rise apartment. 444 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 2: But during the time, I think, well into the fifties, 445 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:05,960 Speaker 2: this was still a thriving artist studio and it was 446 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:11,440 Speaker 2: cheap apartments as well. I saw that Tom Thompson was 447 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:17,240 Speaker 2: so broke that he couldn't even afford the subsidized rent 448 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 2: for the artists apartment at the at the studio. So 449 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:25,240 Speaker 2: again he was so likable. James McCallum built him a 450 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 2: shed out back and charged him a dollar a month 451 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:27,960 Speaker 2: for it. 452 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:31,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, but they would you know, Canadians are known for 453 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: being nice, but they would bag on them. They'd say, man, 454 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:35,080 Speaker 1: you're so broke you can't pay attention. 455 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:37,119 Speaker 2: That's a good one. 456 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: And then they all started coming up with it, you know, 457 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:39,880 Speaker 1: you're so broken joke. 458 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 2: How have I made it almost forty nine years without 459 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:43,160 Speaker 2: having heard that one? 460 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 1: Have you not heard that one? No, that's the only 461 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:49,720 Speaker 1: broke one I know. But yeah, I introduced Ruby that 462 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:53,240 Speaker 1: whole that. You know, those kind of jokes it burns 463 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:56,480 Speaker 1: your mama jokes and stuff that, you know, playground burns. 464 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,920 Speaker 1: It's pretty fun, for sure. Your mama is so old 465 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,400 Speaker 1: she owes Jesus and Nickel. Wow, did you ever hear 466 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:03,720 Speaker 1: that one? 467 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:07,840 Speaker 2: No? Wow, I really wasn't paying attention on the playground. 468 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,359 Speaker 1: Apparently I couldn't make these up. Of course, I was 469 00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:13,479 Speaker 1: just trying to copy the great artists of the playground. 470 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 2: For sure. But I mean I still haven't heard them. 471 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:17,119 Speaker 2: And you say them just beautifully. 472 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:18,840 Speaker 1: I appreciate. I got a lot more. I'll trot them 473 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:19,360 Speaker 1: out here and there. 474 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:23,439 Speaker 2: Moving forward, kid, kid, So we talked about Tom Thompson 475 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 2: dying and this is a really big deal, right it was. 476 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,560 Speaker 1: Another big deal was World War One? Oh yeah, that 477 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,639 Speaker 1: came along, and you know, was a big disruption because 478 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 1: a lot of it certainly delayed the formation, the official 479 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:40,240 Speaker 1: formation of the group right there in the late nineteen teens. 480 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:44,840 Speaker 1: But a lot of them actually served in the war 481 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:48,520 Speaker 1: in some capacity. A lot of them worked for the 482 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:53,280 Speaker 1: Canadian War Memorials Fund, and they were producing art about 483 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:57,800 Speaker 1: the war, some of which was super cool. I don't 484 00:25:57,840 --> 00:25:59,400 Speaker 1: know if we should talk about it now or later, 485 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 1: but the well, maybe let's hang onto that. Okay, put 486 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:08,360 Speaker 1: a dazzle camouflage. Yeah, Arthur Listmer stuff. But yeah, we'll 487 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:08,920 Speaker 1: hold on to that. 488 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 2: It is cool. So yeah. One of the things that 489 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,840 Speaker 2: I think also cemented Tom Thompson's reputation as one of 490 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:19,240 Speaker 2: Canada's most famous artists is that he died under what 491 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:23,119 Speaker 2: some people consider mysterious causes. Like this guy was born 492 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 2: in rural Ontario. He was an avid outdoorsman. He spent 493 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:31,399 Speaker 2: so much time up in the Canada, the Canadian forests 494 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:35,840 Speaker 2: I guess around Algonquin or Algoma, that he would be 495 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:38,520 Speaker 2: a fishing guide. Sometimes he served as a park ranger. 496 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,000 Speaker 2: He was just there so he might as well do 497 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 2: that extra stuff. And he went out one day in 498 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:46,879 Speaker 2: a canoe and his canoe was found overturned later that 499 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,879 Speaker 2: day or the next day, and he was missing. His 500 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:54,159 Speaker 2: body was found I think eight days later, and he 501 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,879 Speaker 2: had like a bump and a bruise on the side 502 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:58,640 Speaker 2: of his face. And some people are like, well, yeah, 503 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,399 Speaker 2: he just stood up in the canoe and like fell 504 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 2: out and like hit his head and then drowned. And 505 00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:06,560 Speaker 2: other people are like, you didn't know Tom Thompson then, 506 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 2: because number one, he would never do something that stupid 507 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:12,920 Speaker 2: and number two see number one. 508 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:17,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's hard to tell how fishy that 509 00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:19,360 Speaker 1: might have been. It very well could have been an accident, 510 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,760 Speaker 1: but it's also very easy to say, like an experience 511 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:25,119 Speaker 1: outdoorsment like that wouldn't have died that way, But it 512 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: was officially declared an accidental drowning. Some people theorize that 513 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:33,719 Speaker 1: he may have killed himself if he wasn't murdered, because 514 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:37,880 Speaker 1: he got his girlfriend pregnant, But I couldn't really see 515 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,800 Speaker 1: a lot of like solid evidence other than just people surmising. 516 00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:43,639 Speaker 2: Yeah, there was like one or two people over the 517 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,199 Speaker 2: years who wrote a book or something like that and 518 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 2: kept the whole thing alive. Yeah, but it was a 519 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:53,120 Speaker 2: really big deal to the group of seven. They hadn't 520 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:55,080 Speaker 2: even formed yet, and they lost to one of their 521 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 2: members already, and this was the guy who introduced them 522 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 2: to the wild. He was in inpherently likable guy. They 523 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,359 Speaker 2: were really bummed out about it, but they still carried on, 524 00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:09,119 Speaker 2: you know, I think, at least in part out of 525 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,560 Speaker 2: tribute to Tom Thompson, but also because they had really 526 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 2: come to appreciate what he introduced them. 527 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, for sure. That also led to another sort 528 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:25,399 Speaker 1: of if not tragedy like setback when McDonald was helping 529 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 1: to build a memorial cairn at the at Canoe Lake 530 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 1: where he died and McDonald collapsed because you know, as 531 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:34,159 Speaker 1: we said, he was a pretty frail guy. May have 532 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:38,720 Speaker 1: had a stroke, but recovered within a few months, well 533 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:42,760 Speaker 1: enough at least that he was able to go on 534 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: this painting trip you mentioned Algoma in Ontario. They went there. 535 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,520 Speaker 1: Frank Johnston, who was he would be another one of 536 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:54,840 Speaker 1: the ogs as far as the group members go, and 537 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:57,760 Speaker 1: doctor McCollum, who funded that studio, they all went along 538 00:28:57,840 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 1: on this trip. 539 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:01,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, so they went on box car journeys because Laurence 540 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:05,200 Speaker 2: so cool. Yeah, Laurence Harris was so rich. He went 541 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 2: to one of the railroads and said, hey, give us 542 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 2: a box car, will you, And they said, sure, mister Harris, 543 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,400 Speaker 2: whatever you want. So they took a box car and 544 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:17,720 Speaker 2: outfitted it, refurbished it with to basically turn it into 545 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:20,320 Speaker 2: a traveling studio and arts quarters. 546 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:22,719 Speaker 1: Yeah, it sounds like super cool. I mean that had 547 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 1: a stove that had furniture and they could move it 548 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:30,720 Speaker 1: around to the different rail sidings and hang out and stay. 549 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:33,320 Speaker 1: Then had a little home base there with some warm 550 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: some warmth warmth to it, sure, And the Wild River 551 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,400 Speaker 1: was painted there, which is one of McDonald's biggest, most 552 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,239 Speaker 1: popular paintings, and that was in nineteen nineteen, and it 553 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: is very gorgeous as well. 554 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:48,440 Speaker 2: It is I don't remember that one. I had so 555 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:50,360 Speaker 2: many tabs open and looked at so much heart that 556 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:53,480 Speaker 2: I couldn't remember that. But I don't think there was 557 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,480 Speaker 2: many paintings that I was like, oh, that's a real dog. 558 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 1: Right, except for that one painting of the dog, the 559 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: real one. 560 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:06,840 Speaker 2: So by this time nineteen nineteen's rolling around, they've been 561 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:10,040 Speaker 2: on box car journeys, they've lost Tom Thompson, they've gone 562 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,880 Speaker 2: out in the wild a few times. They've really kind 563 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:18,000 Speaker 2: of gotten into this new modernist interpretation of landscapes, specifically 564 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:24,960 Speaker 2: Canadian landscapes, to basically create this new art identity of Canada. 565 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:30,040 Speaker 2: It's like a nationalistic art movement. And they mounted their 566 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:34,200 Speaker 2: first exhibition from at least one or more of those 567 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:37,200 Speaker 2: box car journeys, and I think there was something like 568 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:42,440 Speaker 2: two hundred canvases and it did not go over all 569 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:42,880 Speaker 2: that well. 570 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:46,200 Speaker 1: Actually, yeah, I mean there were some critics who didn't 571 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:50,200 Speaker 1: love it. Some people did like it, but that was 572 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:53,720 Speaker 1: just a key exhibition because it was their first one 573 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:56,000 Speaker 1: as a group. And that was when and this is 574 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:58,720 Speaker 1: in nineteen nineteen. That's when within the group they were like, 575 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:02,720 Speaker 1: you know, we should official, like call ourselves a school 576 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:04,680 Speaker 1: and form an official like the Avengers. We need to 577 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,600 Speaker 1: get together and be an official group because it'll probably 578 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:11,000 Speaker 1: just help our reputation, get us a little more press. Yeah, 579 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,920 Speaker 1: in February March of nineteen twenty, they did. So. Jackson 580 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 1: was not there. He was on one of his sketching 581 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,720 Speaker 1: trips at the time, and he came home and said 582 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,120 Speaker 1: that he learned that it had been formed and that 583 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:22,880 Speaker 1: I was a member. 584 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:25,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, we haven't met Jackson yet. This is a different 585 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:27,640 Speaker 2: Jackson than the one that went on that first trip 586 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:30,360 Speaker 2: with Tom Thompson. This was a Jackson. 587 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:33,080 Speaker 1: Well we introduced him, Oh we did. 588 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:34,240 Speaker 2: I didn't remember that. 589 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:37,320 Speaker 1: Because I almost made the joke that did they call him. 590 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 2: A yeah A but I didn't like the funds. 591 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,800 Speaker 1: Yeah a y Jackson who actually he lived I think 592 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 1: the longest. Yeah, he lived all the way until nineteen 593 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:51,840 Speaker 1: seventy four, ripe old age. He was born in Montreal, 594 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:55,240 Speaker 1: had a single mom, with six or five other siblings 595 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:58,480 Speaker 1: total six and as a result he had to work 596 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:01,560 Speaker 1: a lot to support his family. But eventually he found 597 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:03,640 Speaker 1: his way to Europe, where he was one of the ones, 598 00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:06,880 Speaker 1: like you said, that studied like formally in Europe, which 599 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:09,360 Speaker 1: he did in France before he moved back to Ontario 600 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:10,200 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirteen. 601 00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:14,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, and thanks to doctor James McCollum, he was able 602 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:17,760 Speaker 2: to move to Toronto because he was not very well 603 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,320 Speaker 2: off at the time, and McCollum said, how about this, 604 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:23,040 Speaker 2: I will buy all of your paintings that you produce 605 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:27,000 Speaker 2: in a year to keep you afloat essentially, and that 606 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,600 Speaker 2: gave A. Y Jackson the ability to come to Toronto, 607 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:32,840 Speaker 2: start working six hundred things right and make a name 608 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:35,080 Speaker 2: for himself in time to be able to support himself 609 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:35,600 Speaker 2: through his art. 610 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:38,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, and he had that Montreal connection, so he sort 611 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 1: of Montreal artists would he'd make connections with the Group 612 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:45,360 Speaker 1: of seven again, you know, artists knowing each other and 613 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:50,080 Speaker 1: sharing ideas and just sensibilities ethos if you will is 614 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:52,000 Speaker 1: a good thing. But he was one of the ones 615 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:55,320 Speaker 1: that went over with World War One to fight. He 616 00:32:55,360 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: was actually wounded there and also painted for War memorials. 617 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:05,239 Speaker 2: Yeah. Another guy who painted for Canadian War memorials that 618 00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:07,360 Speaker 2: you mentioned earlier was Arthur Lismer. 619 00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:08,440 Speaker 1: Yeah. 620 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:12,760 Speaker 2: He was famous for painting warships that were returning to 621 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:17,000 Speaker 2: port that had dazzle camouflage on them, which essentially is 622 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:20,160 Speaker 2: like op art painted on warships. Yeah. 623 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:22,800 Speaker 1: I had never heard of this before he do you No, huh, 624 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:26,640 Speaker 1: it's super cool. It's a way for It's not you know, 625 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:29,400 Speaker 1: camouflage in the way that it's supposed to blend in 626 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 1: with the sea around it. In fact, far from it. 627 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 1: It doesn't do anything like that, right, Like you said, 628 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,360 Speaker 1: it looks like cool pop art, you know, painted on 629 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:39,360 Speaker 1: a warship like could It almost looks like some weird 630 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,440 Speaker 1: art installation and not a real thing that the Navy did. 631 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:43,120 Speaker 2: Uh. 632 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 1: But the intention there, again is not to like conceal 633 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 1: it like it's not there, but to confuse and mislead 634 00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 1: about like the course heading or something up like that, 635 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:57,040 Speaker 1: or like how fast they're going or yeah, like I said, 636 00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:59,280 Speaker 1: where they're headed, And apparently it worked pretty good. 637 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:02,840 Speaker 2: Yeah. They look like disjointed zebra stripes that there are 638 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:05,320 Speaker 2: in different chunks that don't line up with one another. 639 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:07,960 Speaker 1: Yeah. So that's on the actual ship, and he painted 640 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,520 Speaker 1: paintings of these ships and they're really cool looking. I 641 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:10,879 Speaker 1: love it. 642 00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:14,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, And Arthur Lismer is one of those painters whose 643 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 2: style seemingly changed overnight around nineteen twenty and really falls 644 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:21,239 Speaker 2: into line with the rest of the group. So it's 645 00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:21,759 Speaker 2: pretty cool. 646 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess we'll go with the last three. Here. 647 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:28,359 Speaker 1: We have Frederick Varley, who lived till nineteen sixty nine, 648 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:32,000 Speaker 1: so I think he was the second longest. He was 649 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:35,200 Speaker 1: a schoolmate of Lismers in England, and I think we 650 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:39,880 Speaker 1: didn't mention that they both studied in Antwerp, Belgium, and 651 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:42,759 Speaker 1: then he reconnected with Lismer after living in Yorkshire and 652 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,600 Speaker 1: getting married, and he was like Listmer's like, come on 653 00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:48,040 Speaker 1: over to Canada, man, and he did so in nineteen twelve, 654 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:49,759 Speaker 1: went to work at the Grip like a lot of them, 655 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:51,480 Speaker 1: and also painted for the war memorials. 656 00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:56,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, he was actually embedded in Europe with the Canadian military, 657 00:34:56,160 --> 00:34:58,600 Speaker 2: so a lot of his paintings that he made during 658 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:03,040 Speaker 2: the war were like bombed out villages or I read 659 00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:07,719 Speaker 2: that he's one of his paintings was a shelled cemetery. 660 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:10,600 Speaker 2: To basically say, like even the dead can escape war. 661 00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:14,920 Speaker 2: It's some harrowing stuff that he produced, for sure, and 662 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:19,080 Speaker 2: he was very affected by the war. I should say, yeah, 663 00:35:19,239 --> 00:35:21,759 Speaker 2: to answer your question, who else we have is my 664 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:27,080 Speaker 2: favorite by far of the group, Frankie, Franklin Carmichael. And 665 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:28,719 Speaker 2: you were saying you wouldn't hang any of these in 666 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:31,960 Speaker 2: your home. I would hang at Carmichael basically any of them. 667 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:34,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, actually, and that that's some of my 668 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:36,480 Speaker 1: favorite stuff too, And I might I might hang some 669 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:38,640 Speaker 1: of the other stuff, mambe I was being too harsh. 670 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:41,960 Speaker 2: Hang it all. So he had kind of a more 671 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:46,719 Speaker 2: decorative sensibility. I saw it described as he used more colorful, 672 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:53,279 Speaker 2: softer colors. Its like just go look up Franklin Carmichael 673 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:55,400 Speaker 2: art and you will just sit there and watch it 674 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:55,879 Speaker 2: all day. 675 00:35:56,239 --> 00:35:58,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, he did more water colors than the rest of them, 676 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:02,319 Speaker 1: but did work in other medium And then rounding out, 677 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:05,839 Speaker 1: we have Frank Johnston born in Toronto, so another one 678 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:09,600 Speaker 1: of Canadians sons, and he worked at the Grip as well, 679 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:12,640 Speaker 1: and he's I think the only one that actually studied 680 00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:16,120 Speaker 1: in the United States. He went there for a little while, 681 00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:18,640 Speaker 1: studied there, did some work there, and then went back 682 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:24,000 Speaker 1: to Toronto in nineteen fifteen, and he was known for his 683 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:27,880 Speaker 1: opaque watercolor techniques, so he was kind of, you know, 684 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,960 Speaker 1: watercolors quicker, so he was pumping out paintings much quicker 685 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:31,920 Speaker 1: than the rest of these guys. 686 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:35,160 Speaker 2: Yeah. I saw he contributed sixty of the two hundred 687 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:37,840 Speaker 2: canvases that were at that first show. 688 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:39,920 Speaker 1: That's amazing. 689 00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:43,319 Speaker 2: He also this is so artist. He was born Francis 690 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:47,319 Speaker 2: Hans Johnston, and later on in life he compressed that 691 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:48,160 Speaker 2: to Franz. 692 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:50,000 Speaker 1: Oh wow, Hans and Franz. 693 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:51,360 Speaker 2: Pretty cool. Yeah, exactly. 694 00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:55,040 Speaker 1: Maybe we should take another break, yes, and we'll be 695 00:36:55,120 --> 00:37:24,000 Speaker 1: back with mart Art. All right. So we've talked about 696 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:26,080 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty and what happened over and over again. But 697 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:29,880 Speaker 1: finally on May seventh is when the official Unified School 698 00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:32,200 Speaker 1: opened at the Art Gallery of Toronto with one hundred 699 00:37:32,239 --> 00:37:37,000 Speaker 1: and twenty paintings. And this is like definitely when the 700 00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:39,440 Speaker 1: critics kind of some of them poo pooed it. One 701 00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:41,960 Speaker 1: described some of the paintings as looking like the contents 702 00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:45,320 Speaker 1: of a drunkard's stomach. And I think this was maybe 703 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:48,279 Speaker 1: more just because it was a departure from the traditional art. 704 00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:51,920 Speaker 1: They got popular pretty quickly. I think their second show 705 00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:55,200 Speaker 1: in May of twenty one drew about twenty five hundred 706 00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:59,600 Speaker 1: people over just three weeks in change. So people got 707 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:00,680 Speaker 1: on board pretty quickly. 708 00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:04,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. Again because in part this is that 709 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:08,560 Speaker 2: they were painting Canada's national identity. That's right. One of 710 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:10,640 Speaker 2: the other things. I don't know if I've made that 711 00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:11,680 Speaker 2: point yet. 712 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:13,520 Speaker 1: I think a few more times that might get at home. 713 00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:15,840 Speaker 2: One of the other things that was really big about 714 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:19,720 Speaker 2: this this show was that the director of the National 715 00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:23,680 Speaker 2: Gallery of all of Canada bought at least three of 716 00:38:23,719 --> 00:38:26,720 Speaker 2: their works. His name was Eric Brown, and in addition 717 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:30,319 Speaker 2: to basically ensconsing them in Canada's National Gallery saying like 718 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,319 Speaker 2: these guys are legit, this is the real deal, he 719 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:36,000 Speaker 2: put them in other exhibitions that Canada put on around 720 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:39,000 Speaker 2: the world. And he would really play a big role 721 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:43,920 Speaker 2: later on during World War one and two, as we'll see. 722 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:46,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, and he you know, he was a patron of 723 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:48,600 Speaker 1: the arts. He loved these guys, but he was also 724 00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:52,919 Speaker 1: criticized at times later by just solely being into these 725 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:56,239 Speaker 1: guys and like, hey, you're not championing the work of 726 00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:59,600 Speaker 1: women as much as you should, or are indigenous artists, 727 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:04,920 Speaker 1: So you know, he was criticized for that. That's all 728 00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:06,080 Speaker 1: I'll say for sure. 729 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:10,440 Speaker 2: So the group is kind of like rolling by now 730 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:14,080 Speaker 2: they're doing more journeys. They're meeting once in a while 731 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:19,719 Speaker 2: to basically set up exhibitions. Franz Johnston leaves and they're like, well, God, 732 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:21,720 Speaker 2: where the group of seven? We need to get a seventh. 733 00:39:21,719 --> 00:39:25,319 Speaker 2: They bring in a guy named aj Cassen, who used 734 00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:28,719 Speaker 2: to be Franklin Carmichael's assistant. They're like, okay, let's just 735 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:31,279 Speaker 2: break the trend and bring in an eighth member. So 736 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:33,920 Speaker 2: they brought in a guy named Edwin Holgate. He was 737 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:35,520 Speaker 2: brought in in nineteen twenty nine. 738 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:38,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, he was a portraitist, which was a little different 739 00:39:38,080 --> 00:39:38,720 Speaker 1: from the rest. 740 00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:42,319 Speaker 2: Of them for sure. He had also formed another group 741 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:44,560 Speaker 2: in Montreal called the beaver Hall Group, which is a. 742 00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:46,359 Speaker 1: Pretty good group name, Yeah, great name. 743 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:51,240 Speaker 2: And then Lemoyne Fitzgerald, who you could call the Jinks. 744 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:54,880 Speaker 2: He was brought on in nineteen thirty two. The group 745 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:57,960 Speaker 2: broke up in nineteen thirty three, So the Jinks missed 746 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:02,080 Speaker 2: their last exhibition in nineteen thirty one, and then he 747 00:40:02,239 --> 00:40:04,759 Speaker 2: was there for their breakup the year after. He was 748 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:05,560 Speaker 2: brought on board. 749 00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:09,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's too bad for Lemoyne, but he got a 750 00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:12,000 Speaker 1: brief taste and then you know, he looked until nineteen 751 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,840 Speaker 1: fifty six, so he was still painting after that. We 752 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:18,360 Speaker 1: did mention a woman, Emily Carr near the beginning as like, 753 00:40:18,719 --> 00:40:21,640 Speaker 1: you know, this is a boys club, but she was 754 00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:24,839 Speaker 1: never official officially Group of seven because of that, but 755 00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:28,440 Speaker 1: they did feature her works in some of their shows, 756 00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:31,120 Speaker 1: one in nineteen twenty seven in particular, and that's when 757 00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:32,520 Speaker 1: they you know, they kind of pulled her aside and 758 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:34,440 Speaker 1: they were like, hey, you know, you're really you're one 759 00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:37,719 Speaker 1: of us. Like it might not be official, but you're 760 00:40:37,719 --> 00:40:38,600 Speaker 1: definitely one of us. 761 00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:39,759 Speaker 2: But don't tell anybody. 762 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:44,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, don't tell anyone. And she painted a lot 763 00:40:44,239 --> 00:40:47,200 Speaker 1: of indigenous villages and stuff like that. Yeah, and at 764 00:40:47,239 --> 00:40:49,840 Speaker 1: one point was doing indigenous art like hooked rugs and 765 00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:52,600 Speaker 1: pottery and selling it to tourists. But yeah, she like 766 00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:55,480 Speaker 1: even way back then, was like, wait a minute, maybe 767 00:40:55,520 --> 00:40:58,200 Speaker 1: I'm appropriating this. They didn't use that word, I'm sure, 768 00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:00,239 Speaker 1: but she stopped doing it. She was like, this is 769 00:41:00,239 --> 00:41:01,600 Speaker 1: not a culture I'm a part of, so maybe I 770 00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:02,920 Speaker 1: shouldn't be doing it and selling it. 771 00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:06,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, that lady was ahead of even MPR. 772 00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:11,680 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, or what's Canada's version of NPR. 773 00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:16,439 Speaker 2: CBC now, right, of course, So all good things must 774 00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:18,400 Speaker 2: come to an end. And one of the things that 775 00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:20,479 Speaker 2: I think you can give a nod to the Group 776 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:22,879 Speaker 2: of Seven about is they're like, Hey, this thing's run 777 00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:28,240 Speaker 2: its course. Let's just disband. So they actually disbanded, They 778 00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:32,160 Speaker 2: had a formal disbanding, I think again in nineteen thirty three. 779 00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:36,799 Speaker 2: It was LeMoyne's fault. Again. Part of it was that 780 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:40,799 Speaker 2: McDonald had died in nineteen thirty two, and again he 781 00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:44,040 Speaker 2: was kind of like the guy who was the original, 782 00:41:44,239 --> 00:41:48,399 Speaker 2: the figurehead, I think, Papa Smurt. Yeah, that was part 783 00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:50,600 Speaker 2: of it. They thought I had to run its course. 784 00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:52,960 Speaker 2: But they were also now starting to get real pushback, 785 00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:55,879 Speaker 2: not just them, but also the National Gallery and Eric 786 00:41:56,239 --> 00:42:00,440 Speaker 2: Brown saying like, you know, there's other there's other artists 787 00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:03,120 Speaker 2: in Canada. Can we kind of include them. There's other 788 00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:07,560 Speaker 2: parts of Canada besides the northern Boreal forest. Yeah, And 789 00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:09,960 Speaker 2: because of that they actually stepped back. They disbanded the 790 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:14,080 Speaker 2: Group of Seven and then they regrouped and expanded to 791 00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:17,480 Speaker 2: the Canadian Group of Painters, which started out with twenty 792 00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:21,399 Speaker 2: eight artists and eventually grew to sixty one total over 793 00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:23,560 Speaker 2: the years, and this one included women. 794 00:42:24,239 --> 00:42:29,440 Speaker 1: Yes, they expanded it greatly at that point. One of 795 00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:33,120 Speaker 1: the reasons that you know, they're obviously famous because they 796 00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:35,680 Speaker 1: were you know, Canadian through and through and what they 797 00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:38,440 Speaker 1: were doing and where they were living in some of 798 00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:41,439 Speaker 1: them where they were from. But they in World War two, 799 00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:46,360 Speaker 1: the Canadian government got involved to do this silkscreen program 800 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:48,520 Speaker 1: where they silk green prints of this art and they 801 00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:50,600 Speaker 1: put them up in their buildings and their government buildings 802 00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:53,640 Speaker 1: and then put them up for sale. And Eric Brown 803 00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:57,480 Speaker 1: was behind that as well, and that really just cemented 804 00:42:57,480 --> 00:43:00,000 Speaker 1: them because all of a sudden people were like buying 805 00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:02,400 Speaker 1: this stuff and putting it on their own walls as prints. 806 00:43:02,719 --> 00:43:05,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, they were in banks, they were in schools. Apparently 807 00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:08,480 Speaker 2: Arthur Lismer, one of the original Group of seven, was 808 00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:11,759 Speaker 2: in charge in part of selecting images. So, yeah, the 809 00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:15,799 Speaker 2: Group of seven was disproportionately represented in this and that 810 00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:21,640 Speaker 2: is one reason why they are so enmeshed in Canada's 811 00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:25,040 Speaker 2: artistic psyche, Like this is Canadian art, this is the 812 00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:27,040 Speaker 2: foundation of it. That's a big part of it. 813 00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:29,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, because you could get it at the Spencer Gifts 814 00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:30,759 Speaker 1: all of a sudden. 815 00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:34,040 Speaker 2: Yes, and you could you could also make an argument 816 00:43:34,120 --> 00:43:37,360 Speaker 2: that they were selected for this cheap silk screen reproduction 817 00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:42,680 Speaker 2: because the colors, the bold colors, the shapes, the contours 818 00:43:42,680 --> 00:43:45,440 Speaker 2: of the whole thing. They it was ripe for reproduction 819 00:43:45,520 --> 00:43:46,480 Speaker 2: through screen printing. 820 00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:50,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure it looked good on a screenprint. Emily 821 00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:53,920 Speaker 1: Carr was not chosen. In fact, no women were chosen, 822 00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:57,960 Speaker 1: and I think no artists that painted the coastlines of 823 00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:02,720 Speaker 1: Canada were chosen, and no work by indigenous artists as well, 824 00:44:03,400 --> 00:44:07,719 Speaker 1: or work that depicted their community. So again some controversy 825 00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:11,239 Speaker 1: surrounding that stuff. Obviously, that kind of thing today would 826 00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:14,160 Speaker 1: be handled a lot differently, but this was again back 827 00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:17,920 Speaker 1: in the mid nineteen forties when they started the silk screening. 828 00:44:18,080 --> 00:44:20,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, but it was interesting that they were still criticized 829 00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:22,759 Speaker 2: for that kind of stuff even back then. You know 830 00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:26,479 Speaker 2: people were aware of it, for sure, Yeah, totally. But yeah, 831 00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:30,160 Speaker 2: if you want to waste some time, well wasted, I 832 00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:33,440 Speaker 2: should say, go check out the Group of seven dot 833 00:44:33,480 --> 00:44:36,840 Speaker 2: CA and they have bios and like a lot of 834 00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:40,240 Speaker 2: selected art or just look up these artists and type 835 00:44:40,239 --> 00:44:44,040 Speaker 2: in artist name works, and just look at all the 836 00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:46,960 Speaker 2: amazing stuff that comes up. It's good stuff. I'm glad 837 00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:49,640 Speaker 2: you found this one or picked it, or it was suggested. 838 00:44:49,719 --> 00:44:50,320 Speaker 2: I'm not sure. 839 00:44:51,640 --> 00:44:54,600 Speaker 1: I think I had just heard of him, and Olivia 840 00:44:54,640 --> 00:44:57,000 Speaker 1: helped us out. And I love learning more and more 841 00:44:57,000 --> 00:45:00,200 Speaker 1: about art here later in life, me too. Chuck in 842 00:45:00,239 --> 00:45:01,200 Speaker 1: my fifties. 843 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:06,320 Speaker 2: Well, since Chuck said he's in his fifties, of course, 844 00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:12,040 Speaker 2: that means he's just unlocked. Listener mail, mid fifties. 845 00:45:13,080 --> 00:45:13,840 Speaker 1: When are you fifty? 846 00:45:14,440 --> 00:45:17,759 Speaker 2: I will be fifty the July after next, And I 847 00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:23,600 Speaker 2: don't care because forties suck. Yeah, it's the worst decade 848 00:45:24,080 --> 00:45:26,080 Speaker 2: so far at least. But I've heard it just gets 849 00:45:26,120 --> 00:45:29,719 Speaker 2: better after your forties, that your life satisfaction dips in 850 00:45:29,719 --> 00:45:31,800 Speaker 2: the forties and starts to climb back up and peaks 851 00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:34,880 Speaker 2: again in your sixties, and that that is comparable to 852 00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:38,560 Speaker 2: your younger years, the peak of happiness. So we have 853 00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:39,839 Speaker 2: a lot to look forward to, man. 854 00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:41,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, just get ready. 855 00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:43,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, we're going to be podcasting the whole time. 856 00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:47,920 Speaker 1: That's right, all right, This is a positive correction about fentanyl. 857 00:45:48,560 --> 00:45:50,200 Speaker 1: By the way, we got some props for just saying 858 00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:54,080 Speaker 1: fentanyl not fentanyl all right. Josh noted, if you go 859 00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:56,320 Speaker 1: to prison, you're expected to simply dry out and hopefully 860 00:45:56,360 --> 00:45:59,000 Speaker 1: recover that way. That is not the case, Guys, I 861 00:45:59,040 --> 00:46:01,279 Speaker 1: teach in a correctional play in Indiana. I'm happy to 862 00:46:01,320 --> 00:46:05,319 Speaker 1: report that our prisons give incarcerated individuals or iii IS 863 00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:09,240 Speaker 1: the option to take subox zone in a controlled environment 864 00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:11,120 Speaker 1: at a certain time each day. The II and the 865 00:46:11,160 --> 00:46:15,080 Speaker 1: program are sent to our medical department and given suboxone 866 00:46:15,200 --> 00:46:17,640 Speaker 1: in order to help with their treatment. This has helped 867 00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:20,000 Speaker 1: those who struggle with addiction, but it's important to note 868 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:22,759 Speaker 1: that it can be addictive, leading to potential abuse as well. 869 00:46:23,680 --> 00:46:26,400 Speaker 1: Suboxone compared with recovery programs, has helped a lot of 870 00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:29,400 Speaker 1: my students, and I found I've been very fortunate to 871 00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:32,560 Speaker 1: see some people turn their lives around through this. And 872 00:46:32,600 --> 00:46:36,120 Speaker 1: we heard from a couple of other correctional workers from 873 00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:38,320 Speaker 1: different states that do the same thing, So it sounds 874 00:46:38,360 --> 00:46:39,320 Speaker 1: like it's sort of the norm. 875 00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:40,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's heartening. 876 00:46:40,760 --> 00:46:43,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's great to hear. Additionally, guys, I appreciate that 877 00:46:43,440 --> 00:46:46,800 Speaker 1: you cleared up some misconceptions about fentanyl. I can confirm 878 00:46:46,840 --> 00:46:50,120 Speaker 1: that those ideas still impact law enforcement, as our officers 879 00:46:50,120 --> 00:46:52,680 Speaker 1: are required to wear gloves during cell searches in order 880 00:46:52,719 --> 00:46:56,120 Speaker 1: to prevent absorbing fentanyl through the skin. Thanks for providing 881 00:46:56,160 --> 00:46:58,840 Speaker 1: years of knowledge and relaxed and fund manner. Thanks for 882 00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:00,799 Speaker 1: coming to Indianapolis. I was at the show and it 883 00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:01,160 Speaker 1: was great. 884 00:47:01,200 --> 00:47:01,879 Speaker 2: It was a good show. 885 00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:05,560 Speaker 1: And that is from Samuel Adult Basic Education instructor. 886 00:47:05,640 --> 00:47:08,880 Speaker 2: Thanks Samuel, you're out there doing God's work. Congratulations to 887 00:47:08,960 --> 00:47:11,319 Speaker 2: you and thank you for it. And if you want 888 00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:14,520 Speaker 2: to be like Samuel and gently correct us, we love 889 00:47:14,600 --> 00:47:17,280 Speaker 2: that kind of thing. You can send it via email 890 00:47:17,400 --> 00:47:23,360 Speaker 2: to stuff Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com. 891 00:47:23,560 --> 00:47:26,440 Speaker 1: Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 892 00:47:26,560 --> 00:47:30,719 Speaker 1: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 893 00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:32,680 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.