Impressionism in Canada

Book excerpt: Impressionist paintings are among the most prized artworks in the world, yet little has been written about Canadian impressionism. Now, with this book, we have a full account of the development of this revolutionary style in painting during the four decades after 1875, first in France, then in the United States, and finally in Canada. From the late 1860s on, as ambitious young artists from North America went to study in the academies in Paris and travel in Europe, they absorbed the influence of impressionism. By the mid-1880s, after it crossed the Atlantic to Boston and New York, Impressionism quickly became the favored style of art in the United States. As the century came to a close in Canada's two largest cities, Montreal and Toronto, Impressionism gradually gathered the support the returning Canadian painters needed from art dealers, collectors, exhibition societies, and the media. Within this context, the lives and works of fourteen fo the most significant Canadian artists, including William Blair Bruce, Maurice Cullen, J.W. Morrice, Laura Muntz Lyall, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, Helen McNicoll, and Clarence Gagnon, are examined in the second half of the volume. Briefly considered too are several other artists, such as core members of the famed Group of Seven, who for some time also employed Impressionist techniques in their art. Today, Canadian Impressionist paintings are not only among the most popular works of art at home but are attracting ever more attention and exhibition exposure in other countries too. With a Foreword by Guy Wildenstein and an Introduction by William H. Gerdts, this work has been extensively researched and lavishly illustrated with 494 plates and 159 figures. As such, it becomes the definitive volume on Canada's contribution to Impressionism - the most important development in Western art since the Renaissance.