摘要
In Early 20th century,Canadian landscape painting had its roots in European art,especially in impressionism and subsequent developments.When Claude Monet took to working in a series to capture changing light,he sought to simplify his subject;the painter would focus on a motif:a passage of river,a tree,or a building facade.This editing out of landscape information led to a more abstract work where one might focus on the color or brushwork in the painting.This method led to a release from the task of measuring for accuracy for the viewer.Painting became sensory and not imitative where one was free to enjoy pure painting that spoke directly to a sensation or a delight in an unsuspected arrangement.At the end of the 19th century,Art Nouveau designs were printed in international journals,like The Studio and were studied in commercial design shops,like Grip Ltd.,Toronto.The nucleus of Canada’s leading painting group―the Group of Seven,was formed out of commercial art and,to some extent,designs one could see reproduced in magazines.Tom Thomson took these motifs;these abstracted forms and envisioned them in the landscape of Ontario through his plein air sketches.Lawren Harris stylized trees and mountain forms into abstractions of pure delight and A.Y.Jackson set his hills in the landscapes of rural Quebec where repeating rhythms trumped topography accuracy.This paper will highlight these Canadian painters as they introduced the motif that moved landscape painting to decoration of the most satisfying kind.
