Canadian Impressionism is a subclass of

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

art which had its origin in

French Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject ...

. Guy Wildenstein of the Wildenstein Institute in Paris states in the foreword of A.K. Prakash's ''Impressionism in Canada: A Journey of Rediscovery'' that Canadian impressionism consists of "the Canadian artists who gleaned much from the French but, in their improvisations, managed to transmute what they learned into an art reflecting the aesthetic concerns of their compatriots and the times in which they lived and worked". The early Canadian Impressionist painters belong in the "Group of who?" as coined by James Adams of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

''.

History

Canada's first affair with Impressionism occurred in 1892 in Montreal at W. Scott & Sons' premises. Eight paintings were exhibited including works of

Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

, Renoir,

Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( ; ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but t ...

and Sisley. Montreal became the epicentre of Impressionism in Canada at the turn of the twentieth century. Numerous Canadian artists encountered Impressionism during their travels and studies in Europe, including Montreal-based William Brymner (1855–1925) and Helen McNicoll (1879–1915), and West Coast painter Emily Carr. Brymner was one of the earliest Canadian artists to study in Paris, from 1878 to 1880; there he was introduced to the Impressionist works of contemporary French artists. In the mid-1890s, Brymner gave public talks about Impressionism. One took place in March 1896, for the Women's Art Association of Canada at the YMCA in Montreal. He gave another in April 1897, one of the special lectures he occasionally organized in his role as master of the School at the Art Association of Montreal from 1886 to 1921. Brymner taught numerous artists who became key figures in modern Canadian art, and without him, the Impressionist movement would not have taken root in the country. One of Brymner's students at the Art Association of Montreal, McNicoll played a significant role in popularizing Impressionism in Canada. Following Brymner's advice to his students to travel to Europe to further their education, McNicoll moved to London in 1902. There, she may have visited the large exhibition of works by the French Impressionists organized by French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel at the Grafton Galleries in London in 1905. McNicoll fully embraced the principles of French Impressionism, more so than any other Canadian artist of her time. Canadian Impressionism was first recognized as a historical movement in ''

Canadian Art Canadian art refers to the visual arts, visual (including painting, photography, and printmaking) as well as plastic arts (such as sculpture) originating from the geographical area of contemporary Canada. Art in Canada is marked by thousands of ...

'' in 1950.

Artists

* Henri Beau * William Blair Bruce * William Brymner * William Henry Clapp * Mary Alberta Cleland * Maurice Cullen * Ernest Lawson * James Wilson Morrice * Helen McNicoll * Laura MuntzPrakash. 2015. p. 418ff

Exhibitions

In 2019, the show ''Canada and Impressionism: New Horizons'', curated by the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

, visited

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, and

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

. A second, somewhat modified exhibition, opened in Ottawa at the National Gallery in February 2022.

References

Sources

* Anderson, Jocelyn.
William Brymner: Life & Work.
' Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2020. * Baldissera, Lisa.
Emily Carr: Life & Work.
' Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2015. * Burton, Samantha.
Helen McNicoll: Life & Work
'' Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2017. * Prakash, A.K. ''Impressionism in Canada: A Journey of Rediscovery''. Stuttgart: Arnoldsche Art Publishers, 2015. * Lowrey, Carol, ''Visions of Light and Air: Canadian Impressionism, 1885-1920'', Americas Society, 1996. {{Impressionism Impressionism Canadian art movements