‘A distinct Canadian character’: The 1920s paintings that changed how the world saw Canada

Cath Pound | bbc.com | 6th July 2026

Canada’s Group of Seven artists emerged just after WW1 at a time when the Canadian wilderness was thought an uninteresting subject for art. Having seen highly coloured Scandinavian landscapes the Group set about using that style to articulate the “feel”, rather than the look, of the Canadian wilderness. Their work is now celebrated as helping define Canadian identity. But there is a qualification. Their depiction of “empty wilderness” erased Indigenous presence. Theirs is the art of “settlers coming and appreciating the land”.