Group of Seven Day in Ontario

The first Group of Seven Day in Ontario, July 7, 2025, was proclaimed by the provincial government as an annual designated time to celebrate the Group’s significant contributions to Canadian art.

It makes sense that Ontario would designate a day, since the group is an integral part of Canadian history. Canada Post issued a set of stamps, for example, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Group’s first exhibition (see more here) and other tributes and programs happen regularly.

The Art Gallery of Ontario is opening today (usually it’s closed on a Monday) for events to celebrate the group’s works, which have been a foundational part of the AGO since 1920, when the museum hosted their inaugural exhibition.

Foyer, the AGO magazine, carries a highly readable list of Seven Facts You May Not Know About the Group of Seven. The original members of the group are pictured in the photo below from the Arts & Letters Club in Toronto around 1920 (link to the original story on Canadian Art Junkie, here).

The original artists were Franklin CARMICHAEL, Lawren HARRIS, A.Y. JACKSON, Frank JOHNSTON, Arthur LISMER, J.E.H. MACDONALD and F.H. VARLEY.  They befriended each other in Toronto and moved their work rapidly and provocatively into a unique form of Canadian modernism that left the country’s traditional art world affronted.  They were mavericks who mainly made their living as commercial artists and painted in the wilderness for joy.

You may already know some of the AGO’s Seven Facts about the group, such as that Tom Thomson was never actually a member. The Jack Pine (above left) and The West Wind (right) are the most famous works by Thomson, who died in a canoe accident years before the group was formed, although he was a friend of the artists and considered an inspiration.

There are some other Group of Seven Facts definitely worth knowing in writer Khadra Ahmed’s Seven Facts article for the AGO Foyer article, here. And here is the link to a fast look at the Seven Facts on Instagram, here.

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More about the Group of Seven on The Art Junkie, below.

The Art Junkie article on the 2011 showing of Group of Seven works in a major exhibit at London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery (above), aimed at introducing the revered Group of Seven to England, here.

Actor-comedian Steve Martin’s curation of Lawren Harris paintings, thought to have kicked off the skyrocketing prices for Group of Seven and other Canadian works, here. (Record auction of Canadian art, here)

All the Canadian Art Junkie articles on the Group of Seven and associates, here.

Cutline for the image in the header at the top of this post (and repeated below): Posted by the McMichael Canadian Collection, to celebrate the birthday of A.J. Casson, 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯, c.1927, watercolour over graphite on paper, 46.9 x 62.3 cm. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. C.A.G. Matthews, 1974.13.2  See the Art Junkie story that accompanies the image, here.