The Canadian Group of Painters

The inclusion of women in the group was remarkable, as they made up nearly one third of the membership at a time when many artistic groups solely focused on male membership. Women held executive positions, secured group shows around North America, and pushed the group forward during World War II while male members were away at war.

Membership to the group was intentionally open. Lawren Harris felt that the group should be open to “…all decent- minded, free spirits who have something to say in paint in Canada.” With such openness, the group saw many iterations, with membership changing and shifting as new artists came up within the community. This exhibition features a selection of works by artists who were members of the Canadian Group of Painters from 1933 – 1969, with a focus on significant women artists from the group.

Bertram Brooker was a founding member of the CGP who was involved in planning the group’s exhibition schedule and judging submissions. Brooker was a successful author and graphic artist outside of the group, and was the first Canadian artist working in pure abstraction, beginning a decade prior to the CGP founding. He embraced the artistic community he found within the group and how the group connected disparate individuals together to make a strong cohesive whole. 

Prudence Heward was a founding member who served as the vice-president of the Canadian Group of Painters in 1935. She painted predominantly figurative works, with a focus on woman subjects, making her stand out amongst her peers. She was the first woman to serve on the executive and paved the way for other women to lead within the group including her friend Isabel McLaughlin.

Isabel McLaughlin, the daughter of Oshawa industrialist R.S. McLaughlin, was part of the group from its inception in 1933. An important early modern painter and philanthropist, she was elected to become president of the Canadian Group of Painters in 1939, the first women to hold such a position. The group flourished and gained much of its structure under her leadership. She led them through WWII, when many of the male membership were drafted, before relinquishing her role in 1945.

Jock Macdonald was a founding member of the CGP, being one of only two members representing Western Canada from British Columbia. Throughout his life, Macdonald was an artist and teacher, championing Canadian avant-garde artists at home and abroad. He moved to Ontario in 1947 and in 1953 he was a founding member of Painters Eleven, an Ontario abstract collective. 

Paraskeva Clark joined the Canadian Group of Painters shortly after immigrating to Canada from Russia and served on the executive on various occasions between 1944 – 1967. She held a strong disdain for the Canadian landscape tradition, despite painting many during her career. Clark saw her role as not just an artist but as an agent for social change, and her paintings often were topical, critiquing politics and ongoing social conflicts.

Rody Kenny Courtice was one of the first women admitted to the Ontario College of Art, studying under Arthur Lismer. She became a member of the Canadian Group of Painters in the late 1930s and joined many of the younger member of the group on sketching trips, depicting landscapes and industrial subjects.