Impressionism in Canada. A Journey of Rediscovery

Impressionist paintings are among the most prized art works in the world, yet little has been written about Canadian Impressionism. Now, with this book, we have a full account of its development during the four decades after 1875, first in France, then in the United States, and finally in Canada. From the late 1860s on, as ambitious young artists went to study in the academies in Paris and travel in Europe, they absorbed the influence of Impressionism. By the mid-1880s, after it crossed the Atlantic to Boston and New York, Impressionism quickly became the favoured style of art in America. As the century came to a close in Canada's two largest cities, Montreal and Toronto, Impressionism gradually gathered the support the returning painters needed from art dealers, collectors, exhibition societies, and the media.

Within this context, the lives and works of fourteen of the most significant Canadian artists - including William Blair Bruce, Maurice Cullen, J.W. Morrice, Laura Muntz Lyall, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, Helen McNicoll, and Clarence Gagnon - are examined in the second half of the volume. Briefly considered too are several other artists, such as core members of the famed Group of Seven, who for some time also employed Impressionist techniques in their art. Today, Canadian Impressionist paintings are not only among the most popular works of art at home but are attracting ever more attention and exhibition in other countries too.