Arthur Lismer
A prolific artist with a wonderful sense of color and energy, Arthur Lismer (Canadian, b. England, 1885–1969) was a prominent member of the Group of Seven. He arrived in Canada in 1911 and joined legendary graphic design firm Grip Ltd., where the story of the Group often begins. There he met J. E. H. MacDonald, Franklin Carmichael, and Tom Thomson, and along with other Group members, they traveled and sketched across Canada. Georgian Bay imagery is at the core of Lismer’s subject matter. His experiences there and in Nova Scotia brought about an intense communion with nature in the late 1930s and 1940s, when his painting ideas emerged with new clarity and conviction. Lismer was also a great teacher. He pioneered art education programs in Toronto and Montreal in the 1920s and 1930s and made a significant impact in the development of Canadian art.