Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
A few years ago I met a very cultured English man on a tour
with whom I got to talking about American museums and Philadelphia. After the
Barnes Collection came up in our conversation, I mentioned the Pennsylvania
Academy of Fine Arts, a notable museum of American art in the city. He laughed
and dismissed it as rubbish he would not be interested in. While it is true
that art in the colonies wasn’t up to the standards of Europe for much of our history,
by the late 19th century American art was holding its own against
what Europe was producing. Meanwhile, if you are truly interested in history
and culture, it’s important I believe to view the art it has produced to get a
better feel for the place.
That’s why I’m always interested in art unique to a country,
city, or region when I travel. I could approach Canadian art with the same attitude
my tour mate viewed American art because I’ve probably never seen a painting by
a Canadian artist outside of Canada. So that means it can’t be ay good, right? Of course not, Canadians are multi-talented.
They can play hockey well but also paint
pretty pictures.
Moving through the galleries in a sequential manner, it’s
possible to see the development of Canadian art parallel to that in America. On
the other hand, there are aspects that are quite different with different
influences and styles. It’s not simply as if artists on two sides of the border
were doing the same thing at the same time. There are unique aspects to
Canadian art, at least up through the first half of the twentieth century. Since
WWII, though, culture has become ever more internationalized; while artists may
maintain their nationality and individual style there are no longer distinct
national schools or styles of art the way of past centuries. I found the works
of the “Group of Seven” Canadian landscape painters to be particularly interesting.
I remain surprised that almost none of their works or those of other Canadians have
found their way into art museums south of the border.
2025-05-23